How many use the Caldera Cone (any fuel)

I’m a boiler. I only boil water with mine.

“So how much do you use your Caldera Cone?”

most trips, for years now

Gear talk

I’ve used CC with alcohol, esbit and wood (sidewinder with Inferno setup) but am also a basic ‘boiler’ who keeps it simple with FD dinners and oatmeal/coffee for breakfast. So now I don’t use the CC at all. My current setup is a Toaks 550 with Starlyte and a Ti foil windscreen, which along with spoon and inCycle cup weigh 3.8 oz… enough for me.

I’m usually too tired at the end of the day to do anything fancy and if poor weather forces me to dine in my shelter then I certainly want to keep it as simple as possible. And in the morning I just want to have my quick breakfast and get on the trail.

My motto re food prep has long been “Two steps is one step too many!” Obviously not a foodie.

Bob, “Obviously not a foodie.” Hee, hee Yeah, there are those trail days when I’ve got just enough energy left to boil water and toss in my freezer bag meal and wait while it “cooks” in the cozy.

But, unlike the Russians who “eat to live”, like the French, I “live to eat”. My backpack cooking often is real cooking, which takes more time and thus more fuel. But ESBIT tabs are relatively light so boiling spaghetti for 12 minutes is no problem, and rehydrating dehydrated Prego spaghetti sauce with dried mushrooms is also only a 10 minute task. But the results are “home cookin'” Same goes for omelets and pancakes.

I use the cone, but on gas stoves.

Today’s food is tomorrow’s poop. I don’t get all excited about food either. It is more of an inconvenience.

Ken, you’re quite the idealist.

I’m strictly a boiler as well. I use the outer ring of the CC as a wind screen for a pocket rocket. I could also use it as an emergency stove, with wood chips and tent stakes, if the Rocket failed. the windscreen really conserves fuel.

I do enjoy coffee and oatmeal in the morning.

I have used a Caldera Cone with denatured alcohol on most all of my trips since 2008.

Does anyone use their cone with a 450ml cup, or is that too small?

I usually just get called a picky eater Jeffrey.

Doug,

It’s not a exactly a cone, but I use a 400ml mug with this Esbit setup:

Coffee, tea, oatmeal, poached eggs, or enough boiling water to “cook” a MH Pro-Pak.

rob

That looks like a great setup. I’d like to see another shot of the stove/stand if you’d be willing to share it.

Matthew,

Here you go:

The stove consists of a stainless steel Kids Konserve container, a copper rod bent to shape, three 14 gram Esbit cubes and a Fosters can cut to size. The lid of the container serves as the Esbit tray.

I carry it in a pocket. The windscreen nests in the mug along with food items like crackers, Via coffee,soup packets,etc, Half a cube brings the water to nearly a full boil so I get six ‘boils’ . I got the idea when I found the container, which for me, is too small to store any food in. Excluding the mug , the setup weighs with fuel weighs 3.6 ozs.

rob

Trail Designs has the Evernew 400ml Cup + Sidewinder Ti-Tri Bundle

https://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/evernew-400ml-cup-sidewinder-ti-tri-bundle

Thanks for sharing the photos Robert. Nice job bending the copper rod. Did you wrap it around something or freehand bend it with a couple pairs of pliers? It looks great!

Zelph, I know about that kit. I’ve been tempted but the thing is I already have an amazing Caldera Cone setup made by this guy who rolls a really nice ridgeline in a Toaks 550 pot…

Thanks Matthew. Ya, I just bent it freehand for the curved parts and pliers for the 90 degree bends. I guess any metal rod would work, but I had this found piece of copper laying around.

BTW, the opening size for the screen is crucial. Too small and it chokes off the combustion. Too large and breezes disturb the flame.

My guess is that a true cone would be slightly more thermally efficient, but this was an experiment to see what I could do to make the most compact stove kit that included fuel. Although an aluminum container ( if they exist ) would shave the weight a little. Using copper may help with heat transfer though.

rob

You may have inspired me to make something with this unprinted/unpainted Fosters can I got from a local brewery and my MLD 475 cup. I doubt I will save more than a few grams off of my Zelph but I have the parts already so I might do it just for giggles.

I’d be interested to see what you come up with, so please post some pics.

FWIW, I also tried using a Snow Peak 300, but the narrower diameter compared to the Evernew 400 didn’t work as well. As we all know, especially when using Esbit, its better to have the flame contact as much surface area as possible. A Toaks 550 and an Evernew 400 are the same diameter.

rob

ESBIT users UNITE!

it really is a joy to use

Rob K,

Is that the Evernew companion cup?  If so, what lid are you using?  It looks kind of like a Toaks lid.  I like your setup, by the way, so thanks for posting the pics.

Rob P,

It’s the Evernew 400FD cup sold by REI, Campsaver, etc as well as of course from Evernew either by itself or as the stacking cup in one of their sets.

Yes, the lid is a Toaks 95mm Ti lid,which fits all Toaks 95mm mugs/pots; 550,600,650,750,etc. Mine is the original style, but the new style also fits, They’re available seperately as accessories. The new one is cheaper.

Also, the plastic lid from a 12oz supermarket coffee can snaps on to hold the lid in place if one doesn’t like mesh bags.

rob

Thanks. Rob K.  Much appreciated.

Brian Green’s Blog has instructions for making a good tray/tablet holder from ti foil to greatly extend tablet burn time by conserving the liquid residue given off so it too can burn. I use a modification of the BGET which is an aluminum tray inserted into the original TD Gram Cracker tablet holder.

I use a Modified version of Brian Greens Esbit Tray that has bread pan corners to contain all the liquid esbit for maximum efficiency.

Someday I might get used to the odor and soot of esbit. I like the ” heat power” it has….but the odor gets to me. In the mean time I use a cone with denatured alcohol and no-spill Starlyte burner/stove. I’ve been experimenting with difference dumpling recipes. Add the dough right into the pot. Easy peasy filler for a hearty meal for a big guy like me. Toaks Light 700 pot, 2 cups water, 1 cup Mountain House and 1/3 dry dough mix for the dumpling ohh soo good :-)