Mt Whitney Zone Forums Gear Heads Stove of the Week: The Caldera Cone

This week's stove is the Caldera Cone with 10-12 alcohol burner from Trail Designs.


The Caldera Cone with 10-12 burner is a stable, efficient, and wind resistant ultralight alcohol system that packs well inside a standard Ziploc container that doubles as a bowl.

Packed:


Unpacked:


Believe it or not, everything in the second photo is also present in the first.

I've written a review which is now available on Seattle Backpackers Magazine and there's a supplemental post with further information on my blog. Both can be accessed via this link.

HJ

Lighter included?

If you're asking did a lighter come with the set, no. I just picked up a lighter at the local gas station.

The lighter isn't included in the weight in the "technical appendix" at the end. I carry a lighter always, even if I'm not carrying a stove, so I didn't include the lighter in my list of weights.

HJ

Now, why do they sell lighters at gas stations?

Scenario: (wife pumping gas)
Husband: Lucy, I found a lighter that works...Look...flick...flick...ka-boom!

Anyhow, thank you for clarifying.

Got that, Santa! Put that on your list cuz I was a good'un this year.

lol. This was in a little AM/PM type mini-mart. I assume they sell the lighters for smokers not for the guys pumping gas!

HJ

I used an ordinary 8oz "bottled water" bottle to hold my alcohol; you can see it in the photos. The problem with using a drink bottle of course is that someone might unknowingly take a drink.

I saw this photo on the web:

The two flattened type bottles fit in together, but it's unlikely that anyone would confuse them with drink bottles. You'd have capacity and safety at the same time.

HJ

I have my gut to hold my "alcohol."

May I suggest corn squeezins aka moonshine...

Actually, high proof alcohol makes a great stove fuel.

HJ

Have you tried any hi-octane commercially available products in an alcohol stove? If so, how does the heat output compare to the "Heet" alcohol fuel people normally use?

And that brings to mind medicinal rubbing (Isopropyl) alcohol -- does it compare?

...Looked up alcohol stove fuels, and found this (Zen and the Art of the Alcohol Stove). It sounds like the methyl or methyl + ethyl varieties work best in those stoves.

I've got a little article on my blog about what's the best alcohol for stove fuel if you're interested. That blog post has links to reviews and tests of a couple of different alcohol stoves as well as an article on Getting Started on Alcohol for those who are interested in trying out alcohol stoves.

Rubbing alcohol (i.e. isopropanol or isopropyl alcohol) isn't worth beans in an alcohol stove. It has good heat content per gram, but it's a smokey, sooty mess. Not recommended although it is reputed to work in priming white gas or kero stoves.

Hi-test moonshine works great, but it's awfully expensive. It will pack the most heat per gram of any alcohol that's good for stove use. If you can get access to lab-grade ethanol, that's great stuff, but usually the sale is restricted.

That leaves denatured alcohol -- but not all denatured alcohols are created equal. You generally want one that has a high ethanol content. The only way to know is to check the MSDS. Generally any "green" alcohol (such as SLX Green) has a higher ethanol content. Regular SLX is typically less than 50% ethanol. Sunnyside brand denatured alcohol has a good ethanol content according to its MSDS.

HEET in the yellow bottle (methanol) works well as a stove fuel. It has a good reputation particularly in cooler temperatures (methanol vaporizes at a lower temperature than ethanol). Methanol has a lower heat content per gram than ethanol, but it burns cleanly and does a decent job. Methanol fumes are toxic as is skin contact, so you do need to be careful with methanol. HEET in the red bottle is isopropanol and is not recommended as a stove fuel.

HJ