Thread: Lightweight cooking system

Originally Posted by superdiver

Unsure what way to go here guys. Thinking jetboil flash($199) or a titanium pot/pan set up. Mostly have back country's but would be nice to have the ability to not just boil water. Any recommendations? Lightweight and small is the key really.

Don't know if you saw this thread. All the comments are valid. Upside is the setup is light and compact. Downside is that it's not great in wind.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....cookset-73467/

https://youtu.be/1bSTXdBl-DA

Sent from my CPH1903 using Tapatalk

Hi superdiver

My 2c

* It's the whole system weight that counts - stove, fuel, pan and windshield
* MSR Windburner - yup, plus I got the frying pan for it
* Alcohol stoves are super light, but fiddly. Compared with gas/white spirit, alcohol is slow and heavy for the same heat output. You'll most likely spill it and or burn yourself.
* Titanium is super light and super expensive. I have Evernew 0.9/1.3L pans which are quite thin and dent fairly easily which pisses me off having paid heaps.
* Ti is good for boiling water but very easy to burn when cooking e.g. porridge will catch with an instant's inattention as the heat concentrates in one spot without spreading
* Stainless steel is tough, heavy, and is easier to cook on as hot spots are less intense
* On balance, for my purposes, adonised aluminium is a good mix of light weight, low price, durable and OK to cook if you want more than boiling water.
* Other than the Windburner, the MSR Whisperlite Universal allows both gas and kero/spirit and is within cooey of the Windburner system weight by the time you add a pot and windshield
* Of the non-MSR cookers I think the Kovea Spider is the pick of the bunch - off canister, wide legs and pot supports, pre-heat tube so the canister can be inverted in cold weather, slightly heavier at 170g but highly versatile
* T7 have some cheapish aluminium pots but for some dumb-arse reason they didn't size them to stack inside each other? Macpac also.

System weights
MSR Windburner Personal 0.8L 825g (complete stove unit, 230g canister)
Windburner Duo 1.0L 855g (as above)
MSR Whisperlite Universal 975g (stove, 230g canister, 1.0L alu pot, windshield)
with kero and 325ml bottle 980g
MSR Pocket Rocket 2 775g (as for Whisperlite system bits, 200g lighter and much less stable)
Kovea Spider 875g (as above)

So weight isn't really the deciding factor to my mind once you take the whole system into account

I couldn't care less about boil times as they're all very similar, except for alcohol which is twice as slow. The Windburner/Jetboils are a lot better in a breeze and somewhat more efficient but I tend to seek out sheltered spots anyway. The litres boiled per 230g canister are 14-18 litres across the models above with the Windburners at the upper end of that. Using a lid on a pan/pot reduces gas used by 20-25%. I've tested this with the stove sitting on kitchen scales while boiling pots of water. Pathetic I know.

The Soto windmaster is a good stove. Reasonable temp control if you want to use a small fry pan on it.

FIREMAPLE 116T MINI GAS COOKER
Titanium 50g. On sale for $45 at present. Same cooker as Kathmandu Ti backpacker stove that sells for $140


Sent from my SM-G390Y using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by ROKTOY

FIREMAPLE 116T MINI GAS COOKER
Titanium 50g. On sale for $45 at present. Same cooker as Kathmandu Ti backpacker stove that sells for $140


Sent from my SM-G390Y using Tapatalk

I have something similar. branded FOHOZ. works mint and a cheap "titanium" pot off torpedo 7 and you can cook noodles, tuna and whatev super easily.

I really rate it for general use. I have never used it in snow or alpine environs tho

Sorry guys I realized I didn't mention that I already have a Lightweight burner so sorted in that regards.
Have had a look at the primus as mentioned earlier and that is pretty good for cheap but again leaves me with the boil only option. Looked at a few toaks pots but I understand Ti gets hot spots very easily?

Originally Posted by superdiver

Looked at a few toaks pots but I understand Ti gets hot spots very easily?

Very much so. I wouldn't recommend them for anything other than boiling water.

New jetboils have a valve system that allow for restricted gas flows and semi suitable for cooking on.

In the wind you can’t beat this style of cooker for efficient gas use

Originally Posted by ROKTOY

+1, and a lot cheaper, on sale at T7 at present. use the change to grab a frypan for your morning bacon and eggs.
For lightweight try a Firemaple titanium cooker for $55 and a 750ml titanium pot of Aliexpress. All sorted for under a hundy.

I got a great little very lightweight fry pan from The Warehouse for $10. Perfect for bacon eggs. you can unscrew the handle if you want to make stowing it easier as well.

MSR Windburner, 1L version. Includes a little cup and can fit the smaller canister inside itself, brilliant piece of kit

Another vote for the Soto windmaster. Up graded from my 25 gm Aliexpress cooker that did the job ok just not so good in the wind.
Cant quite get my windmaster in the pot so it sits in the mesh bag on top of the pot.

Originally Posted by superdiver

Sorry guys I realized I didn't mention that I already have a Lightweight burner so sorted in that regards.
Have had a look at the primus as mentioned earlier and that is pretty good for cheap but again leaves me with the boil only option. Looked at a few toaks pots but I understand Ti gets hot spots very easily?

It can be setup with a fry pan. Any of the lightweight frypans matched with a gas burner are pretty shit to cook on, no thermal mass and always made of highly conductive materials like alu or ti.

I would just opt for a plain Jane gas burner and take a ti cup and pan. Boil your water in the cup cook in the pan.

I use a Trail Designs Caldera Cone which is a titanium windshield/pot stand with a shallow/wide titanium pot and an evernew titanium meths burner. The windshield focuses all the heat on the pot and it's quite fast and efficient, uses maybe 20ml of meths to boil 500ml of water. Total stove/burner/windshield weight is 155gm which is insanely light. Can carry meths for a short or overnight trip in small (basically zero weight) plastic bottle as 100-200mls is more than enough for a few days, but I have the smallest size of Primus liquid fuel bottle (350ml and 92gm empty) for longer trips - which still only weighs about the same as a gas can for a jetboil etc.

It is fiddlier, slower, riskier and doesn't work as well in the wind as a jetboil but the weight can't be beat (total system weight for a week long trip would be approx 550gm) and it doesn't produce waste e.g. a million half empty gas cans.

@superdiver as mentioned you already have a gas method for heating etc.
The alcohol stoves are pretty good as mentioned above, and as a lightweight alternative are hard to beat. Anyone unfamiliar should google cat stove. You can make one in about 5 minutes and that includes the time to wash out the old cat food.
Esbit and Trianga make alcohol stoves ( meths for us kiwi's)
Its easy to calculate fuel on how many times you are going to "boil up" on a trip and add a couple of extra's ....25 mil per boil of 500 mils of water. I use a scavenged baby food pouch ( with a closable screw top ) that holds about 100 mils ... enough for a day. A larger foldable flask can carry enough for a week if needed.
A wind shield is a must for them and can be made out of a slice of aluminium oven tray, with a dome clip on each end to clip into a circle.

Something else not mentioned yet is a fire box, I have a set of three strips of stainless that slot together to make a fire surround, the sides of which make it stable for a pan etc. Trianga make one for about $50 as well but I got an Ali exp one a number of years ago.

I will put up a pic later of the cat stove and associated bits and the wood fire triangle thingy as well.
And I agree with the comment about the half used cannisters everywhere.

How many times do you find 10 in a hut .... some lazy arse has come up with the bright idea that to leave it at the hut is great for someone who runs out of gas....... whats really going on is that the little Millenial want the Boomer to take away their rubbish.