- Joined
- Jun 3, 2010
- Messages
- 1,516
I don't remember if I ever posted a review of this stove on bladeforums. The search function didn't show it and I just added a field test which includes foraging a meal in the woods. What better way to test a stove?
Opossum review:
This opossum was rambling about during the burn. It' a rather scrawny specimen. Not what I would consider a first rate opossum. Still it was cheap and more UL than your average marsupial.
Pros:
I like opossums.
Cons.
Scrawny.
Conclusion.
It's an OK opossum but nothing to write home about.
Stove Review:
The 20 dollarish stainless steel wood gas stove.
The is darn near the same stove as the Wild Stove's wood gas burner. The air holes are square rather than round but beyond that these stoves look very nearly the same. Normally this would be a negative aka hate to support a copy however all these stoves come from China which is also the nation of origin. Could be all roads lead to Rome in this case?
Specs:
Fast to boil: 8-10 minutes to boil 34 fl oz of water
Fuel: Burns sticks, pine cones and other biomass
Packed size: Height 15.2cm, Width12.6cm
Assembled size: Assembled size: Height 6CM, Width 12.6CM
Weight: 14 oz
Materials: Hardened stainless steel
Per my scale it's 12.4 oz including ditty bag which was rather nice. I think it's made of 304 SS per other descriptions but auction listings are what they are.
It comes in 4 parts that slide together in seconds. One never need touch the dirty insides during assembly or take down if that's a concern. Notice the double walled construction. It's actually made rather well.
Internal firebox.
All setup. They have another version with a Bushbuddy type pot support but mine has the swing out supports.
I have used this stove in the woods during a few hikes etc. In the future I will update this review with field usage and video but for now lets try some wood pellets. This small canteen weights 12.9 oz full of wood pellets per my digital scale.
The stove can hold more but it's 28 F out and windy so didn't want to spend all night doing this.
To encourage the pellets to ignite tossed in a hand full of pine needles and pencil lead thin twigs. Guessing they added maybe 30 seconds to the total burn time. Very low mass. Wood gasification started at 9:34 PM.
No smoke, sparks or fuss.
It's a fast cooker. The supports didn't work all that well my USGI mess kit. On the flip side that pan isn't balanced all that well IMHO.
Yes it's bacon! One must speculate if the smell didn't draw in the opossum?
Burning like a champ totally unattended. No refueling. No nothing. The fire kept burning at a constant rate. I had greater flames using wood from the woods but nothing ever this consistent over so long a period.
9:56 PM and still burning. The wind was affecting the flames but that's common with most any stove. I do feel that wood gas combustion might be more prone to being blown out than a normal wood fire. That said it never was blown out.
Yes that's me picking up the stove 38 minutes into the burn. Very low impact.
At 10:15 the flames died. I never added fuel or did anything to the firebox. Not even stirring the coals. About as trouble free as a canister or alcohol stove during the burn. yea really need to shop around for price. Seen them from 20 dollars and change to 60. I paid 21.60 shipped from china to my door. Keep in mind the firebox needs small wood which means more processing. I will get more into actual field use in a future update.
Pros:
1. Burns wood pellets fantastic. The flames look just like a camping type gas or liquid stove.
2. Cheap but not cheaply made.
3. Easy take down and assembly.
4. Won't cover your hands or gear in ash.
5. Can burn wood etc in the field.
6. I don't think this is a copy of a USA made item. It was invented and built overseas.
7. It could burn a 40 lb bag of pellets for a long time.
Cons:
1. All of those related to burning and cooking on a wood stove with a small firebox
2. Wide range of price for the same item.
3. I like to buy USA made kit whenever possible to support jobs.
4. It might be a bit heavy for those cutting toothbrush handles off.
Conclusion:
Dang nice for the money. I will be updating this review with field testing and video in the future.
Now for the field test.
I was lucky enough to get another one of these for Christmas! So now I got two. This one is the same but has the little SS cup for guessing alcohol or fuel tabs but never tested that. I intended to test both, one using wood pellets & packed tinder, the other wild wood & tinder during a cold wet day side by side cooking a 100% foraged meal. First I would need the meal.
Onion grass or wild scallions.
The Trout.
The tinder for the wild wood burn. The wood pellet stove would be getting cotton balls with Vaseline.
Hemlock needles for the tea.
My foraged meal ready to go. I got the water from a little local brook.
Both stoves ready to GO! Wood pellets on the left wild wood on the right.
Burning nicely. I had a little but of trouble with the wild wood as over did it with the birch bark tying to compensate for the weather. Once I removed some and put the top on it was off to the races. The wood pellets burned like a champ. Fire and forget. The timed burn for them was 34 minutes give or take 20 seconds as was slow to start the timer.
Trout is on.
Cooking nicely.
As the water was taken from the woods it would need to be boiled. Seen weasels and all sorts of critters around that little brook.
I didn't time the boil however it boiled.
Moved the kettle over to the wild wood burning stove.
All done.
The foraged meal was great and both stoves worked just fine however wood pellets were fire and forget. Still the other stove used very very little wood. Here is a video which includes the foraging.
[video=youtube;VRCuLcyK4wA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRCuLcyK4wA[/video]
Thanks for looking!
Opossum review:
This opossum was rambling about during the burn. It' a rather scrawny specimen. Not what I would consider a first rate opossum. Still it was cheap and more UL than your average marsupial.
Pros:
I like opossums.
Cons.
Scrawny.
Conclusion.
It's an OK opossum but nothing to write home about.
Stove Review:
The 20 dollarish stainless steel wood gas stove.
The is darn near the same stove as the Wild Stove's wood gas burner. The air holes are square rather than round but beyond that these stoves look very nearly the same. Normally this would be a negative aka hate to support a copy however all these stoves come from China which is also the nation of origin. Could be all roads lead to Rome in this case?
Specs:
Fast to boil: 8-10 minutes to boil 34 fl oz of water
Fuel: Burns sticks, pine cones and other biomass
Packed size: Height 15.2cm, Width12.6cm
Assembled size: Assembled size: Height 6CM, Width 12.6CM
Weight: 14 oz
Materials: Hardened stainless steel
Per my scale it's 12.4 oz including ditty bag which was rather nice. I think it's made of 304 SS per other descriptions but auction listings are what they are.
It comes in 4 parts that slide together in seconds. One never need touch the dirty insides during assembly or take down if that's a concern. Notice the double walled construction. It's actually made rather well.
Internal firebox.
All setup. They have another version with a Bushbuddy type pot support but mine has the swing out supports.
I have used this stove in the woods during a few hikes etc. In the future I will update this review with field usage and video but for now lets try some wood pellets. This small canteen weights 12.9 oz full of wood pellets per my digital scale.
The stove can hold more but it's 28 F out and windy so didn't want to spend all night doing this.
To encourage the pellets to ignite tossed in a hand full of pine needles and pencil lead thin twigs. Guessing they added maybe 30 seconds to the total burn time. Very low mass. Wood gasification started at 9:34 PM.
No smoke, sparks or fuss.
It's a fast cooker. The supports didn't work all that well my USGI mess kit. On the flip side that pan isn't balanced all that well IMHO.
Yes it's bacon! One must speculate if the smell didn't draw in the opossum?
Burning like a champ totally unattended. No refueling. No nothing. The fire kept burning at a constant rate. I had greater flames using wood from the woods but nothing ever this consistent over so long a period.
9:56 PM and still burning. The wind was affecting the flames but that's common with most any stove. I do feel that wood gas combustion might be more prone to being blown out than a normal wood fire. That said it never was blown out.
Yes that's me picking up the stove 38 minutes into the burn. Very low impact.
At 10:15 the flames died. I never added fuel or did anything to the firebox. Not even stirring the coals. About as trouble free as a canister or alcohol stove during the burn. yea really need to shop around for price. Seen them from 20 dollars and change to 60. I paid 21.60 shipped from china to my door. Keep in mind the firebox needs small wood which means more processing. I will get more into actual field use in a future update.
Pros:
1. Burns wood pellets fantastic. The flames look just like a camping type gas or liquid stove.
2. Cheap but not cheaply made.
3. Easy take down and assembly.
4. Won't cover your hands or gear in ash.
5. Can burn wood etc in the field.
6. I don't think this is a copy of a USA made item. It was invented and built overseas.
7. It could burn a 40 lb bag of pellets for a long time.
Cons:
1. All of those related to burning and cooking on a wood stove with a small firebox
2. Wide range of price for the same item.
3. I like to buy USA made kit whenever possible to support jobs.
4. It might be a bit heavy for those cutting toothbrush handles off.
Conclusion:
Dang nice for the money. I will be updating this review with field testing and video in the future.
Now for the field test.
I was lucky enough to get another one of these for Christmas! So now I got two. This one is the same but has the little SS cup for guessing alcohol or fuel tabs but never tested that. I intended to test both, one using wood pellets & packed tinder, the other wild wood & tinder during a cold wet day side by side cooking a 100% foraged meal. First I would need the meal.
Onion grass or wild scallions.
The Trout.
The tinder for the wild wood burn. The wood pellet stove would be getting cotton balls with Vaseline.
Hemlock needles for the tea.
My foraged meal ready to go. I got the water from a little local brook.
Both stoves ready to GO! Wood pellets on the left wild wood on the right.
Burning nicely. I had a little but of trouble with the wild wood as over did it with the birch bark tying to compensate for the weather. Once I removed some and put the top on it was off to the races. The wood pellets burned like a champ. Fire and forget. The timed burn for them was 34 minutes give or take 20 seconds as was slow to start the timer.
Trout is on.
Cooking nicely.
As the water was taken from the woods it would need to be boiled. Seen weasels and all sorts of critters around that little brook.
I didn't time the boil however it boiled.
Moved the kettle over to the wild wood burning stove.
All done.
The foraged meal was great and both stoves worked just fine however wood pellets were fire and forget. Still the other stove used very very little wood. Here is a video which includes the foraging.
[video=youtube;VRCuLcyK4wA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRCuLcyK4wA[/video]
Thanks for looking!
:thumbup:
