Ultra-light and ultra-simple, the definitive wire pot-stand?

[Paiolo Montanel]

See below

[Paiolo Montanel]

[Problems with formatting the first post, I try to re-insert it…sorry!]

Hi all!

I’m not the first one to build a wire pot stand for my home-made alcohol stove, but this one that seems so simple have a particularity that make me love it

The particularity is that it is made to perfectly fit around your pot bottom when in top-down “not in use” position, and it this way, even if is not foldable, it occupies no space when stored:

Being non-foldable means it is more reliable (one single piece of wire, no junctions or pipes) and has a better rigidity, so you can do it with thinner (and lighter) wire than an equivalent foldable pot stand

It is also very large and stable

It is so simple that it could be built in 5 minutes starting from a wire coat hanger or some steel wire.

• choose the height for optimal combustion for your alcohol stove
• the horizontal part should be: 0.85 * pot-diameter
• the two small final “mustaches” at the end of two legs permits the use of the pot stand on soft ground. They should be at least 1 cm long and rotated 40° outside to prevent scratching the pot when inserting the stand around it.

Search “costruire il supporto” in this page to see the easy building steps (sorry, the page is in italian but I think images are self-explanatory)

The only downside is that you need to build one for each pot you use: I have made three of them, to use in conjunction with my three Imusa-like aluminium pots:

• one for 8cm-diameter 350ml cup (daily hikes), 10 grams (made from coat-hanger wire)
• one for 10cm-diameter 750ml mug (solo hikes), 11 grams (made from coat-hanger wire)
• one for 12cm-diameter 1200ml mug (two-person hikes or winter solo hikes), 21 grams (made from 2.5mm steel wire…perhaps more robust than needed)

Gram-counters can obviously build it with titanium wire.

As a side note, I named it “Paiolo pot stand” ;-)

Some details to help pot-stand construction:

This pot-stand is very simple, but there are some details you should pay attention when building it:

• the vertical legs should be…vertical, or after warming up they could become flimsy and flex on the side.
• the horizontal arms should be slightly concave (the center part a little lower than the corners), so that the pot lays on the 3 corner for the better stability
• it is usually built as a double “U” shape, and at the end you will open it more or less 60 degree: warm the corner some seconds over a kitchen fire before opening it because some wires could break if you do this when cold
• it should be built slightly narrower than the bottom of your pot, so that when you insert it around the bottom of the pot it will firmly stick to it

(i think every row corresponds to a mistake I made the first times i built it ;-) )

What do you think about it? Have you ever used wire pot stands similar to this one?

[Andrew Stevens]

That’s really innovative.  Thanks and I’m going to probably make one today.  Andrew

[Jerry Adams]

clever idea, thanks, I couldn’t find the instructions how to make it although it’s obvious enough from just looking at it, I like the concave horizontal so the pot is stable

[Paiolo Montanel]

Fixed the link, sorry….good construction! ;-)

@Andrew: I “invented” it some year ago, this week I decided to publish it because after some internet searching it seemed that….I was the only one that had the idea of fitting the pot-stand outside the pot! ;-)

[Jerry Adams]

that works, pretty simple to make

you could set the wire over your pot, and then do the last 90 degree bend over the pot so it will exactly fit the pot

[Jack]

v-shaped wire support from tetkoba https://youtu.be/ttW7Pg_dAXU

[Paiolo Montanel]

Looking Tektoba’s videos is always a pleasure! ;-)

BTW, Tektoba’s pot stand is a (wonderfully crafted!) classical foldable pot-stand, mine is a single-piece non-foldable pot-stand…Two very different things, each with pros and cons…

[J R]

Nice work.

[Franco Darioli]

Nice.

I have seen and made several myself, your version is an elegant solution.

By the way, did you know that your name Paiolo in Italian means cauldron ?

[Paiolo Montanel]

Well…..I’m italian and I like a lot “Polenta” (mais cream,, traditionally made inside cauldrons) so…yes! ;-)

[Franco Darioli]

OK, I was wondering because there is a place in France called Montanel however in Italy they named a mountain after your family :

as for polenta, well this is how my folk back in Italy do it too :

I have done that myself there but now I just cook it on the gas stove.

[Craig B]

Very elegant.  I like it!

[Dale Wambaugh]

Brilliant design. I would cut “moustache” ends longer and fold them over one time so there are no sharp ends that would snag items in my pack.

[kroot]

This is a cool design, but I don’t like that it doesn’t fit inside the pot. For me, I really like having everything I need to cook in one simple package, so I don’t have to worry about stuff getting lost or falling off, etc.

I use a small little wire mesh stand that I made from some screen stuff I got at Home Depot. Weighs 14g, but I could probably cut that down if I made it smaller and/or cut out some of the unnecessary wire. The ends “unclip” and it opens up so I can store it in the post alongside my windscreen.

 

[Paiolo Montanel]

Nice design, but I’d like to note that my design can also fit INSIDE the pot, just build the pot stand a little smaller: the first version indeed was made to stay inside, and it also did not occupy any space when stored.

But after using it sometime I preferred the “outside” version because pot stands have usually dirt and soot on them and I didn’t like to re-clean the pot before every use….so simply a matter of taste!

[kroot]

For sure, I think there’s no wrong way to make a pot stand :)

With my setup, the windscreen and the lil’ piece of aluminum I carry to put the stove on also protect the inside of the pot from getting pot-stand-muck on them.

[Doug Wolfe]

Good stuff thanks for sharing! I might just have to make one

[Author]

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