Anyone use a wood burning backpacking st ove?

“I recently purchased a Trail Stove wood burning backpacking stove. My thought was that this would get me less hassle from security at airports and it might save weight by not having to carry fuel. I have used it once in my backyard to heat up a pan of water as a test. Any one else have experiance with one of these?”

“I think Nigal used to use a Sierra stove. Maybe he can help you out and tell you why he switched.”

“Brandonhoult had one on the Richland Creek trip. It seemed to work fairly effectively.”

“I've been on trips with people who have used those sierra wood burning stoves (zip stove maybe?) - seems it needed batteries and made quite a bit of noise (like they all do) They had fun feeding it though.
But what if it rains? no fuel.”

“

"Anyone use a wood burning backpacking stove?"

Yep, for years.”

“I believe in some places, you couldn't use it. I kow that places 'round here like the Manitou Islands do not allow campfires, or any fires for that matter, unless it's in the designated community fire ring in the main campground area. How would this effect using that stove?”

“I tried some wet wood in my stove and it did burn ok since the wood was dry on the inside. It might be a problem where no fires are allowed but then stoves with other fuel sources have flames. I dont see why a wood stove would be considered a campfire. Also it takes more time to use a wood stove but then time is plentifull on a hiking trip”

“"I dont see why a wood stove would be considered a campfire......"


Maybe because one of the by products are embers and coals?”

“A little gunpowder makes them start up real well.”

“I know in the Eastern High Peaks Wilderness Area (Adirondack State Park, NY) fires were banned, but not as a result of forest fire threat. Campers had impacted the area greatly in search of firewood. In the Lake Colden area most of the trees were striped of their limbs from the ground to about 20’ up and some of the privies where missing there doors as a result of campers burning them. I’m not sure how one of these stoves would be viewed by rangers in that area of the park.”

“I had a Sierra Zip and it was a cool little stove. The single battery lasts forever and the stove still works without it. It has a degree of fiddle factor as you feed wood in but I like that and just about any stove has a fiddle factor. The main reason I switched was that the stove wasn’t as fast as a gas stove and because I hike with other people I hated the fact that I was holding up others while I did lunch. You can’t beat it for a nice solo trip though. Finding dry fuel was never a problem. You burn small sticks and pinecones and stuff that is thin enough to not really be subject to wetness. I would put a bit of dryer lint and hand sanitizer in it and throw a few wet sticks in and once they took off I fired the fan up and just threw it all in. It never failed me once. One great thing was that the best fuel to use was big chunks of charcoal from fire rings so I could cook without using up more wood from the forest floor and I was cleaning up fire rings somewhat.”

“Mary and Robert had one on our Rainbow Bridge trip, it didn't work very well w/o a battery, but when the comshawed one off some boat people at the bridge it worked fine.

Fire for lunch? Why do you need a fire for a bagel, nuts, and M&M's? : )”

“I like a spot of something warm when it's cold out. Yes, it didn't work as well without a battery but when I'm alone, what's the rush? If ya don't have a battery or ya just like cooking over a fire then the whole concept of a stove is a bit redundant. I did a little thing concerning cook fires on my site...

http://www.mwestfall.addr.com/nigal/getting_serious_about_lnt_fires.htm”

“Corporal Nasty dosen't post here much these days, but he has one. I got to play with it a few times. Worked okay.. but finding dry wood that will burn proved to be a pain at times. The gas stoves cook better, and aren't as messy. Still a neat concept though.”

“The stove we have is a ti sierra stove--10 oz. It is nice for a long trip or a winter trip where you will want lots of hot drinks and soup. It is also nice in winter as a mini campfire--we used it on a winter trip to Phantom Creek with Cindylu a couple of years ago and we sat up late in our bags talking--it was nice.”

“I have one of these stoves. I usually use my gas stove because many of the places I hike around here are in State Parks, and although a fire in a metal container is permissible gathering fuel is not. So to use it (legally) I still have to carry fuel.

But it works great on short overnighters when I want to splurge and carry the weight, it allows me to have a legal campfire albiet a small one.”

“Look for a long time I have fought with ideas about stoves and I have come to this.

All temps above freezing Tin Can Stove.

All temps below freezing Msr Whisperlight Shaker Jet.

End of story.

The thing with the wood buring stove is sometimes if the wood is wet you are shi! out of luck and like Q said there are some places that are not going to let you burn wood.

My .02 cents.

8)”

“If you are talking about the trail Stove that comes with the plastic tubing to use as a bellows, I have one abd love it.

I can usually get a fire going in it, even with wet wood. I was on one trek when it rained every day i was out. I was able to use the tube from the trailstove to keep a regular fire going to dry my clothes and keep warm.

The trick to the stove is not to try to cram a lot of twigs in. Just pack it lightly and add more twigs as needed.”

“I never once failed to get a fire going with wet wood.”

“What Nigal said.

Search the threads for "Sierra Zip Stove". There have been many discussions about it.

I used one for short time. Works good if you don't mind tending it.”

“Redhawk i have the same stove. Thanks for everyones imput i am not totally sold on wood stoves I will have to take it out on a weekend trip and decide”

“I think we should all have several stoves--we have a gas one, the wood burner and an esbit. They serve different purposes at different times--gas for cooking real food, wood for very long or cold trips and the light esbit most of the time.”

“"I never once failed to get a fire going with wet wood."
Nigal
11:49:35 PM
01/08/04

Come to think of it, neither did Corporal Nasty. It just took a little while longer, but I don't recall the stove ever really failing on him, other than the battery connection which he broke himself, if I'm remembering correctly.”