Swiss Borde Kocher

[knoefz]

I got this Swiss made "Borde Kocher" today from my girlfriends aunt and uncle when they were cleaning out their stuff today. They had no clue what it was, I figured it was some kind of outdoor stove. It looks like it had very little use. Entering the mark on the bottom showed some youtube movies with similar modern examples of this old stove.

I think it a nice packable water cooking system. Will try it out soon, so I have no clue how well it works and if the cork still closes the bottle properly. Not sure if I want to use it with wood or buy a little alcohol burner for it to fit inside.

Here's some pics of it:

Do any of you guys have ever seen these before and maybe even have experience with these stoves?
I's be interested to hear some more about it.

 

[zfJames]

I've never heard of something like that.... Looks interesting though. I'll be curious to see if there's more info available!

 

[John A. Larsen]

Google it, lots of information. John

 

[knoefz]

Google it, lots of information. John

Ofcoarse I googled it, that's where the youtube link I poste came up among much more info.
Reason I asked is because I'm interested in hands on info and personal experiences from this community

 

[BladeScout]

Nice 'kocher.'

Some of the Swiss (military) gear is pretty nifty.

 

[knoefz]

Gave it a first test run today with a diy alcohol stove made from 2 sodacans.
Some people burn it with wood, I don't want the compact setup to have soot on the outside making it harder to carry inside my bag.
And I already have a nice twig stove so want some other fuels source for this beauty.

It works nice, be aware that the alcoholstove tends to overheat a little in the enclosed space causing some flames coming out in different places.
Took about 6 minutes to cook about 400 ml of water (without a lid) at +3 degrees Celsius outside.

The setup

Flames shooting out

Yes, we have a boil

A peek inside

With the bottle in it no flames are coming out because it covers the main opening of the stove,
taking it out made me loose some hair on my hands

At the start I had only filled the stove half full with alcohol so the bottle didn't come to a boil after boiling the cup of water first.
It was close though, to hot to pull out with bare hands.

 

[BladeScout]

Gave it a first test run today with a diy alcohol stove made from 2 sodacans.
Some people burn it with wood, I don't want the compact setup to have soot on the outside making it harder to carry inside my bag.
And I already have a nice twig stove so want some other fuels source for this beauty.

It works nice, be aware that the alcoholstove tends to overheat a little in the enclosed space causing some flames coming out in different places.
Took about 6 minutes to cook about 400 ml of water (without a lid) at +3 degrees Celsius outside.

The setup

Flames shooting out


Yes, we have a boil


A peek inside


With the bottle in it no flames are coming out because it covers the main opening of the stove,
taking it out made me loose some hair on my hands

At the start I had only filled the stove half full with alcohol so the bottle didn't come to a boil after boiling the cup of water first.
It was close though, to hot to pull out with bare hands.

Nifty.

Ive seen some of those DIY soda can stove reviews - seems to work fine.

Personally, a small amount of soot wouldnt bother me - as I mention in my Fireant mini review, that stove doesnt get that dirty (most burnt residue just shakes off leaving some soot mainly on the bottom plate. Anyay, I keep the stove in a pouch, so no soot/dirt in the pocket or ruck. I usually sew a pouch for those burners/stoves, which dont come with one - you could do the same.

https://bladeforums.com/threads/emberlit-ti-fireant.1561654/

But i understand the rationale behind you not using wood.

Should you still get a small amount of soot from the spirits/alcohol burner - try using a few drops of water mixed with the spirits/alcohol.

When I used my old Trangia burner, that cut down on soot dramatically.

For some reason, i dont get much soot when using my minimalistic Vargo ti burner.

 

[BladeScout]

Didnt the Kocher come with a holder or bag?

You could check if the dimensions would fit a MaxP Bottle Holder (maybe google it) for the Kocher.

They have attachments for a sling. I use the holder for example for my Jetboil.

They come in two sizes/lenghts.

 

[knoefz]

Nifty.

Ive seen some of those DIY soda can stove reviews - seems to work fine.

Personally, a small amount of soot wouldnt bother me - as I mention in my Fireant mini review, that stove doesnt get that dirty (most burnt residue just shakes off leaving some soot mainly on the bottom plat. Anyay, I keep the stove in a pouch, so no soot/dirt in the pocket or ruck. I usually sew a pouch for those burners/stoves, which dont come with one - you could do the same.
.

The cup you boil water in goed on top when you pack the whole thing. On my twig stove the kettle or cup that goed above the flames gets covered in a thick black layer of soot, sometimes sticky as hell depending on what wood is burned. I have no pouch for this, want to carry it inside my bag.

Didnt the Kocher come with a holder or bag?

You could check if the dimensions would fit a MaxP Bottle Holder (maybe google it) for the Kocher.

They have attachments for a sling. I use the holder for example for my Jetboil.

They come in two sizes/lenghts.

The Kocker is sort of its own packaging, so no bag (or atleast I don't have one)
Nice suggestion, I'll look into those although I'm pretty happy with how it is.

 

[BladeScout]

Yes, of course the cup is the main issue - I didnt give it any thought, that if of course goes on top, as it will with these kits.

With my burners (butane and spirits) and the wood stoves, Im so used to the cup being separate (well,I can fit the small spirits burner in there).
Even my old military canteen has the big cup on the bottom AND goes in a heavy duty canvas pouch.

The cup used with my currently most used stoves and burners goes in a pouch, so it doesnt drag soot all over a pocket or ruck.

And yes, the cup will get an impressive amount of black stuff on it - especially with wood but also with some spirits burners.

Again,surprisingly not so much with my Ti Vargo burner.

Try the water trick (not too much - just a few drops).

 

[knoefz]

Try the water trick (not too much - just a few drops).

Will do. Thank for the tip

 

[knoefz]

Here's a too long video experiment if you want to waste 2 minutes of your life to see the Borde Kocher burn

 

[BladeScout]

Here's a too long video experiment if you want to waste 2 minutes of your life to see the Borde Kocher burn

Good demo vid of what seems to be a very versatile system.

I like these vintage systems but have absolutely no justification for buying another cooker (not that that ever prevented me from buying more gear *sigh*).

I especially like the integrated wind protection. Wind will at times make it difficult for the aforementioned Emberlit Fireant to work if exposed/out in the open.

This seems to not be a problem here.

 

[knoefz]

Good demo vid of what seems to be a very versatile system.
...
Wind will at times make it difficult for the aforementioned Emberlit Fireant to work if exposed/out in the open.
This seems to not be a problem here.

Correct, wind doesn't really bother this setup