Stove of the Week: The Caldera Cone

[DripDry]

I did several experiments with the Caldera stove vs. a Minibull stove I had last year before a 9 week section hike, and to my dissapointment (I really like the Minibull stoves) the Caldera stove had faster boil times AND used less alcohol. I used the Minibull Atomic in the test- your mileage may vary. I think the Atomic didn't like the lack of O2 in the cone.

[cabbagehead]

I make a great stove: bottlestoves.com

[Doc Mike]

I make a great stove: bottlestoves.com

troll alert

[Franco]

I have tried several stoves inside the cone but none worked as well as the 10-20.
They either burn too hot (flames everywhere) or get somewhat snuffed out (starved of oxygen)
The Caldera Cone put an end to my stove tinkering days...
BTW, some tea light types worked but are 2-5 or more minutes slower than the 10-20 for a very minimal ammount of less fuel used.
Franco

[Odd Man Out]

I have tried several stoves inside the cone but none worked as well as the 10-20.
They either burn too hot (flames everywhere) or get somewhat snuffed out (starved of oxygen)
The Caldera Cone put an end to my stove tinkering days...
BTW, some tea light types worked but are 2-5 or more minutes slower than the 10-20 for a very minimal ammount of less fuel used.
Franco

Thanks Franco, but I'm afraid that would just get be back into stove tinkering. If I'm going to build my own CC, I would want to try and build my own stove to use in it.

[hikin_jim]

I did several experiments with the Caldera stove vs. a Minibull stove I had last year before a 9 week section hike, and to my dissapointment (I really like the Minibull stoves) the Caldera stove had faster boil times AND used less alcohol. I used the Minibull Atomic in the test- your mileage may vary. I think the Atomic didn't like the lack of O2 in the cone.

What you're saying is completely consistent with what I've read elsewhere. To be perfectly honest, I haven't even tried experimenting with other stoves because the 10-12 stove that comes with the cone works so well. Indeed, I am pretty sure it's the low O2 environment inside the cone that causes other stoves to struggle.

One thing for sure is that the cone and the 10-12 stove work together very well.

HJ

[hikin_jim]

I have tried several stoves inside the cone but none worked as well as the 10-20.
They either burn too hot (flames everywhere) or get somewhat snuffed out (starved of oxygen)
The Caldera Cone put an end to my stove tinkering days...
BTW, some tea light types worked but are 2-5 or more minutes slower than the 10-20 for a very minimal ammount of less fuel used.
Franco

Yeah, I did a fair amount of tinkering with different combinations of stands, homemade stoves, etc. The Caldera Cone is kind of what I arrived at after all that searching. For fair weather lightweight overnight trips, it's my "go to" stove.

HJ

[hikin_jim]

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

[hikin_jim]

One more thing I'd like to mention on the Caldera Cone is that per Rand Lindsly, owner of Trail Designs, they are now reinforcing the dovetail joint with titanium. I've seen some complaints of the dovetail joint becoming bent during transport in one's pack (although I've had no such problems myself). With titanium reinforcing, it seems like that joint should now be really solid.

HJ

[QiWiz]

The 10-12 stove that comes with the Caldera Cone is an interesting design. It's a open side jet type stove. The side jets are about half way down the body of the stove which is interesting to me. Most side jet alcohol stoves I've seen have the jets near the top rim of the stove. The jet openings are very large, more like a three hole punch or larger. Most jets I've seen in alcohol stoves are more like needle or pin holes.

Having said that, I haven't tried other stoves inside the cone. If I do any such experiments, I'll post here. I will say that the 10-12 stove works very well with the cone.

HJ

A few comments: The 10-12 is not a side jet stove. The holes in the side are air-intake holes so that the air mixing with alcohol vapor is pre-heated. The flame just comes out the top of the stove.

I have made a DIY pepsi-can stove for a CC, but I basically copied the 10-12 design as close as I could in case it really makes a difference what kind of stove you use. It worked just fine.

I agree that the titanium cone vs aluminum has decided advantages (at a cost). The main one is that a twig fire can be used in a pinch if you run out of alcohol, or if you want to save on alcohol fuel weight (for example when melting snow in the winter, I always use a twig fire in the CC rather than alcohol, which I save for cooking my food)

The CC design, possibly/partly because of how it contains stove heat and applies it to your pot and/or blocks wind, is one of the few UL alcohol stoves that will boil 4 cups of water at a time. I do this a lot when cooking for two or if I want a big 16 oz hot drink along with a big dinner that uses 16 oz hot water.

It has become the stove that I use year-round. Love it. Have two cones that fit 3 pots (one for the 1.3 L Evernew, and one for a Stanco greasepot that serendipitously also fits a 0.9 L Evernew)

[hikerboy57]

sorry to interrupt, but wasnt this last weeks stove?

[hikin_jim]

sorry to interrupt, but wasnt this last weeks stove?

Well, not exactly. I did a post in early October where I compared a Caldera Cone with a Clikstand. This post is a review of the Caldera Cone. The stove is common between the two posts, but the content is entirely different. If you do click through to my blog, you'll see a mini table of contents listing related posts (see also below), and you should see both.

• Getting Started with Alcohol
• Caldera Cone Alcohol Stove Review (on Seattle Backpackers Magazine)
• Caldera Cone Review Supplement -- Additional Photos and Technical Appendix with Weights
• The Clikstand Alcohol Stove -- a Brief Introduction
• Caldera Cone vs. Clikstand Alcohol Stove Tests
• What's the Best Alcohol for Stove Fuel?

HJ

[hikerboy57]

thanks!!!!!!!!!!

[hikin_jim]

A few comments: The 10-12 is not a side jet stove. The holes in the side are air-intake holes so that the air mixing with alcohol vapor is pre-heated. The flame just comes out the top of the stove.

lol. I just assumed that any stove with holes in the side was a side jet stove, but if flames aren't coming out the holes, then I guess it isn't really.

I agree that the titanium cone vs aluminum has decided advantages (at a cost). The main one is that a twig fire can be used in a pinch if you run out of alcohol, or if you want to save on alcohol fuel weight (for example when melting snow in the winter, I always use a twig fire in the CC rather than alcohol, which I save for cooking my food)

Definitely the Ti cones have that advantage.

I don't know if I brought it out clearly, but the aluminum cones have, according to Rand Lindsly the owner of Trail Designs, titanium reinforcing in the dovetail joint.

HJ