Lightweight Stove - Caldera ti-Tri Sidewinder, Trail designs

[eddie the eagle]

HI All,

In a bid to drastically reduce weight and volume in my pack, I bought a Caldera Ti-Tri Sidewinder Stove from Trail Designs - new design, not on the website yet.

Not a gloat by any stretch, but just a bit of feedback on performance for those interested.

(1) bought a Sidewinder as it sits a lot lower to the ground than their traditional cone. As I work with kids, it's amazing the number of times a Trangia gets bumped.


[source: http://traildesigns.com/gallery10.html - about half way down]

(2) Takes about 11 minutes on 35mL of metho to boil 1 litre in my highly advanced (cough, cough) tests in a kitchen setting (sitting on top of a gas stove.) Metho burns out after about 12 minutes or so.

(3) The complete Sidewinder stove fits neatly inside a 1.3L titanium Evernew pot supplied with the kit. I figured it was better to buy the pot and the stove, as opposed to trying to cobble something together.

As expected, the fastening system's a bit delicate, as is the lightweight titanium foil body. Needs to be rolled up carefully.

Rand at Trail Designs is very knowledgeable and easy to work with.

Cheers,

eddie

[Franco]

Thanks Eddie
I noticed today that there is a complete chart of the different versions here :
http://www.traildesigns.com/comparison.html
A mate recently purchased the Keg version. This one needs some tender loving care but it is indeed very light.
The Ti version is what I recommend because it is very strong (and flexible) for the weight.
Theoretically the full cone is more efficient , however I bet that the wider pot (mine is a 600ml version) makes up for it.
I find it easier to pop the wide sleeve on top of the other and then slide it off to dismantle it.
This is my new snuffer ( to save the left over fuel)

custom made in my kitchen.

Franco

[eddie the eagle]

In response to a PM, here's the weight of the system that I have.

(typing as I weigh things up on my wife's Weightwatchers scale, I had no idea of weights either until I did this - as you can tell, I'm not exactly a fanatical U/L walker.)

System necessities (except for the matches)
Basic pot: 140g (EverNew 1,3L Titanium Pot, plain, uncoated)
Cone: 43g
Tyvek wrapper needed to keep cone coiled: 2g
2xtitanium pegs supplied: 12g
Emergency pack of waterproof matches in small ziplock bag: 10g

Fuel options:
Metho (all up wt = 40g plus fuel, 150mL = 120g => 160g complete.)
Soda can stove 15g plus small ziplock bag to keep burner from touching pot inner 5g
empty 150mL Nalgene fuel bottle and medicine measure: 20g

Hexy/solid fuel (the Trail Designs 'gram cracker' system - all up wt = 13g, plus fuel, 3 tablets = 57g complete)
Piece of scrap titanium foil and burner: 7g
Small plastic bag to carry unit/keep it together so you don't lose pieces (likely otherwise): 6g
Three Hexy tablets supplied: 43g

Wood: (all up wt = 66g.) (the Trail Designs Inferno system)
Base: 18g
Inner cone: 24g
Fire grill/damper height adjustment: 24g

Complete packed weight, with all options neatly packed in pot, but no fuel in bottle: 370g (490g including 150mL metho)
The two Titanium pegs needed to set the pot at optimum height = 165mm long, and do not fit in the pot. They need to be carried separately.

Packed size = approx 6" diameter pot x about 4" high = hang on, I'll get a tape. Exact size = 160mm diameter x 90mm high.


Note that the Titanium pegs need to be carried separately. A bit of a design flaw that could be eliminated by using three shorter pegs instead of two longer ones, but, as Rand at Trail Designs rightfully pointed out, his stoves are designed for UL backpacking, so people usually use tentpegs instead of carrying extra ones especially for the stove.

As I have a Mont Moondance II tent (very happy with it for three season use) and recently purchased Lightwave (with a massive vestibule at a price that couldn't be refused) and a Tarptent ScarpII (bought as I'll be camping exposed on Bass Strait headlands in a couple of weeks - recent weather justifies purchase,) none of these pegs fit (and, being aluminium, they melt at 600°C, below the temp of a wood fire flame!)

I'll need to carry the extra stove pegs, and, let's be honest, the best weight reduction I could achieve would be to lose the extra two stone I'm carrying, not the 12g of the pegs.

Cheers,

eddie

edit: manufacturer's weights:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... 669#299669

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... 28&print=1

[rogergb]

Thanks

As an aussie living in Europe, I have the sidewinder and the Evernew 0.9 litre pot works great and is the system that will most likely come with me to Lapland in 2011. More details can be found at

http://www.nielsenbrownoutdoors.com/201 ... inder.html

and

a trip report of its use

http://www.nielsenbrownoutdoors.com/201 ... afors.html

Enjoy

[Franco]

This is the reason why I bought a "sidewinder" , to be able to use a bigger pot to melt snow as well as heat more water in one go.
(my usual stove now is a CC with a 550ml pot/mug)
I cannot tell you exactly how much fuel I used (about 3 oz...) but in two burns (full the first time and about 1 oz the second) I got about 1.3L of hot almost boiling water.
Used that for my hot water bottle ( a 600 ml hard plastic, Nalgene type, covered with a sock) , and for some water for the morning cup.


my cone has been cut to accommodate the larger 1.5 L , originally it was designed for a 1.3L pot.

Incidentally, my Mini Bic did not work cause I forgot to warm it up (it did later on...) so I used a light My Fire stick.
Neither me nor my mate could light the alcohol (he has used that at temps between -40 and - 50 in Alaska and Scandinavia...) so I had to resort to my Vaseline impregnated cotton balls. A tiny bit opened up worked the first time as it did for the other burns after that.
Franco
my cone has been cut to accommodate the larger 1.5 L , originally it was designed for a 1.3L pot.

Incidentally, my Mini Bic did not work cause I forgot to warm it up (it did later on...) so I used a light My Fire stick.
Neither me nor my mate could light the alcohol (he has used that at temps between -40 and 50 in Alaska and Scandinavia...) so I had to resort to my Vaseline impregnated cotton balls. A tiny bit opened up worked the first time as it did for the other burns after that.
Franco