[pct-l] Esbit Cubes

[Glenn Bradford]

Thanks Tim. When I got the Caldera I had similar concerns - that big
piece of metal sure looks like a hassle. I was hoping to store it open
in the pack somehow, but it would cause wear and tear on the
internals. Perhaps I will try to abuse the caldera sheet metal a bit
more and see if I can roll it up tightly...

On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 11:39 AM, Timothy Nye <timpnye at gmail.com> wrote:
> My two cents.
>
> I have the standard foldng Esbit Stove (3 oz) , the titanium minimulist
> Esbit ( 1/2 oz, or 5/8 oz with the pouch which is a good idea to use ) and
> the Caldera with gram cracker ( which with the plastic screw top
> container is 4 5/8 oz).
>
> The big advantage of the caldera is the titanium wind screen and it's heat
> retention.  The big negative is that it has to be protected from being bent
> or damaging the slotting mechanism that locks the screen into it's cone
> shape.  The Gram Cracker is not made of a thick enough gauge of sheeting, in
> my opinion.
>
> I liked the idea of the Caldara, but it takes up a lot of volume and the
> plastic container needed to protect it seemed to defeat the weight savings.
> I attempted several substitutions with pieces of shipping tubes, etc, but
> found nothing that satisfied me.
>
> The standard folding stove has the advantages of being able to be oriented
> toward the wind and thus protecting the tablet, the tablet seating area is
> raised with venting adjacent to the tablet that allows a strong draw and the
> two sides of the stove reflect the heat and concentrate it.  The titanium
> stove really requires a wind screen and in the end I found Yogi's advice for
> her alcohol stove, a standard MSR windscreen ( 2 oz ), worked best.  This,
> of course, is compact and can be altered for conditions and unlike the
> Caldara is not specific for a particular pot or kettle.  Thus the whole
> thing wound up at 2 5/8 oz. ( I use a piece of aluminium foil for the floor
> )
>
> My trials involved heating ice water, about 35*.  In each case, if protected
> from the wind I achieved a satisfactory result for 3 cups of water with each
> tablet.
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