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Vintage Stove/Pot Design for Frigid Temperatures


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Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) Vintage Stove/Pot Design for Frigid Temperatures

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  • #3541759
    DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST
    Spectator

    @zelph2

    This popular expedition stove was an essential piece of equipment for Antarctic sledging parties. Developed by the Norwegian Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), this stove allowed explorers to efficiently heat their food whilst simultaneously melting snow for water. The stove was made up of an enclosed burner with a cylindrical aluminium vessel that held two cooking pots that sat within one another, allowing the heat to pass around both. Travelling in the polar regions placed heavy demands on the body and so high energy foods were a major part of the explorers’ diets. The main meal of the day was often ‘Hoosh’- a mixture of ground biscuits and pemmican (dried beef and beef fat flavoured with currants) accompanied by tea at lunch time and hot chocolate for breakfast and dinner.

    #3541787
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    See my DIY question on this type of cooker

    #3541838
    Paul McLaughlin
    BPL Member

    @paul-1

    As with all things Nansen, a practical, functional design. One caveat being that it could be tough to pack snow into the narrow ring shape of the melting portion. Though perhaps not so much for old Fridtjof’s boys, since they were dealing with more ice than snow, and he would have been well aware of the greater efficiency of melting ice compared to snow.

    Having read some of Nansen’s works, including the epic account of the voyage of the Fram and his closest approach to the North Pole, I can also mention that he never ate hoosh when he could get some juicy polar bear or seal – and he got plenty of both.

    #3541854
    Edward John M
    BPL Member

    @moondog55

    A quote from Nansens “Farthest North” As far as I can tell Snowflake fuel was either straight naptha or a kerosene / naptha blend but it shows clearly how efficient the stove system was

    #3541879
    DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST
    Spectator

    @zelph2

    Snowflake oil:

    #3541882
    DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST
    Spectator

    @zelph2

    Cold and happy:

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