Winter stove system Mk III

[Jan Rezac]

Obligatory dummy post…

[Jan Rezac]

I overhauled my winter cooking system once again this winter. (The previous iteration is described in this thread). The most important upgrade is the base that serves a double duty as a digging tool akin to the Snowclaw. Here’s an overall picture of the setup in action (with a large 3.7 l pot), a walk through the assembly of the setup follows.

The important part is the base, made out of 1mm thick carbon composite sheet. Weight is about 6 oz, heavy for a stove base, but this item can replace a shovel on majority of my wintertrips. When digging, it is held by the wooden handles on the side facing away from the user. The round edge is used for digging, the straight side can be used for leveling a snow platform. It’s very rigid, it can chop through pretty hard snow easily. I’m sure it can be made out of a lighter sheet and still work as well as the soft-plastic snowclaw, and some weight can be also saved on the handles.

A small clip fixes the stove, primus spider express, to the base:

It also holds the heat reflector in place:

Now comes the stove:

On the stove, I’ve upgraded the piezo ignition with a stronger spark generator (a spare part for grills). Unlike its predecessor I made using a lighter-grade piezo, it now lights on the first click. A little heavy (the complete thing adds an ounce to the stove), but worth all its weight – it’s so easy to use even in gloves.

The red thing on the right is a stand holding the cartridge uspide down and the control valve accessible. The first-ever 3D printed thing I find useful for backpacking:

Now comes the windscreen – made of relatively thin foil to save the weight over my previous setup:

The windscreen attaches to the base by the means of tight-fitting pins. The rods extend the full height of the windscreen, so it’s easy to insert or remove them holding them by the other end at the upper edge. Again, easy even in gloves:

Finally, one more picture of the complete setup:

I tested it on a 3-nights trip this winter and it worked flawlessly. I was really happy how it turned out, finally a system that can be easily assembled and operated without taking the gloves off even for a single moment. With this large pot, it seems to be pretty efficient too.

[Bruce Tolley]

Looks pretty impressive. I just gather up scrap plywood from my garage. And when none is available, tape two pieces of cardboard together with duct tape. I cannot tell from the photos how thick your board it. Does it provide enough insulation to prevent your stove from melting into the snow. With the woodern supports, I see that there must be an air gap under the board. Perhaps that gap does the trick.
Cheers

[JCH]

That is really frikin sweet.  I have no need for such a system, but still…as Bruce said, impressive.  I like the radial holes that accept/adjust the windscreen rods.  Well considered all around.

[Bruce Tolley]

To add to my comment, the dual use aspect is amazing. I’d love to leave my snow shovel at home but it is necessary for everything from building the kitchen, erecting the platform for my tarp, mining snow for cooking, etc.

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