Solo cooking set.

Greg,

I tbink you have most of this sorted out but two things come to mind about which I think you may be mistaken .

1) WHERE are you going to buy a genuine TD SIDEWINDER cone for the Olicamp for $25?
Unless I a mistaken,the cheapest SIDEWINDER cone for that mug is $80 for the Ti Cone.

Also, let me ask you this. Have you used the Starlite with a small mug like the IMUSA /Olicamp before ? I ask this as someone who has actually used the Starlite on both large AND small pots- including all those discussed here.

If you are going to set a 6" short wide pot like an Evernew 1.3 on that little Starlite, then YES you benefit from the stability of the cone.

With the 4" or smaller cups,a cone is simply excess bulk, weight and expense when used with the regular Starlite. And that opinion comes from actual use, not theory.

Not to mention the fact that unless you make the Sidewinder cone yourself, you are not going to get one for $25 bucks.;)

This new size StarLyte works well in a Caldera Keg cone. It holds 4 ounces of fuel comes with lid to retain unused fuel. I can include one with the Imusa Mug that has a handle. I’ll throw in a EZ-Fold wind screen that will fit in the pot, no charge. Has separate 3″ diameter stainless steel mesh pot support same height of the burner. Packs well around the burner, fits nice in the 10cm Imusa.

Dan, can you tell us what we are looking at in the photo?

–B.G.–

"The StarLyteXL-FS is a new member to the StarLyte family of stoves"

Dan – What advantage does the XL offer over the original Starlyte, of which I am a huge fan?

Thanks,

Tom

Jimmer ultralite,

Well you are right. The sidewinder is $40. $80 is the whole set (2 stoves and stuff)
But, the EZ-fold screen for these mugs weigh 36 grams. Having the cones at same weight I prefer to use cones.

TD does not manufacture Sidewinder for Olicamp unfortunately.

So having all this, I'm still at choosing one of the following:

0) Olicamp + CF lid + custom Sidewinder (?) cone or just the Caldera cone that doesn't fit inside.

1) Olicamp + CF lid + EZ Fold screen. Same weight as 0, but cheaper

2) The Dan's combo (Imusa + lid + EZ-fold + starlyte with potstand) – Dan, how much will it cost?

3) Some 0.6L mug (now I'm considering Ti too) + Cone + Starlyte.

Greg,

There was another option I forgot to mention..

Given the parameters in your first post,it may be the best solution of all.

1) Get an Olicamp HA Space saver Cup.

2) Get the Rutalocura CF lid.

3)Get ahold of Jon Fong at Flatcat gear and buy a Snow Leopard Windsreen. Het one in Stainless if you can. You dont want the complete stove- just the winscreen/floor setup.

4)If your Starlyte is the one with the intregal stainless steel potstand, then pull it out and just use the burner in the Flat cat Winscreen .You wont need it because the FC screen acts as the potstand ala a Caldera cone.The starlyte will work fine with the 2" pot height of the Snow Leopard.

You will have a cheaper, lighter and more stowable windscreen that fits in your mug and a safe, efficient burner under it. And, the whole setup will be as stable as a cone.

"Dan, can you tell us what we are looking at in the photo?"

Bob, front row are the new size StarLyte Burners. Back row are the original StarLyte

and the Modified. The new extra large Modified size works well with the Caldera Cone.

Tom, the advantage is fuel capacity. It can hold 4oz in suspension. No fuel bottle is required if going on a 2 day hike. The new one has a tight fitting lid to save unused fuel. The new one has a larger pot support that is stored around it's circumference for more compact storage in a pot. The stove is only 1" tall when in storage.

At times I think of it as a Trangia as far as capping it off to save unused fuel. Folks seem to like that aspect. I do.

I'll see if I can get a video made today showing the stove with fire and how it packs into a 10cm Imusa mug.

I really like my Evernew 600ml but have found Toaks titanium pots to be as good at a fraction of the cost. I own a couple of their mugs and have their 900ml 130cm pot headed my way.

Gregory, watch this photobucket video, click on the photo to watch:

Here’s the link to a youtube video:

If you're thinking of an aluminum cone, something to consider is the durability compared to titanium. Titanium is springy, so it will bounce back into shape after being coiled tightly in a pot. Aluminum bends much easier, so it doesn't spring back as much and it requires you to bend it back into a larger cone shape. Over time aluminum cones start to look pretty wonky, while titanium cones continue to look and function perfectly after hundreds of uses.

For solo use, a prefer a bit bigger pot than 0.6L. I like 0.8 – 0.9L so I can actually stir some sauce into my pasta without making a mess.

I'm a huge advocate for pairing a Starlyte stove with a cone. This system is highly stable and elegant, and it enables functionality that is not possible with an integrated pot stand such as using a lid to keep fuel stored in the stove.

I currently use a 750ml Evernew pot (ECA278), titanium cone, unrestricted Starlyte and Ruta Locura carbon fiber lid, with a silicone wrist band around the pot to suspend it on the cone without stakes. 125g for everything. Slightly small but otherwise excellent.

My ideal system would probably be Evernew's 900mL ECA252 pot with a cone and Starlyte. This is a bit bigger and eliminates the need for a silicone band, but it also doesn't open the option of using a CF lid.

Dan, send me a pm with your address and I'll send you a new Large StarLyte to test in your short cone setup. I've used mine in my Keg setup using a 32 oz. Conquistador pot. Performed well in the cone as expected.

"Tom, the advantage is fuel capacity. It can hold 4oz in suspension. No fuel bottle is required if going on a 2 day hike. The new one has a tight fitting lid to save unused fuel."

Thanks, Dan. Follow on question: Is it as fuel efficient?

Tom, yes it is fuel efficient. Here is a quote from someone who got hold of my prototype which has a pot support which was too tall as he later found out…a quote:

"I ran the prototype with the 1.5 inch SS for 7 consecutive burns, the 7th ran out of fuel at 203 degrees, close. Damn efficient! So I would bet that you could estimate 4-6 boils with 4 oz of denatured outside under summer conditions with a windscreen. I did a run using the standard starlight and boil times improved by approx. 1.45 min, bench results

So I concur with the suggestion to reduce potstand height and open the burner port size

Hey this was my first post, followed the instructions and it worked. Nice burner/stove

Cheers, Skuz"

Tom, the kit seen in the video weighs 141 grams, 5 0unces.

Fuel efficiency of alcohol stoves is often difficult to compare because people heat different volumes of water at different starting temperatures with different fuels (methanol, ethanol etc.). A nice method for calculating efficiency is:

1) Calculate Heat Absorbed by the Water
Heat gained by your water (in joules) is 4.184 x water weight (g) x degrees gained (c)

So heating a pint (473ml = 473g) from 40F (4C) to a boil (100C) requires a gain of 4.184 x 473 x 96 joules. This equals 190,000 joules or .19 megajoules.

2) Calculate Theoretical Fuel usage
Methanol provides 22.7 megajoules per 1000 g. Ethanol is 29.7.

So .19 megajoules of heating theoretically requires 8.4 grams of methanol (.19 / 22.7 * 1000) or 6.8g of ethanol.

3) Compare to Actual Fuel Usage
Weigh stove before and after to find actual weight of fuel used. Theoretical fuel divided by actual fuel is your efficiency.

i.e. 8.4 g theoretical / 20g actual fuel used = 42% efficient

My typical efficiency in ideal conditions (inside) with a cone and Starlyte is 45-50%. The best I've been able to achieve is with a wide bottom pot (Evernew 1.3L) + cone + Starlyte which resulted in 53%. Typical alcohol stoves are around 35-40% in ideal conditions, and obviously lower in the wild.

One thing that could also effect efficiency of the Starlight XL vs The regualr burner is the shear anount if fuel it carries during those multiple burns .

If you take a normal starlyte burner and fill it with one ounce of fuel ,youll use about half and expose only one ounce to the heat of the boil sessionband subsequent fuel vaporization.

When you put a full XL under say, a Caldera cone each boilm you are exposing much more fuel to heat and evaporation.

The XL will no doubt be a more convenent burner for 2-3 day Solo hikes ,but for best effeciency and regular Starlyte with a good fuel bottle would seem to still win out.

Frankly, the no spill safety factor is the best feature of all. Very safe in either design.

Greg,

The pot is from Trail Designs and fits a Sidwinder Ti (yes! o:) stove. It's made by Open Country and is hard anodized. It weighs 3.9 oz. on my scale.

The pot id hard anodized inside and out. You can get it through Trail Designs for about $15. plus shipping.

Look at T.D.'s site under "cookware" and scroll down to it. They have a photo and measurements.

FWIW, the dark anodizing on the outside likely absorbs a bit more heat, especially in a cone stove, than a plain aluminum finish.

"Tom, the kit seen in the video weighs 141 grams, 5 0unces."

Now you've got me thinking seriously. I've been very happy with my modified Starlyte/Sidewinder setup, but the possibility of carrying 4 oz of fuel preloaded to complement my 5 oz bottle would extend my range to nearly 2 weeks, since I only heat 400 ml of H2O in the morning to ~170 degrees for coffee.

Dandydan, lots of good info there…thank you :-)

Tom, yes, the 4 oz would be a nice weight saving compliment due to not having to carry and extra 1/2 ounce fuel bottle.

When I use the new XL, there is no noticeable flame increase when a boil is achieved in the caldera cone keg setup as long as I let the burner cool down before I do my next boil. I’ve been boiling 32 ounces at a time with my conquistador pot. I conserve maximum fuel once my boil is achieved I quickly snuff the flame out with a thin sheet of silicone oven liner that is in disc form as you can see in the photos. Really helps prevent vaporization of fuel.

The reason I made the XL was so I could boil/heat 4 cups of water at a time. My needs are different from most. I’m a big guy, eat a lot, laugh a lot and enjoy life ;-)

My wife and I used a Starlyte on the PCT this summer combined with an Evernew 1.3L pot and Caldera Cone. We ate whole wheat pasta almost everynight, which required about 0.9L of water and 10-15 minutes of boiling. We always did that on one fill of the Starlyte.

I wrote a new blog post going into more depth on the efficiency of alcohol stoves compared to canister stoves. I think there’s some interesting stuff here that most people don’t realize:
The Real Reason Why Canister Stoves are More Fuel Efficient Than Alcohol”

My personal cook kit:

24.7 g all-aluminum flat bottom 32 oz pot (so I can cook for two people)
15.2 g 12 oz fuel bottle
13.1 g alcohol stove with pot support
27.3 g Ti windscreen
5.8 g aluminum baffles
2.7 g Ti pot lid
21.4 g Reflectix cozy
1.1 g Reflectix cozy lid

110.4 g total (3.94 oz)

Boiled 750 ml of 46.8* F (8.2* C) water in 8:41 mins. using 28 ml (22.1 g) of Klean Strip denatured alcohol. Using the "Advanced [Alcohol] Stove Efficiency Spreadsheet" from an earlier thread I calculated 53.5% efficiency. Tried to calculate the efficiency using Dan Durston's formula and assuming the Klean Strip is 50/50 ethanol/methanol, but the numbers I got are crazy (>80%). Not sure where I'm miscalculating.

I cook with the freezer bag method. After boiling, I filled a 1 quart freezer bag with the water, put the freezer bag in the pot, put the pot in the cozy, put on the Ti lid, and put the cozy lid on top. This keeps the water hot while the food is re-hydrating and "simmering," without using any additional fuel. Air temperature in my shop was 55* F. Measured water temperature as follows:

15 min = 195* F
30 min = 183* F
45 min = 175* F
60 min = 170* F

Photo of the entire set up packed into the pot, next to a standard Foster's can for size comparison:

Photo of the all-aluminum flat-bottom 32 oz pot:

Components:

Total weight:

I guess the first kit I listed is not technically a "solo" cook set, so here is my true solo kit:

24.0 g Foster's can pot
10.5 g 8 oz fuel bottle
11.8 g alcohol stove with pot support
22.0 g Ti windscreen
2.7 g Ti pot lid
18.4 g Reflectix cozy
1.1 g Reflectix cozy lid

90.5 g total (3.23 oz)

David,

I got 53.3% for your numbers using Dan's formula (and 24.4 MJ/kg for KS SLX). Like you I got 53.5% from my spreadsheet. I am guessing you mistyped something… wheww… Laws of Physics still hold up. It looks like he uses a bit lower value for the specific heat of water compared to my spreadsheet (4.184 vs 4.2). He also appears to be using upper heating values for the fuel instead of lower heating values or possibly he is using lower value from a different database.

Dan, I read your blog post. Nice blog.

For quite a long time I was tempting to build an UL boiler out of 1L beer can. I planned to make inner tube out of thick aluminium foil folded in a zigzags to increase heat transfer area between hot gases and water. Also the boiler itself could be in cozy because hot gases escape from center hole. Much like the backcountry boiler bur really light + increased area for heat transfer.

I would estimate total weight of such boiler at 100g and capacity of 700ml.

Maybe someone could try build that thing?

What I can say, Dan. Your solo cook system rocks! What is that cone you are using? Is it custom-made? I haven't seen any mug cones that fit inside (except the fissure).

I responded to what I think was your question on my blog, but in short it's not a custom cone but just a ULC cone that is no longer sold.

The ideal cookset would have the following attributes:
1) Everything stores in the pot
2) Uses Zelph's awesome Starlyte stove
3) Uses a Caldera Cone
4) Pot sits directly on the cone for max simplicity and stability.

My cookset doesn't achieve #4, but a wide pot with a sidewinder cone can. You need to watch the specs a bit so that the stove-pot gap is correct but the Evernew 0.9L and 1.3L wide pots work perfectly. An Evernew 0.9L pot (ECA252) + Sidewinder Cone + Unrestricted Starlyte is a dream solo setup IMO. With the Starlyte you can ditch the stakes normally required with a Sidewinder cone.

"I got 53.3% using Dan's formula…I got 53.5% from my spreadsheet."
Sounds close enough to me! I just grabbed standard enthalpy of combustion values from wikipedia and other easy sources so they're not super accurate.