Review of the FireAnt Multi-Fuel Stove!

AngryDaddyBird

AngryDaddyBird

Joined
May 18, 2012
Messages
720
If looking for a New Ultralight Multi-Fuel Backpacking Stove be sure to checkout the FireAnt which is the newest addition to The Emberlit Family. Mikhail who brought us the Emberlit launched a Kickstarter for the FireAnt ultralight Multi-fuel Stove and his project reached the funding goal in literally hours!

Now we've all seen changes in the Emberlit over the years but the FireAnt was a whole new design!
Mikhail wanted to design an Ultralight Multi-Fuel backpacking stove and I'd say he was successful! Being its made of lightweight Titanium it weighs just 2.8oz by its self or barely over 3 with the fuel plate and case. Pretty impressive.

Manufacturers specs:
Products Specifications
Material Titanium
Weight 2.8 oz
Panels 2x4.4 inches
Stove Height 4 inches
Top of stove 2.5x2.5 inches
Packs flat 1/8th of an inch
Manufactuer Merkwares
Warranty Life time
Manufacturer price $ N/A

"Quality, Parts & Assembly"
The FireAnt arrived in a padded yellow envelope direct from Emberlit.com
Inside was a black bag holding 6 pieces. 4 walls a base plate and a solid fuel tab plate.
76E5731A-A2DC-4599-B0DA-AF2D4F51A431.jpg

I immediately noticed that all the pieces had a plastic film on both sides.
74D4A9C1-3E9E-440C-B2CC-4FA947B8674D.jpg

I suspect this film is to keep the parts protected during the stamping & shipping process. Scratches should now be minimal. I examined each part for sharp edges or defects. No defects were evident! A couple of the sides had some edges that I noticed were a little sharp but nothing razor Sharp but still worth mentioning.
Assembly is the same as the Emberlit using Locking Tabs. Fitment of all pieces were good and when all assembled it felt solid. I admit I had a smile and said out loud "its a baby Emberlit!"
EE8C8EDB-4024-46D6-A2D3-D114EDF9B72A.jpg

It is small and really lightweight but it has lots of offerings like its able to utilize a Trangia/Esbit Type alcohol burner that fits in the slots of each wall panel. If fuel tabs are you thing the FireAnt has a Solid Fuel Tab plate that when placed in the same slits the Trangia uses sits just about an inch from the top.
The FireAnt did go through some changes like the shape of the feed port, adding a vent under it to help it burn better, Enlarging the dimples on the locking tabs ect and it shows in the quality & detail.
Assembling the stove with either alcohol burner or fuel tab plate is pretty simple. Just add the burner or plate just before you put the face plate on.
The addition of the Solid fuel tray is a great accessory many will appreciate.

"A Little on its Fuel options"
The FireAnt was intended not just to be an other Ultralight wood stove but rather Multi-Fuel stove! Alcohol burners, Solid Fuel tabs, Fuel gel or wood all can be used in the FireAnt. This means you always should be able to cook even if you forget the alcohol or fuel tabs at home ect.

"Performance"
My first burn in it was with wood! Like its big brother it started right up easily through the feed port which really handy for a stove this size. Its burn chamber is small which is the trade off for its size and will need more attention tending the fire. I filled a Canteen Cup with 2 cups of water, placed it on the FireAnt and it came to a rolling boil within several minutes. I cooked my Spicy Noodles and while eating my snack kept adding fuel to the FireAnt using only the fuel port and just watched it to see if ash or coals would be a problem on extended burns. No pot was on it. After some time feeding fuel the ash/coals did start to pile up in there but it wasn't affected much by that.
Most stoves of this type have ash/coal build up especially after using it for extended periods. Some more than others but It will depend on the end users experience with wood stoves of this type to keep things working well. There is a learning curve to using wood stoves but one can easily adapt pretty quickly!

"First test burn video"
[video=youtube_share;-gumsOno_YU]http://youtu.be/-gumsOno_YU[/video]
The Titanium turned a bunch of different colors ranging from bronze, purple to light blue which added to its beauty.
After making my dinner snack i moved the FireAnt to my little fire pit to see how it would be as a little contained Campfire. I filed it full of wood ranging from 1/4"-thumb size diameter and let it burn until the flames went out. It definitely can be a little campfire. It was now full of bright orange hot coals and I figured keep it going. I ended up loading it 3 times and each time was full until sticking out the top. I didn't clear the stove between each filling but it kept going strong. The side panels had a dull orange glow!

"Mini contained campfire test"
[video=youtube_share;3B5aYbzQSS0]http://youtu.be/3B5aYbzQSS0[/video]
I like to test every Wood stove I use this way because it really test the stove! Many things can happen doing this like warping. That's what I wanted to see. After it cooled off sighted each panel to see if any warping took place. The all panels had the usual slight curve but the front had a bit more. The burn plate had a concave to it but again normal. It disassembled and reassembled like new. I suspect it will not get any worst after burning it so hot.
Speaking of hot the heat from using it as a campfire really brought some awesome coloring to the Titanium FireAnt!

"Overall impressions"
This Little brother to the well known Emberlit with it's Simple Assembly and attention to detail performs well and Truly is a Lightweight! Yes it will require more tending the fire but thats to be expected with its small size.
I cooked, boiled water and just burned fires in it and was pleasantly satisfied with how it performed. I had no problems using wood.
The gauge of Titanium used is thinner than the Emberlit but still feels solid when assembled.
With Its being such a small light package it would be a great choice for the Ultralight crowd looking the shave every gram off their gear or definitely could be an EDC option.
Its safe to say that Mikhail Successfully Created an Ultralight Multi-fuel backpacking stove! Currently the lightest Pack flat stove in my current collection of wood stoves! A good looking one too!

For more info check out The Emberlit website at Emberlit.com

Thanks for reading and if you have questions or comments feel free to comment or contact me.

ADB
 
Last edited:
I have used this stove with success
It seems to have a very good draw

I will do a direct comparisson with the Mini
 
neeman said:
I have used this stove with success
It seems to have a very good draw

I will do a direct comparisson with the Mini
Click to expand...
The FireAnt has Great draw! I could see it when I did the Mini Campfire and first burn test.
I regret letting go of my mini!
Let us know how they compare to each outher. Post a picture or video if you got time b
 
pinnah said:
Would love to hear about performance with a Trangia stove in it.
Click to expand...
I just did a test using a Trangia burner.
The result was interesting!
Thing used were:
FireAnt stove
Evernew Titanium pot
2 cups 45 degree water
Denatured alcohol as fuel
Trangia burner ( not older military trangia)
Timer till 210 degrees which is what water boils at my altitude
Hope this answers a fer questions.
[video=youtube_share;v1IxeQzLuDo]http://youtu.be/v1IxeQzLuDo[/video]

Soiry but my video skills suck.
 
Last edited:
neeman said:
Does the Trangia sit at the correct hieght to maximise the flame?
Click to expand...

No. Optimum hieght for distance betweet top of burner to bottom if the pot is between 1 3/8" - 1 5/8" in my testing. Some people like it at 1 3/4" but my favorite is 1 1/2" gap.
I just measured the distance between top of the trangia to bottom of pot is only 7/8".
I measured from the top of the stoves pot suport to the top edge of the burner which is a hair above the jet hole.
Hope that helps you out.

ADB
 
I had a very nice email exchange with Mikal (sp?) during the kickstart campaign for the FireAnt. The primary point of the discussion was the best headspace (HS) for the Trangia burner.

My own experimentation with adjusting HS is that the optimal height depends a lot on the type of windscreen you're using and, in particular, the degree to which the windscreen creates a chimney or vortex type affect.

On my base Trangia, I prefer to use straight sided windscreens to allow for the use of different size pots. This as opposed to something like, say, the Caldera Cone type of windscreen. With this type of windscreen, I get decent results with a HS = 1.25". I will need to experiment with higher HS values though.


I've experimented quite a bit with different burner heights with the Trangia burner inside my regular Ti Emberlit. This is easily done by making an aluminum foil stand by folding the aluminum foil lengthwise to a set height and then loosely coiling the strip. This isn't super sturdy but it's enough to play with different HS values.

Not surprisingly, I found there is an optimal HS figure. Going in either direction from the optimum leads to longer boil times.

What did surprise me was how big the HS was. My figures...

Emberlit w/Trangia on floor (HS = 3.4"/87mm)
No windscreen
7:45

Emberlit w/Trangia + 35 mm lift (HS = 2"/52mm)
No windscreen
6:45

Emberlit w/Trangia + 50 mm lift (HS = 1.45"/37mm)
No windscreen
7:15


Note that the optimal value is in the 2" range. That's quite high. I suspect that the Emberlit is creating a chimney effect, hence the better times with a larger HS.

Here are the results when adding a raised windscreen like this:
image by Pinnah, on Flickr


Emberlit w/Trangia + 35 mm lift (HS = 2"/52mm)
Raised windsreen
4:45

Emberlit w/Trangia + 50 mm lift (HS = 1.45"/37mm)
Raised windscreen
5:00


Notice 2 things... First, a big HS of 2" still gives better boil times. Second, there is a HUGE drop in boil times when you add a windscreen (which is something of a truism of alcohol stoves anyway).



I've concluded that the Trangia + Emberlit just isn't a winning combination. To get decent performance (compared to using something like the really excellent MOJO pot stand) requires carrying something to lift the burner and a full windscreen and at that point, it's just as easy to carry the Mojo stand, which is a lot more useable in the end. As Trangia pot stands go, the Emberlit is a pain to use.


In talking with Mikal, my understanding is that the HS figure for the FireAnt is more or less dictated by the angle of the sidewalls and the size of the Trangia burner. Putting the slots lower may mean the Trangia burner is not securely held.

Also note that the deeper you put the Trangia burner in the Emerlits (either model) the harder it is to get the simmer/snuf ring on. I have an old bike spoke that I epoxied a strong magnet on which helps.


I have 2 hopes with the Emberlit FireAnt.

First and most importantly, I hope that it is short enough to the ground that a ground based aluminum windscreen could be used (with wood or with the Trangia). Mikal mentioned that he's thinking about some sort integrated or add-on windscreen. I noted to him that with wood, I get much faster boil times with my raised windscreen but it's a pain to deal with. I suggested that windscreen supports, as you see on the ClickStand pot stand might be something to add to the FireAnt.

Second, I hope that the HS with the Trangia is "good enough".


As it stands, I treat my Emberlit and my alcohol stoves (I also have a Batchstovez 1.0 that works well for ultralight trips) as either/or.

Hoping to get more input on how the FireAnt + Trangia works in practice. Particularly interested in what people do for windscreens.
 
pinnah said:
I had a very nice email exchange with Mikal (sp?) during the kickstart campaign for the FireAnt. The primary point of the discussion was the best headspace (HS) for the Trangia burner.

My own experimentation with adjusting HS is that the optimal height depends a lot on the type of windscreen you're using and, in particular, the degree to which the windscreen creates a chimney or vortex type affect.

On my base Trangia, I prefer to use straight sided windscreens to allow for the use of different size pots. This as opposed to something like, say, the Caldera Cone type of windscreen. With this type of windscreen, I get decent results with a HS = 1.25". I will need to experiment with higher HS values though.


I've experimented quite a bit with different burner heights with the Trangia burner inside my regular Ti Emberlit. This is easily done by making an aluminum foil stand by folding the aluminum foil lengthwise to a set height and then loosely coiling the strip. This isn't super sturdy but it's enough to play with different HS values.

Not surprisingly, I found there is an optimal HS figure. Going in either direction from the optimum leads to longer boil times.

What did surprise me was how big the HS was. My figures...

Emberlit w/Trangia on floor (HS = 3.4"/87mm)
No windscreen
7:45

Emberlit w/Trangia + 35 mm lift (HS = 2"/52mm)
No windscreen
6:45

Emberlit w/Trangia + 50 mm lift (HS = 1.45"/37mm)
No windscreen
7:15


Note that the optimal value is in the 2" range. That's quite high. I suspect that the Emberlit is creating a chimney effect, hence the better times with a larger HS.

Here are the results when adding a raised windscreen like this:
image by Pinnah, on Flickr


Emberlit w/Trangia + 35 mm lift (HS = 2"/52mm)
Raised windsreen
4:45

Emberlit w/Trangia + 50 mm lift (HS = 1.45"/37mm)
Raised windscreen
5:00


Notice 2 things... First, a big HS of 2" still gives better boil times. Second, there is a HUGE drop in boil times when you add a windscreen (which is something of a truism of alcohol stoves anyway).



I've concluded that the Trangia + Emberlit just isn't a winning combination. To get decent performance (compared to using something like the really excellent MOJO pot stand) requires carrying something to lift the burner and a full windscreen and at that point, it's just as easy to carry the Mojo stand, which is a lot more useable in the end. As Trangia pot stands go, the Emberlit is a pain to use.


In talking with Mikal, my understanding is that the HS figure for the FireAnt is more or less dictated by the angle of the sidewalls and the size of the Trangia burner. Putting the slots lower may mean the Trangia burner is not securely held.

Also note that the deeper you put the Trangia burner in the Emerlits (either model) the harder it is to get the simmer/snuf ring on. I have an old bike spoke that I epoxied a strong magnet on which helps.


I have 2 hopes with the Emberlit FireAnt.

First and most importantly, I hope that it is short enough to the ground that a ground based aluminum windscreen could be used (with wood or with the Trangia). Mikal mentioned that he's thinking about some sort integrated or add-on windscreen. I noted to him that with wood, I get much faster boil times with my raised windscreen but it's a pain to deal with. I suggested that windscreen supports, as you see on the ClickStand pot stand might be something to add to the FireAnt.

Second, I hope that the HS with the Trangia is "good enough".


As it stands, I treat my Emberlit and my alcohol stoves (I also have a Batchstovez 1.0 that works well for ultralight trips) as either/or.

Hoping to get more input on how the FireAnt + Trangia works in practice. Particularly interested in what people do for windscreens.
Click to expand...

Times I’ve used the Trangia with the Emberlit I:
Cut a branch into a two inch pedestal.
Pedestal on ground.
Trangia on pedestal.
Light Trangia.
Bottomless Emberlit over the stove.
Cover feed hole with bottom plate.
Boil and/or cook.
Remove Emberlit using branches through top holes.
Snuff the Trangia.

Your coiled foil pedestal is a more elegant solution.

I’ve never given much thought to windscreens. If I wanted to make one, I’d prefabricate with aluminum foil. Then fold foil screen and foil pedestal to fit in the case that holds the Emberlit parts. I’d never notice the extra weight. Might need a larger envelope.

I think the Trangia compatibility problem can be fixed.

The Fire Ant has a solid fuel tray that fits in the Trangia slots. Reshape the Esbit tray so the Trangia can sit firm on it. Lower the slots to give optimum clearance from Trangia’s base flame to the pot.

When assembling the stove:
Slide the tray in place.
Put the Trangia on the tray.
Install the final wall.
Cover feed hole with bottom plate.
Light from above.
 
Last edited:
thanks for the awesome review! looks like i'll be picking one up too.
 
Raymond1000 said:
Times I’ve used the Trangia with the Emberlit I:
Cut a branch into a two inch pedestal.
Pedestal on ground.
Trangia on pedestal.
Light Trangia.
Bottomless Emberlit over the stove.
Cover feed hole with bottom plate.
Boil and/or cook.
Remove Emberlit using branches through top holes.
Snuff the Trangia.

Your coiled foil pedestal is a more elegant solution.

I’ve never given much thought to windscreens. If I wanted to make one, I’d prefabricate with aluminum foil. Then fold foil screen and foil pedestal fit in the case that holds the Emberlit parts. I’d never notice the extra weight. Might need a larger envelope.

I think the Trangia compatibility problem can be fixed.

The Fire Ant has a solid fuel tray that fits in the Trangia slots. Reshape the Esbit tray so the Trangia can sits firm on it. Lower the slots to give optimum clearance from Trangia’s base flame to the pot.

When assembling the stove:
Slide the tray in place.
Put the Trangia on the tray.
Install the final wall.
Cover feed hole with bottom plate.
Light from above.
Click to expand...

Modding the fuel tab plate or making one from scrap might just work.
 
Raymond1000 said:
Can the Fire Ant burn wood pellets?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Don't know? I'm not a pellet fan myself but Have used pellets several times in these type stoves. I like the Idea of free sticks & twigs and that keeps me from buying pellets. If you try it let us know how it works out. Maybe someone here has info or experience on this subject?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top