Stove5

The stove works very well, just as I hoped it would. This was designed for bicycle camping, but it is not heavy and would work fine for backpacking also. I like the large cooking surface, it allows the pot to be moved off the fire if necessary and is very stable, even for the large pot. With the heat shields in place, it safe on a wood surface.

As you can see from the tests, one trioxane fuel tab would be sufficient for heating a normal MRE or similar pre-cooked food. Two tabs would cook food or heat larger quantities of pre-cooked food, such as for 2 people.

Trioxane and wood performed equally well.

The drawback to wood is that you have to collect it, and that it makes some smoke sometimes. I saved the remaining wood from the test (which I estimate would burn for 20 minutes or so) and it fit into a trioxane cardboard box. So, you could collect enough wood for 2 or 3 meals per day in a few minutes and carry it along easily. The wood made a mess of the pot, as usual, but you could soap the pot first to make cleanup easier.

The advantage of wood (or grass, etc.) is that it is available everywhere.

The disadvantage of trioxane is that you have to have it with you. Otherwise it is clean burning, no smoke (except for the end of the burn, which you can smother quickly).

Overall, this is a successful exercise. I have a nice little stove that cost less than $10 with lots of fuel tabs and should last a long time. The burner assembly is easily replaced now that I know the basic measurements and air requirements.

The measurements of the cans are:

Wood burner, outer heat shield, (peach can), 4" diameter, 3" high 16 total 1/4" holes for air near the bottom.
Trioxane burner, normal tuna can for support, large soup can, 1 3/4" high by 3 3/8" diameter, 8 slits cut in top to make it nest into tuna can and 8 total 1/4" holes for air punched near the bottom.

The cans nest and fit inside the small cooking pot (I put a cottage cheese lid under and over the cans to protect the pots and reduce rattling), so the whole thing is 2 packages. The cooking pots and burners in one package and the stove with it's 2 small thin aluminum heat shields in another.

Have fun!