Lighting the Backcountry boiler

[bbb]

Does the aluminum foil have an insulating quality causing it to take longer for the water to boil?

It is just windproofing like on your woodgaz. The foil and mesh together are just a ti foil substitute.

[zelph]

Thanks for clarifying. My brain had to pass gas don't know what I was thinking to ask that question Must have been late at night

[english stu]

As well as the BCB I have the UK Pocket Stove which I think is like the US QuWis collapsible stove.The Pocket Stove fits as a fire pan for the BCB and does a good job. I therefore think a fire pan based on this type of set up, like a Nimberwill Nomads stove, would work better than a hardware cloth cage, and avoid the flames licking up the side of the Boiler i.e you would make it so all four sides fit just into the Boiler cone.

Of course then to make any weight savings you have to cast a way the pot and use freezer bags or light bowl to eat from.The advantage of the Boiler over other woodburners is that it that keeps the soot down on your pot and gear and the chimney does draw the fire into higher temperatures.

With me it will be the length of the trip which determines which stove and pots I take.

[bbb]

The Pocket Stove fits as a fire pan for the BCB and does a good job. I therefore think a fire pan based on this type of set up, ........would work better than a hardware cloth cage, and avoid the flames licking up the side of the Boiler i.e you would make it so all four sides fit just into the Boiler cone.

Congratulations, a nice convenient coincidence that the 68mm square Pocket stove suits the BCB .
Backpacking Bob (the Pocket stove's designer at http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk) will be happy .

Did you need to make any supports or does the BCB just rest on the edges as is?
In use, how much of the pocket stove's height is within the BCB?
Does it hold enough wood for one boil with no refueling?

I was in the middle of making a stainless mesh folding myog smaller "woodgaz " style stove (for no good reason, just for fun):
Perhaps I could try a mesh and foil one to suit the BCB, perhaps even hexagonal rather than square (for more capacity).
These could probably be lighter than my current mesh (hardware cloth) base.

[zelph]

Make the burner big enough to hold 2 ounces of split hardwood. That is sufficient to boil 2 cups/500ml

[english stu]

The Pocket Stove goes inside the BCB cone by about 5/8th (18mm).
Unless you used a bundle of really small twigs you wouldn't get a full boil from one loading, the advantage is once the fire is going well you can put thicker longer wood in the end stoking hole of the Pocket Stove and of course still load through the chimney.The fire does need need less tending and I did get a quicker boil.

[bbb]

The Pocket Stove goes inside the BCB cone by about 5/8th (18mm)......

Thanks, that seems a good fit, and the Ti pocket stove is not much of a weight penalty.


Now I have thought ( )of a way a double size firebase could be made to fit into the packed boiler as normal:

two standard firebases should nest inside each other, so you cut open the end of both, then send the wider "top" of one (becomes the new base), then they can be placed on top but facing each other (and secured somehow). A diagram is probably better:

[cadyak]

That is a nice design BBB. Looks really stable.

[bbb]

I found that cheap the Alan Silverwood Mighty Muffin Mould (only approx 1.45 pounds UK sterling), stores in the base of my BCB as normal and its top rim matches the diameter of the boiler: would just need 3 locating pegs to stop it sliding off.

Useful for low cost experimentation eg my double base idea above.

http://alansilverwood.co.uk/id3.html

[zelph]

Are you able to fill the doubled firebox with one load of fuel and boil 2 cups ?

Great idea the doubled inverted muffin moulds. good thinking

The site you linked to has nice stainless steel stuff