[pct-l] wood burning stove

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Jan 11, 2010, at 9:50 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> 3) They can be more efficient by directing the fire energy to the
> bottom of the pot. So you don't have to gather much fuel.

I don't think this is true, at least not by my personal experience.  
With a stove, I have to constantly lift the pot and put in another  
couple of sticks. This ends up limiting the time the pot is in  
contact with the heat and expanding the number of sticks I have to  
use. With a fire, I just place the stove on the sticks and the water  
is hot really super fast. Even better is to wait for coals.

>
> 4) It is usually much quicker for a wood stove to boil water than  
> an open fire.

Not my experience. But even if true, I have found that having water  
boil fast is not a priority for me. If my water boils in about the  
time it takes to set up my tent, and no faster, then I'm happy.

>
> 5) They are safer, especially when combined with a wind screen (which
> I do use). Open fires can eject sparks that can be caught by the wind.

This is probably true, but not guaranteed. I suppose if your tiny  
fire was small enough you could use a windscreen around part of it.