Testing the Swiss Volcano Stove

[Guyon]

Would a sootless tea light give enough heat?

Might be a stretch for the flame to get up to the bottom of the cup, though I suppose you could prop it up on something. I thought about experimenting with a Trangia alcohol stove too just to see how high the flame would go in the chimney. Not high enough, I suspect, but I'll test it out.

 

[MobyDick12345]

just orders one good price and and seems to me its one nice little stove.

 

[Guyon]

just orders one good price and and seems to me its one nice little stove.

Cool. C'mon back to Beckerville (this thread even) and let us know how you like it. I'm going to keep experimenting with mine.

I went over to CountyComm to see about that bottle carrier. After the "might as wells," I was in for $70. Damn that CountyComm site. Their shipping has even gone down, so that's no longer a good excuse for holding off. Problem is, I got some good ideas for my truck bag and added some of those items. I'm going to have to sleep on it though and see if I can delete some stuff. Still, the Hydrant bottle carrier looks like a good deal and comes with an insulated liner for cold water, wine, etc. The olive drab'll match my incoming pack too.

 

[deepfry]

what are the dimensions on that kit when it's all packed up?
would it fit in a 10x4 bottle carrier?

Yes it does.
I pack mine in the Condor/UTG clone of the Maxped 10x4. Got them both from Cheaper Than Dirt.
I can get some pictures of it up probably tomorrow evening.

 

[Guyon]

Yes it does.
I pack mine in the Condor/UTG clone of the Maxped 10x4. Got them both from Cheaper Than Dirt.
I can get some pictures of it up probably tomorrow evening.

The CTD version lists at 11" high x 4" diameter. That sounds like it would be a perfect fit for the stove. I may have to break my determination not to order from CTD.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Might be a stretch for the flame to get up to the bottom of the cup, though I suppose you could prop it up on something. I thought about experimenting with a Trangia alcohol stove too just to see how high the flame would go in the chimney. Not high enough, I suspect, but I'll test it out.

Could you not sit the Trangia on a small diameter can to raise the flame height?

I don't like sooty equipment, so I use a Trangia with a modded empty Pasta sauce can. I also don't like cooking outdoors anymore, so the most I do is boil water to add to some noodle cups or the like.

I think this is a picture using the Trangia, but I'm not sure. It might have been a can of gelled alcohol.

Doc

 

[deepfry]

I could be wrong but my understanding is that, for both the Maxped and CTD carriers, the overall/exterior height is 11" but the compartment/interior height is 10"

 

[Guyon]

Doc, I bet you could raise the Trangia pretty easily. Shouldn't be too hard to drill a few stake holes like in the pic you posted.

I could be wrong but my understanding is that, for both the Maxped and CTD carriers, the overall/exterior height is 11" but the compartment/interior height is 10"

Roger that. Best I can tell, it's a better deal. For a lot of the Maxpedition stuff, you have to buy their Tac-Ties if you want to use a molle system. The CTD (and the CountyComm) version comes with molle straps built into the carrier. :thumbup:

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Doc, I bet you could raise the Trangia pretty easily. Shouldn't be too hard to drill a few stake holes like in the pic you posted.

Roger that. They aren't single stakes, however, rather a 'U' shaped piece. I find it's more stable and somewhat easier to work with.

I also don't find a fuel-loaded Trangia that big a deal to carry. Saves time splitting wood or finding twigs. AND, no soot covering cup/pot.

Doc

 

[Guyon]

Roger that. They aren't single stakes, however, rather a 'U' shaped piece. I find it's more stable and somewhat easier to work with.

I also don't find a fuel-loaded Trangia that big a deal to carry. Saves time splitting wood or finding twigs. AND, no soot covering cup/pot.

Doc

What sort of stock did you make it out of? Looks bigger than coat hanger.
With the Trangia in mind, I'm thinking that the CTD bag would be just about right. The stove could fit in the front pocket with some fatwood or tinder just in case a person needed to go from alcohol to twig stove. Might even be room for a spare bottle of HEET or denatured alcohol.

 

[Bladite]

neat stove.

i should imagine that if you had a hotter burning fire, but SMALLER, ie: just work to coals... possibly even having the fire external to the rig, then move coals over, and well, might be less sooty.

to me, soot is the sign of an inefficient fire (esp too hot?), and possibly burning stuff that's too resinous... mmm, just a thought

 

[Bladite]

What sort of stock did you make it out of? Looks bigger than coat hanger.
With the Trangia in mind, I'm thinking that the CTD bag would be just about right. The stove could fit in the front pocket with some fatwood or tinder just in case a person needed to go from alcohol to twig stove. Might even be room for a spare bottle of HEET or denatured alcohol.

might as well carry everclear or something like that (151 burns right?), cuz hey, you could drink that.

there's a website i found that talked of blooming gelatin with say, 151, and getting "jello snot"... the stuff is flammable (fire starter or fuel), first aid (potential for wound cleansing), edible (emergency rations and an emotional boost ;>), a dessert topic, AND a floor wax... yar. what's not to like?

perhaps one could also experiment with burning vegetable oils? mmm. probably very sooty.

 

[mqqn]

Hi Guyon -

Great review and pictures.

I will see if I can pick one of those up and try one out - thank you for the information.

best regards -

mqqn

 

[Guyon]

On another note, I am thinking about fabricating a lid or two (for this cup as well as a USGI canteen cup) in the next couple of weeks, though I'm a bit limited on metal working tools. I have some thin aluminum stock that I could rough cut with a jig saw and then shape more carefully with a 1x30 belt sander. From there I'd like to possibly even grind out a groove to fit lip of the cup. Not sure how to do this with the tools I have. I thought about making a jig for my Dremel that would keep the grinding tip a consistent distance from the edge. Would have to take great care with the dimensions to assure a fit though.

Moose, you should just send me a CNC machine, and I'll send you a old-school Becker Campanion. Sound fair?

ETA: Hey Moose... hint, hint... http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-G0499-3-Axis-Milling-Machine/dp/B000E360IO

 

[IZULA]

Seems to be one of the surplus items coming out of Sweden right now, so get 'em while you can. Lots of vendors have 'em. If you want to know where I got mine, just shoot a PM or email my way. But like I said, Google Shopping will hook you up.

I want to figure out a better lid for the canteen. I'm not 100% confident in that cork stopper.

No, No, No Guyon dont mix the countrys now
The swiss stove comes from Switzerland and
The Trangia stove from Sweden:thumbup:.

 

[Guyon]

No, No, No Guyon dont mix the countrys now
The swiss stove comes from Switzerland and
The Trangia stove from Sweden:thumbup:.

Dang, you're right. I missed that slip-up entirely. I'll edit. Thanks.
In my defense, I have a lingering infatuation with the Swedish bikini team that spills over into all facets of my life.
bockel55 made his first post in this thread, and he's from Switzerland. I hope he comes back.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

What sort of stock did you make it out of? Looks bigger than coat hanger.

For the life of me, I can't remember. I just went looking for it, but no luck. Some serious reorganization/cleaning of my apartment is on the schedule for today.

In my defense, I have a lingering infatuation with the Swedish bikini team that spills over into all facets of my life.

Any chance of a larger picture? I need a new desktop image.

Doc

 

[Guyon]

Doc, Google Images is your friend. Try not to spend all day drooling.
Well, I buckled, ended my boycott of CTD, and ordered the bottle carrier. I like it better than the Maxpedition version because it's cheaper and it has the molle straps already built in. I'll probably still line it with a plastic bag to keep soot or ash contained. I got out my Trangia last night and may try it with the stove today. I'll post up a pic or two.

 

[Guyon]

First... a total aside. We had a fire and roasted marshmallows last night. No relation to this stove, but I know Becker folks would approve.

Second, I decided to try out the Swiss Volcano Stove with my Trangia today. Here's the gear.

Doc, I don't think I'll need to install stakes. Today, I just took the simmer lid on the Trangia and planted it in the bottom of the Swiss Volcano. Like so...

The Trangia, half filled with HEET, went on top.

Flame on. You have to be careful with HEET in particular. That stuff burns clear and will be lit sometimes even when you can't see it.

And we were off to the races. The spacer put the top of the stove within about an inch and a half of the cup. Here's some daring macro, upside-down photography of the gap.

I was running my iPhone stopwatch. Within about a minute, I had some steam. Then my iPhone battery died (of course), and I went to our microwave clock. Not as precise, but still a good ballpark. Around the four minute mark, some small bubbles started to appear.

And at around 8 minutes, I had a hard rolling boil going.

Here are the spoils of my labor. Hot chocolate is always welcome in Casa de Guyon. Also, this pic shows the bottom of the cup. In addition to burning clear, HEET burns clean. No clean-up necessary. :thumbup:

A few observations: There's no room to operate the simmer lid in the stove, so it might as well be a spacer. It could, I suppose, still function as a snuffer for the flame, though getting it to land on the Trangia could be tricky and even dangerous. I could (a) take along another snuffer can, perhaps a cat food can like the SuperCat stove uses, or (b) use a fuel bottle in conjunction with this set-up and simply apportion the fuel amount. I'll play with the options and see what works best. I do know this though. The Trangia works great with the Swiss Volcano, and a lid on the cup will better my boil time, which is already pretty good. :thumbup:

 

[Battle Creek Knives]

Thanks for the review and great pics. Looks like a cool set up but I'm not sure how you'd keep the canister from getting all funked-de-fied seeing how its primary use is to drink from, thus leaving your hands and container all nasty.. when in the bush its very rare to have water/towels etc at your disposal.. another draw back is its size and versatility, say you want to use another pot or larger cup for cooking that has to rest on top of stove, I guess you could mod it as doc suggested and use a couple hanger mid range on stove to bring your alcohol stove closer to the larger cooking surface..

all in all that is a slamming deal for the money..... cant go wrong for sho..