Wanna help me finish building my new super ultralight cook kit?

One more thing I wanna add, since I have listed prices of goods plus what S&H fees I paid in the OP, so that others can build this same kit, I’d like to share this link to where I was able to buy the Zelph’s pot I’m using for a little cheaper than Dan sells them for on his website, which I believe lists them for about $19.99

You can save about half of the money by ordering from this guy on ebay (It’s a forum members son fyi)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ZELPHS-WIDE-MOUTH-RIDGELINE-CAN/142626683868?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D49566%26meid%3Dc9924a0a7739428d98c6b8e9a291a8c2%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D142581347854&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

So now back on topic… How would you finish assembling this kit?

Skip the heat shield and cleaning supplies. Didn’t want to use Esbit? Lid?

Well that is a simple solution ! Haha …

and No, I kinda didn’t want to use espit. I find espit is a lot rougher on beer can pots than I would like. I’ve had espit melt through my own home made fosters can pots and I hate the smell when cooking indoors. (like in a shelter, vestibule, etc.) it’s no so much the smell, I find the espit fumes to be kind or irritating to my throat for some reason…

As for lids…I was considering a Ruta Locura carbon fiber lid for the hell of it, I asked them what size I should order and haven’t heard back yet. (I’d measure but I haven’t got the pot in the mail yet…maybe the dimensions are online somewhere already…let me look)

Aerogel lid?

Here’s my SUL kit. I admit I don’t use it often, but it works great and only comes in at 2.9 oz for every-single-thing! I prefer Esbit for SUL setups because it is less fidgety and is easier to measure out, not to mention lighter. I have never had issues with Esbit burning through any cans. I have also had better experiences with the 4g Esbit tablets as far as smell (when stored). IME they seem to leave less soot too.

Aerogel lid would be awesome but I dont think water and aerogel are friends, not even the sturdier kind… (I really need to get back to that thread again don’t I…)

And thank’s for sharing Chad! I think I’ve watched you on youtube before if I’m not mistaken…

I’m wondering what fuel bottles you guys would suggest I use? I’d like one for carrying a weeks worth of fuel (2-3 boils a day) and a smaller one for carrying 3 days worth… I’m still new to alcohol stoves so suggestions on superlite fuel bottles would be helpful as well some ultralight coozy options… (I’m currently researching this all myself as well, I’m not only relying on BPL to do all of my work for me)

Not that you asked for feedback on the stove choice but I don’t think a Supercat is an ideal choice for a Heineken can in a cone. The Supercat is a sideburner design intended to have the pot resting on the top of the stove which directs the flame out of the sides creating a flame pattern intended for wider pots. Used in a cone it will burn straight up. You could use the bottom 1” (or whatever) of a small diameter Red Bull (or similar) can and save weight. Or you could use a Zelph Modified Starlyte stove which has an absorbent material which keeps spills from happening (safer) and is optimized for the enclosed environment of a cone. It also has a plastic lid you can use to seal in any unburnt fuel for your next boil.

I think you’d have a hard time beating a small 8 ounce disposable water bottle for low weight. Tons of people carry alcohol in these. You can probably find one of these in a recycling can somewhere  

Other options include tiny Nalgene bottles in 1, 2, 4 ounce sizes for short trips. I believe Litesmith and Anti-Gravity Gear have some lightweight bottle options, too.

Yikes if you are going to use an alcohol stove in a shelter or vestibule you should really consider a stove that has spillproof qualities.

For long-handled spoon (if you do F-D food in a  pouch), I did a comparison of options and much discussion followed.

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/104912/#comments
My answer: $1, 12-gram, 8″, long-handled bamboo spoon.  Get a 10-pack off of Amazon.  Replace it when it’s too worn or not getting clean enough for you.

For storing alcohol, I like, *gasp*, an alcohol bottle.

They come in various sizes for $5, $10, or $20 if you want to make a lot of Moscow Mule cocktails, or for free at the recycling center.  The cap can be used to measure standard quantities, and the little insert in the neck makes them pour a more controlled stream of liquid.  I remove the original label, and wrap some of my repair tape (duct, tenacious, Gorilla, Luekotape, etc) around it (you need to store that stuff somewhere), and also add a “Mr. Yuck” poison label just to be clear to everyone.  (Unless I was transporting fuel alcohol where I’m only allowed to transport liquor, then, well, maybe I’d leave it looking like vodka).  They are sturdier and therefore a bit heavier than disposable water bottles, but fuel leaking in your pack isn’t fun.

I’d bring a mini-Bic.  I always do.  11 grams when full.  Usually a back-up one, also.  Other people use ferro-rod sparkers and they do work immediately after being wet, but I find the Bic to be more general-purpose (I can light more kinds of tinder on fire, light a candle, warm a fuel canister, sanitize a needle, etc).

For a heat shield windscreen, I bring a length of heavy-duty aluminum foil.  It’s a kind of rumpled and wrinkled by the end of a trip and I bring a new piece on the next trip.  I’ve formed it into funnels to transfer fluids, catch drips off a snow field into a water bottle and to redirect tiny streams of water to where I could fill a water bottle from it.  Looks stupid as heck, but it does block all UV if you lose your sun hat (and prevents the government from scanning your brain).

For clean up, I cut a 1″ x 2″ chunk from a scotch-brite scrubbie sponge.  Or, if I forget to bring the scrubbie sponge, I use sand and/or horsetail plants (which contains silicon and is therefore slightly abrasive).

I was wondering about stove choice tbh. Thanks for the suggestions on everything

I have one of those Ruta Locura Carbon Fiber lids for my 600ml pot.

I like it a lot because it is light ,strong and does not get hot.

It just happens that mine fits nice and tight so it works well for me because I only boil water .

+1 for a different stove.

I tried using a Fancee Feast stove with a SP900 Caldera Cone setup once and almost melted the titanium cone. There was a nice molten orange ring around the cone at jet height after about 30 seconds. Not enough room in a narrow cone.

The Starlytes are awesome. I believe mine weigh 16g dry. And you really don’t have to measure too well because it stores left over fuel.

For smaller amounts of fuel I like to use a repurposed nasal spray bottle from CVS. If I recall correctly, it holds 5oz, weighs 0.6oz, and has a spray tip that dispenses just about 1/10 oz per second.  1..2..3..4..5 = 1/2 ounce. Easy peasy.

**Edit, answered my own question.

For cleaning supplies I use in place of a sponge the grass and/or weeds which I scrub with combined with plain old water.  If the food is fatty/oily, then I also add dirt into the slurry of water mixed by the weeds.  The dirt seems to absorb and gets the oil off the pot nearly as well as soap does when you wash at home.  I don’t like having a stinky sponge either attracting animals if I store it with the rest of my gear or growing bacteria if I keep it sealed in my bear bag.

Thanks, Michael K

I might use the starlyte over the fancy feast as a few have suggested now. Appreciate the help!

What would be the advantage over the original starlyte vs the modified linked here below? :
http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/modified-starlyte-burner-with-lid.php

Would one of these be worse or better than the other for this specific set up?

You’ll get a more definitive answer from one of the stove wizards here but I think the modified Starlyte gives you a slower burn rate which is more efficient but slower.

Also there’s something about thermal feedback in a closed space accelerating the burn rate because the alcohol vaporizes more intensely from the heat reflecting back. Anyhow, send Zelph an email and ask him which stove he recommends. Or maybe he might respond here.

I have both Starlyte and Fancee Feest from Zelph – both great stoves. Zelph and others would know better than me, but I think the Starlyte works better in the low oxygen environment of the cone.  For the narrow Foster’s pot, I would go specifically with the modified Starlyte – which you modify on your own with a small piece of Ti foil, scissors  and a hole punch.

Also the Starlyte is designed to work with your cone and the specific height it holds the pot.  The FF may work, if it lifts the pot a little.  If it doesn’t lift the pot then I think you’ll get fire coming up the center and the the burn accelerated (maybe hastened even more by the high heat under the cone).  All sounds like a recipe for a sooty and quick burn-out of your 1 oz or so of fuel.

The cone should be pot stand and heat/wind shield in one, so it is I think the lightest and most efficient, but as others have said, not for every stove.  If you didn’t have the cone, then I’d say FF and either carbon felt or TI foil windscreen.

I recommend using the Modified Starlyte burner.

Do not use a Fancee Feest or Super Cat.

I no longer make Foster pots for Gossamer Gear, nor do I have Foster pots listed on my site woodgaz-stove.com

I have some wide mouth Foster pots  that are 1/4″ shorter than the ones recently sold by Gossamer Gear. I’ll list those for sale in the spring of 2018 when I return home.

Flexible flasks, like a mini Platypus, are the lightest alcohol container I know of. A 7.5oz Flask2Go is 0.4oz.

Check with your pharmacy for hard plastic bottles used for liquid meds like cough syrup. Get some “Mr Yuk” stickers while you’re at it.

Flask2Go, holds 7.5oz, weighs 0.4oz; pharmacy bottle, holds 450ml, weighs 44g; plastic liquor bottle, holds 750ml, weighs 62g. All should be boldly labeled to avoid accidental poisoning.

Thanks for the replies everyone! Dan do you know the exact weight for the modified burner with the lid? So I can list it in my write up

Modified Starlyte with lid has my +/-0.1oz scale bouncing between 14g and 16g.

Thanks, so I will call that 15 give or take a gram I guess

So I finally got my windscreen in the mail, and I love the cone, it’s tiny, but sadly I cant seem to fit it inside of my foster’s can pot, which is slightly problematic, if it were a flat bottom version it would fit, but the regular can bottom shape seems to be pushing it just ever so slightly out the top of the pot.

it fits with the flexible plastic top but not the metal one

On the lid debate, I really like my silicone lid that doubles as a pot grabber. Just a circular piece of 100% silicone baking mat that I fish out with a spoon when the water boils.