Burn times of 4 oz isobutane canister

You should be fine. I did an 8 day hike in the Adirondacks this year and I was able to use a 4 oz can for each of the 4 day sectuons and I still have enough in each camister I can use them car camping to make coffee.  I had an MSR micro pocket rocket and I made coffee for breakfast and lunch and boiled about 2 cups every night for dinner.

Jerry, Yup. A standard soda bottle or PET bottle works fine as you say they hang in at around an ounce.

I always bring at least two canisters with me. I have had them fail in the past in a “no fires” zone, not much fun…

I usually have a windscreen. They are all designed for a 5.25″ “grease” pot with heat exchanger ridged into the bottom. There are four sizes for the different stoves I carry.

1) Alcohol: tight aluminum one around 6″ in diameter, 4″ tall, 4-layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil, 45degree opening. The lightest I use for a sideburner. Used for weekend trips up to three days. 2-3 cups in about 7-10 min. I also use this with a Caffin Stove for trips up to a 7-8 days.

2) Cone: Esbit and alcohol. Boils 2 cups in about 8-9min with Esbit. About 3.5 cups in 8-9min with alcohol.

3) Canister: 6″ diameter, around 7″ tall, single layer of aluminum roof flashing, 60-90 degree opening. Lets me reach in to adjust the flame, monitor the can temp with my finger. I only burn enough to boil water, then put it out (about 4-5min for about 3.5 cups.) After the food is in and soaked for about 10 min or so, I refire it for cooking soups, thickening stews, basically just finish cooking stuff. (Macaroni, dried veggies, bacon bits, etc. Usually more than just boil &, dump.) I check the can temp two or three times while it is running in 5min. It is rare for it to heat dangerously, but sometimes I have to remove the wind screen to cool it off.

4) WG:  (SVEA) The taller screen from 3) above, lets me boil water in about 5 min. Can overheat so again I monitor it (mostly by sound) and dribble water on the can if it gets too hot. Used for longer two and three week trips when I do more cooking. Always set to medium/low or below, it boils 3.5 cups in around 9min. This has the highest packing density, ie smallest size for the length of trip, being an integrated system: Cup, pot stand, fuel can, burner and handle all in one carry item.

With canister “topper” stoves and with the SVEA, the wind screen can overheat things. BE CAREFUL if you decide to use one. Only use these if you are comfortable with monitoring the cans and know what to do if things start to overheat. (Often, a splash of water on the can will draw enough heat to prevent problems.)

Usual disclaimers and please note: Use of a wind screen is Not Recommended. I am NOT responsible for explosions and any resulting injury(s.)

“With canister “topper” stoves and with the SVEA, the wind screen can overheat things. BE CAREFUL if you decide to use one.”

which takes us to the other thread – with a proper (improper) windscreen you should be able to operate at much lower temperatures – maybe am inch space between windscreen and canister?  Upside down cone?

So I received my Caldera Cone in the mail earlier this week and finally had time to try it out today. It worked great and the 12-10 stove boiled water in 4 mins 20 seconds (give or take a few seconds). I am definitely impressed by it. However with the cone, 1.3L evernew pot, 12-10 stove, full alcohol bottle, measuring cup, etc… It weighs all of 0.4 ounces less than my other cook kit combo (snowpeak lite max stove, evernew 1.3L pot, windscreen and a full 4 oz isobutane canister. No significant savings and I can’t simmer with it unless I buy a simmer ring which will just add weight. The boil time is almost identical to the Snow peak stove which is nice and the Kleen strip alcohol I bought at Home Depot doesn’t smell too bad. Does anyone know a good way to recover unused alcohol from the 12-10 stove? I had about 10mL left and I tried to pour it out (clearly this was a bad idea) and it ended up all over my kitchen counter top.  I have ordered a Zelph starlyte but it hasn’t showed up in the mail and my emails to the Zelph stove site have gone unanswered.

Oh and with the Snow peak set up I can nest everything inside the pot. Not so with the cone. So that’s a negative right there as well.

The best way to calculate fuel needs for alcohol (or any fuel for that matter) is to do a few test burns outdoors in semi-realistic conditions. For alcohol, measure with one of those little graduated cough syrup cups. With a canister, you’ll need a good scale accurate to about 0.1g

It’s well established that for longer trips a canister setup might be lighter than an alky setup or even an Esbit system, although it takes some ‘effort’ (time!) to erase that 100-150 gram (empty canister weight) disadvantage right out of the blocks for isobutane. I say ‘might’ because this assumes a very light pot and very good fuel efficiency and management (not getting distracted and letting the water boil furiously for 5 minutes, unnoticed… grrrrr). For quick trips of about 1-4 nights Esbit is the lightweight champ (I know, the fumes), while alcohol wins the ‘availability’ award… not to forget our old friend, wood, of course, where appropriate. :^)

Wood fires aren’t allowed, esbit gives me a headache and I measured out 30mL of alcohol (this should be enough to boil to cups of water and then simmer for a few minutes for my dinner cooking) using the included cough drop measuring cup that came with the caldera. I need roughly 6.6 ounces of alcohol for this trip if I make coffee in the morning and boil then simmer two cups of water at night. To me it seems to come down to personal preference between alcohol and the gas stove as the savings is negligible (0.4 ounces).

I used to get 14 boils of 2 cups of water with my Pocket Rocket.

Yup, Alcohol+cone and canister gas work out roughly the same. It is a matter of preference. However you are stuck with typical can increments, ie 4/8/16oz.

Heath, your Caldera set up doesn’t fit inside the pot ? Did you not get the Sidewinder , you can choose the Zelph stove as an option with the sidewinder and it should all fit inside the pot.

I did not get the sidewinder. I just got the basic caldera cone.

In my opinion the Sidewinder is the best set up, super compact and just as efficient.

As Trail Designs has a no returns policy and I don’t feel like spending any more money I will just live with the purchase.

You should get the non modified Zelph stove for the 1.3 liter pot not the modified.

Lol to late for that too.

Well you can can take the the top off your modified stove take the small simmer ring out and put the top back on using a little JB weld to hold the top on, HERE is Sticks Blog showing it.

Heath, Come to think of it I am not sure the Zelph stove is a good choice for the Classic, that is why it is not offered with the classic set up. The Zelph stove is shorter and so would not sit at the optimal distance from the pot like it will for the Sidewinder.