Help with cook kit – trying to move to alcohol

You can scrape off a little bit of Esbit into dust which will light more easily with a lighter/matches.

Why not just a lighter?

Matthew: Thank you, I’ll try that.

Brian:

Because the lighter didn’t work. When I tried to light the stove using the lighter (no windscreen), the wind immediately blew out the stove flame.

When I tried to light the stove using the lighter with the windscreen in place, I burned my hand a couple times without successfully lighting the stove.

I hVe used a stick dipped in denatured alcohol before and lit that with a lighter.

I think I’ll just plan to swap one of my fire starting options for waterproof matches. Any recommendations for a good match?

Zack – Some photos of how you had things set up would probably help the stove gurus sort it out. Glad you finally got it going. Having a dead stove would not be fun.

Brian has a good answer with the twig/pine needle dipped in alcohol. I like that idea more than a waterproof match. It’s one less thing to carry or run out of. I tend to try and cook in a sheltered spot so wind isn’t a problem (yes I have a windscreen, a Caldera Cone).

@hilight – Zach post this a few pages ago. I noted the windscreen looked too tight

Ah. Zach posted some new photos. The windscreen still looks far too tight. You want more like a 3/8″ gap all the way around. Maybe 1/4″.

The cone system is tight to the pot, but has a little more gap at the base.

Dan at Zelph makes a kit for the toaks pot with a vertical windscreen that’s tight to the pot, but it also has more vent holes than mine does.

I did end up having to open the windscreen up to get it to work with the alcohol stove. The windscreen has an adjustable diameter.

For the esbit dry baking, I kept the windscreen tight to the pot with no trouble.

Zelph is venting exhaust with those upper slots in the last photo. I think that’s the difference. You need somewhere for the exhaust to go in order to have intake at the bottom. Interesting that you got Esbit to work with a tight windscreen but I think you were learning about the tight windscreen with alcohol when you said:

“Also, with the windscreen tight to the pot, the stove kept going out. I think it was starved for oxygen or potentially it was being blown out through the holes in the windscreen? After I had the windscreen bigger ( not tight to the pot) it worked to boil my water.”

Oh! That makes sense. Good to know.

Starlyte user for 6 years here.

To light it easier if having trouble, place a very small piece of absorbant dry matter ( leaf, grass,duff,TP etc.) on the gauze, add a drop of alcohol and light.   Try it.

For Esbit, I carry a 5 or 10 ml dropper bottle of alcohol, and add a couple drops to a fuel block before lighting.  Instant and hassle free.

HTH

And yes. Windshield is too tight. ;)

Just thinking out loud: I bet a drop or two on top of the rim of the modified modified Starlyte burner might ignite easily and then light the burner.

Place fuel into Starlyte, turn it upside down and lite with bic lighter. Freshly filled stove will lite easily.

Thanks!

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And also a basplate reflector to complete the package.These come in three sizes also.

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If I am breaking any rules I apologise.

PM me for any info.