Which Wood Burning Stove Do You Prefer?

[1azarus]

I just tried out QiWiz's FireFly wood burning stove. At 2.5 ounces, it is quite impressive. It seems that most other wood burning stove manufacturers are making their stoves strong enough to drive a truck over -- at significant weight penalty. QiWiz gets the ultralight point of a wood burner -- which is to save weight because you don't have to carry fuel. His titanium stove is certainly strong enough for the careful use all ultralight equipment requires, and since it is so light and requires no carried fuel, it looks like a sure winner to me. I've been an alcohol stove user for years and find the prospect of dropping half a pound of fuel from my pack to be quite attractive. Best part -- my first attempt at a wood burn was as easy as could be, and, including "fire building" time, had my Heine pot boiling as fast or faster than my alky stove. I'm a fan!!!

[Franco]

I'll echo the comments from QiWiz and those really are applicable to most gear.
Once you find several satisfied users of a product , read carefully how they use it and see if it applies to you or not.
For example a tent that fits me very well (at 5'8" 150 lbs) maybe terrible for a 6'3" 280 lbs guy...
With stoves , you do not use, say , a TiTri the same way as you do a Fire Fly.
One is pot specific the other isn't.
Some are bothered by soot so would opt for a Bushbuddy type, others are not...
So the starting point should be "OK I know it works, but will it work for me ?
Franco

[Don Newcomb]

There's something called a Markill Wilderness Stove. It's a forced-air wood burner with a SCR controlled fan and an optional solar panel for operating and recharging the battery. The problems are that it was rather expensive in the first place and hasn't been made in something like 20 years. The handful of people who own one are very unlikely to part with it.

[Japp]

http://gearjunkie.com/wood-burning-s...city-generator

Pretty cool idea weighs 2lbs though.

[Japp]

http://gearjunkie.com/wood-burning-s...city-generator

Pretty cool idea weighs 2lbs though.

[Grinder]

My bushbuddy clone DIY stove weighs 6 oz, cost $7 (including two lunch soups because I drilled the first soup can wrong. would have cost $5) . Leave the outer can lid and it weighs 5.5 oz.

Works great and nests in my two piece Colman pot.

[Papa Tac]

Clone the BushBuddy (Google:Wood Gas Can Stove)
I've geared mine to not only burn wood, but also incorporated the Penny stove (methyl hydrate) and Hex/Esbit tablets.
3, 3, 3 stoves in one.
My MSR Whisperlite and my Coleman single burner are collecting dust.
I've built enough of these delicious wood stoves to start giving them away as gifts to the worthy...
They're basically free if you can scavenge the cans (food or paint cans) - I drive my wife nuts.
I've made them in different size cans as well - just for a laugh, but they all work well!
I haven't weighed them, but they're light enough that I don't leave home without one - got them stashed in the vehicles, too.

[Spokes]

Emberlit-UL or El Mini

http://emberlit.com/buy.php

1+. Just got mine in the mail last week and absolutely love it. Plus it doesn't look like it was made in someone's garage!

[topshelf]

i love my DIY wood stove modeled after a bushbuddy stove. for days when it rains I carry a small bit of wood to get it going and I dip one end of q-tips in vasoline as a fire starter. works like a torch. almost weighs nothing, just a paint can, soup can, and some wire mesh. something like this, http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/100_1750.jpg

[rocketsocks]

1+. Just got mine in the mail last week and absolutely love it. Plus it doesn't look like it was made in someone's garage!

I like my bacon cooked just a little bit more than that, but that egg with mushrooms and green onion sounded real good!

[gunner76]

Check out this new one to the market Element Wood Stove...the Ti version wieghts 5oz http://www.outdoortrailgear.com/feat...burning-stove/

Just got one myself

[XTrekker]

I like the 'IKEA Ordning Cutlery Caddy" DIY Wood stove. Works great for me. I bring along a Beer-Can Alcohol stove as backup. Pot nests perfectly.

[zelph]

1+. Just got mine in the mail last week and absolutely love it. Plus it doesn't look like it was made in someone's garage!

I too am thinking about adding a wood burner to my stove collection. After researching all the ones mentioned above I keep going back to the Emberlit UL. Priced right and doesn't look like some POC built in someone's garage..

I make all my Woodgaz stoves in my garage. I don't like the way you smell!!!!!

[QiWiz]

1+. Just got mine in the mail last week and absolutely love it. Plus it doesn't look like it was made in someone's garage!

I used to hand-cut the FireFly in my basement but now have switched over to having them laser-cut by a local shop here in NE OH. So they now look a teensy bit snazzier, though the way they work is unchanged. Have to take some new pics and videos and update my website. Laser cutting will help me keep up with demand, which was starting to be a problem. Lots of great products started out in garages, BTW - look at Apple Computer for example.

[zelph]

I used to hand-cut the FireFly in my basement but now have switched over to having them laser-cut by a local shop here in NE OH. So they now look a teensy bit snazzier, though the way they work is unchanged. Have to take some new pics and videos and update my website. Laser cutting will help me keep up with demand, which was starting to be a problem. Lots of great products started out in garages, BTW - look at Apple Computer for example.

And here I thought you were a tried and true artisan. You've gone the way of the world. "out sourcing" next it'll be made in China.
I make my stuff one at a time on a bench. When I get the urge to increase production I go lay down until the urge goes away.

[QiWiz]

And here I thought you were a tried and true artisan. You've gone the way of the world. "out sourcing" next it'll be made in China.
I make my stuff one at a time on a bench. When I get the urge to increase production I go lay down until the urge goes away.

LOL . . . Don't worry, they are still made in my basement. I just use a local shop to cut the ti. It was either that or have big delays or raise prices to cut demand. Not for me. I can lay down until "urges" go away, but there are still only 24 hours in a day. I appreciate your concern, I really do, but my artisan skills are not going to atrophy any time soon. And BTW, another benefit of this development is a price reduction that will go into effect in the next 24 hours, as soon as I finish the work on my website. Anyone who orders today will get the new price by PayPal rebate.
Sneak peak: FireFly with FlexPort for 12% less, including a tough 8 mil ziplock pouch!

[rhyolite]

I was seriously considering either making or purchasing a wood burning stove for my thru hike of the AT this year. Seems like fuel along the trail is over abundant, however, my greatest concern, starting wet wood! One could use dry kindling (packed in), or esbit fuel or a little alcohol, but then it seems to defeat the purpose of avoiding the weight of fuel.

[QiWiz]

I was seriously considering either making or purchasing a wood burning stove for my thru hike of the AT this year. Seems like fuel along the trail is over abundant, however, my greatest concern, starting wet wood! One could use dry kindling (packed in), or esbit fuel or a little alcohol, but then it seems to defeat the purpose of avoiding the weight of fuel.

I'm sure others will chime in, but I think it really all depends on whether you want to develop the skill and/or take the time at the end of your hiking day for the fuel prep you need for the existing conditions. With practice, it is certainly possible to reliably get a fire going in a wood burner even after days of rain. Basically, you have to select the driest stuff, use a knife to get to the driest parts of the driest stuff, and it also helps to have some type of lightweight fire starter/assist, though the purists will shun that crutch. I won't argue that point.

If I were doing a thru-hike, I would personally bring a wood burner (but would have an UL Esbit burner and a few half-ounce Esbit tabs with me in case I don't feel like doing the prep on a particular day or for a particular meal).

[Hosaphone]

I was seriously considering either making or purchasing a wood burning stove for my thru hike of the AT this year. Seems like fuel along the trail is over abundant, however, my greatest concern, starting wet wood! One could use dry kindling (packed in), or esbit fuel or a little alcohol, but then it seems to defeat the purpose of avoiding the weight of fuel.

I think that for a wet trail like the AT, a wood stove is not really practical. It's only worth it if you just LIKE it. If you rely purely on wood and commit to either having cold meals or starting fires in the rain, wood has some big advantages. If you start carrying backup fuel, a lot of those advantages disappear. I think it's pretty much a wash between canisters, alcohol, wood and esbit... You can have a great setup with any of them - all comes down to personal preference.

If your number 1 concern is saving weight, I would steer you towards alcohol... My ti-tri ULC setup weighs 6oz (cone, stove, pot, reflectix cozy) and can cook a pasta side with .3 or .4oz of alcohol if you plan to use the cozy to help finish cooking. Add in 2oz of alcohol and now you're at 8oz with enough fuel to cook 4-7 meals depending on the wind and how accurately you measure your fuel (or what degree of "al dente" is acceptable to you ). You can go lighter weight, but the cone+cozy is just so insanely fuel efficient and wind resistant that I think this setup is better than the SUL beer can pot + cat can setups.



If I were to make a purely wood-burning setup, it would come in at around 7oz (assuming I used a wood stove... you could always just cook over open fires but that increases the fiddle factor significantly again especially when it's been raining for days). When compared to the total weight of the alcohol setup, I'd be saving 1oz at the cost of a huge amount of extra "fiddle factor" if it's wet. I don't mind this for short trips because I love having a fire and enjoy testing my firemaking skills... But on a thru-hike I would definitely want to take steps to reduce the hassle after a long, cold day of hiking in the rain.

People swear by their zip stoves, and I've been meaning to experiment with turning my FireFly into a forced air stove with a computer fan. Forced air would make the stove much much much easier to use when it's damp, but for now I'll assume "steps to reduce hassle" means basically carrying alcohol or esbit. Adding in alcohol stuff to the wood setup brings the weight up by an ounce to 8oz baseweight, and it takes .5oz or so to cook a meal. Depending on how wet it's going to be and how much you want to rely on alcohol, figure 2oz of fuel bringing the total weight up to 10oz.

So in the end, a wood+alcohol/esbit setup is likely going to end up being heavier than a good alcohol setup unless you go super minimalist with either one, which you typically pay for in the form of increased fiddle factor or worse fuel efficiency. (fwiw you can use the ti-tri as a wood stove, so in that sense it might be the best option, but if I was planning to burn wood a lot I would tend towards the extra weight of a stove designed primarily with wood in mind. Ti-Tri doesn't work as well and has pretty severe soot issues whereas it's very easy to avoid getting soot on your hands setting up a FireFly)

[jeffmeh]

If I'm adding it up correctly, the Firefly with flexport, extra titanium floor, multi-fuel option, split-windscreen, and mini-grill is around 5 oz. QiWiz, can you confirm?

Certainly one can have an alcohol or esbit system for less than half that. However, it is still a pretty light option. For those of us who are PL (pretty light) rather than UL hikers, it looks quite attractive to be able to grill some meat the first night after a resupply. Of course, good fire skills make this much more practical.