Bushwalk Australia

Hi,

Gear Skeptic has just released his first video on "Backpacking Stove Efficiency".

This is "Part 1 Pot Diameter- Burner Size- Flame Level"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Sz3IQ_DW4

Worth a watch... very interesting..
Lids .. for smaller pots .. lids should be <6grams to be worthwhile in terms of weight saved.

Of course low flame level gives best efficiency. But pot size gets more difficult.

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I want to see what he comes up with for wind effects...

I can see a lot more videos coming out of this. Titanium v other offerings. Testing stoves in wind...

Anecdotally, after spending a lot of time and money trying different setups, I've settled on canister gas, the Soto Amicus stove, and a GSI Soloist pot.

Gas just because of it reliability. The Amicus because it's simplicity and how it handles wind. And the GSI pot because it spreads heat evenly, so less chance of burning food and its ease of cleaning.

I really hope Gear Sceptics continues to take a closer look into all of this. His approach is so much better than my try this and see how it goes approach.

There are so many variables. I’ll be interested in the outcome. Even in my varied requirements in the bush/snow, what might work well for one type of trip is not ideal for another. Gas is great for some trips (snow or short bushwalking trips), but wood burning twigs better for others (NZ backcountry fly fishing).
A

Nothing new in the video for people that use their gear a fair bit and have trialled the BRS surely?

Lamont wrote:Nothing new in the video for people that use their gear a fair bit and have trialled the BRS surely?

So you have tested the effect of a lid to see what weight of gas it saves? What numbers did you get? I only tested for the weight of gas consumed for my 'normal' boil... did not think to test for the lid. I am yet to test for wind and wind deflector... usually just set up in the lee of the tent / tent vestibule.

crollsurf wrote:I can see a lot more videos coming out of this. Titanium v other offerings. Testing stoves in wind...

Anecdotally, after spending a lot of time and money trying different setups, I've settled on canister gas, the Soto Amicus stove, and a GSI Soloist pot.

Gas just because of it reliability. The Amicus because it's simplicity and how it handles wind. And the GSI pot because it spreads heat evenly, so less chance of burning food and its ease of cleaning.

I really hope Gear Sceptics continues to take a closer look into all of this. His approach is so much better than my try this and see how it goes approach.

If reliability is one of your main criteria then metho stoves could be the go.
No moving parts or small apertures to get blocked.

Of course, there are other considerations that might make you lean other ways.

Something that I found to be rather bizarre is the way that my typical reply (it depends..) to " How many meals can you cook with a 100 g canister ? ' or similar question is almost always ignored.
I point out that one can half or double (or more) simply by using a different size pot, different pot material, different gas level, at different air temperatures, in calm or windy weather , water at different starting temp and all or some of those combined.
yet the double or half does get regularly ignored....
Yes , I am fully aware that we have a shorter and shorter attention span and we all want a simple answer but there isn't one.

Tonight I enjoyed rump steak and cous cous on the mini Trangia. Have only boiled water for coffee previously on this little one. Used the 360° brand frypan but the mini's lid would have worked. Half a burner of metho with a dash of water. Some flame left to eat by

Franco wrote:Yes , I am fully aware that we have a shorter and shorter attention span and we all want a simple answer but there isn't one.

Well part 2 is out - effects of wind. And again there is no simple answer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r-2hZ8UCeA
~35 minutes of information.
Caution. A 'non trivial amount of consternation' occurs @ 20.5 minutes.

Part 3 will also be interesting - effects of wind shields... He takes about 3 months to generate the next part.. so there will be again a waiting time. Along with the short attention span goes the expectation of frequent updates .. these too are missing here

And I'd think there will be no simple answer in part 3 ... it is just so dependent of the combination of factors, the ones you cannot control are the ones where you have to estimate the range of values and then estimate the best of the items you can control (eg burner type, pot size, lid, wind shield).

Part 4 ??? Heat Exchanges ???