UL fuel efficient cook system

[sr80]

I got my fire maple pot from china the other day, the pocket rocket deluxe fit into the grooves, but i did ended up trimming the slots a tad bigger for easier on and off. Nice pot though, boil time is greatly reduced and i like how the handle snaps over and holds the lid secure.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Sorry for all the questions BBob! This little project has piqued my interest..

Edit: A Soto Windmaster with a TriFlex support works perfectly with the FM pot. My chopped and modified BRS works fine. A STD BRS should work too. Edit: a BRS needs to be modified to work. The angled put supports won’t work out of the box.
View attachment 634526

Do you have pics of your chopped and modified BRS?

A potential hurdle on this pot is the really short heat exchanger. It’s going to leave stoves like the BRS exposed to wind unlike the Sterno with the extended shroud below the HtXch fins shields it well.

The heat exchanger on the FM is shorter than the sterno? They don't look that much different in the picture you posted above, but its hard to tell. Do you have more pics? Maybe pics of the pots sitting on the stoves?

I have a Firemaple that I want to modify that I think will be great but I haven’t had time to get to that yet.

Have you had any time to mess with your FM yet? Curious to see what you came up with!


Additional question for the guys in this thread..If you were using a hot tent setup with a wood stove, do you think you could safely set your pot on top of the stove to heat your water?

 

[BBob]

the pocket rocket deluxe fit into the grooves

That’s a great fit where the burner is covered by the pot shroud.

 

[BBob]

Sorry for all the questions BBob!

No worries. Here’s a pile of pictures.

Comparison of pot shroud depth.

BRS, BRS Mod, FM

BRS Mod

Soto Wind 4Plex Mod (won’t fit the FM pot).

Soto Wind Triflex

 

[BBob]

So far it looks like if you want to do zero modifications with the FM Petrel pot and keep the burner shrouded the Pocket Rocket Deluxe and the Soto Windmaster w/Triflex support look good. The Soto looks like the best fit to me with good burner to pot spacing and the supports aren’t hanging out the sides. Not the lightest but a pretty clean and easy setup. The Windmaster is pretty powerful and you’d likely melt your pot down if you run it full bore. I’ve found that max boil speed isn’t as efficient fuel usage wise as a slightly slower burn.

The stock BRS and FM stoves will at the very least need to have the supports bent to align with the slots on the Petrel but even then they are going to have a big gap from the burners to the pot.

 

[BBob]

Have you had any time to mess with your FM yet? Curious to see what you came up with!

I haven’t other than looking at it and the Petrel side by side because I don’t think that stove will be ideal modified or not.

Additional question for the guys in this thread..If you were using a hot tent setup with a wood stove, do you think you could safely set your pot on top of the stove to heat your water?

I doubt there’d be much heat transfer with a heat exchanger pot just sitting on the bottom of the shroud but I can’t say because I’ve never actually tried it

 

[cornfedkiller]

@BBob Thank you very much for the pictures!

So if I'm following correctly..

1) The mod made to the BRS is cutting the fins shorter, then it will fit inside of the heat exchanger fins on the FM.. doesn't seem like it would be as stable that way though, correct?

2) The concern about the gap between the BRS and FM is mainly for wind, correct? The efficiency would still be pretty decent I assume?

I'd like to stick with the BRS because of cost/weight, but it doesn't look like there's a way to make it work with the FM as well as the sterno that you and @AK Troutbum are using.

 

[BBob]

1) The mod made to the BRS is cutting the fins shorter, then it will fit inside of the heat exchanger fins on the FM.. doesn't seem like it would be as stable that way though, correct?

I modified that BRS specifically for the Sterno but as is it will work for the FM Petrel. I'm pretty sure from looking at the BRS that you could just bend the tips out to align with the slots in the FM pot and if so it would work just fine. To answer to the stability of the chopped BRS, no it's not as stable but for me it's been very workable partly because I know it can't be bumped around. I have not dumped it yet and it's had a lot of use. I'd try bending the tips first before chopping it.

2) The concern about the gap between the BRS and FM is mainly for wind, correct? The efficiency would still be pretty decent I assume?

Yes for sure. That's a plus for the Sterno when it's windy. It (BRS/FM) should work work well without wind and almost for sure more efficient than with a plain bottom Toaks mug. There are plenty of people happy with a Pocket Rocket and a Toaks mug and you'd likely be ahead of that game with the FM and BRS. You could always add a simple windscreen like I've posted. I'm in wind pretty often and I'm sticking with the stove that is better integrated wind wise over one that is not even with a windscreen. The simple windscreen works but not as well as something like the Sterno and BRS.

I'd like to stick with the BRS because of cost/weight, but it doesn't look like there's a way to make it work with the FM as well as the sterno that you and @AK Troutbum are using.

I don't think the FM Petrel/BRS will match the Sterno/BRS overall but maybe a good compromise.

 

[BBob]

Several videos with several stove options for the Petrel. FWIW It's become pretty apparent the Petrel is not quite as efficient as some other HX pots by ~1.5gm more fuel per burn than the others but still does fairly well. My tests with the Windburner comes in at the same as Flat Cat. I'm just about ready to chop a BRS to fit that will get the burner just under the edge of the bottom of the pots shield. As soon as I'm sure it's what I want I'll commit and chop it. I also have a Fire Maple stove that I'm pondering on mods.

 

[HighUintas]

Several videos with several stove options for the Petrel. FWIW It's become pretty apparent the Petrel is not quite as efficient as some other HX pots by ~1.5gm more fuel per burn than the others but still does fairly well. My tests with the Windburner comes in at the same as Flat Cat. I'm just about ready to chop a BRS to fit that will get the burner just under the edge of the bottom of the pots shield. As soon as I'm sure it's what I want I'll commit and chop it. I also have a Fire Maple stove that I'm pondering on mods.

So is the petrel pot less efficient by 1.5gm per burn even if the burner is shrouded correctly by the bottom of the pot like with the sterno pot?

If there is no way to get the same efficiency as with the sterno, I'll reconsider getting the petrel. I may just use a modified BRS stove under an old jetboil pot and see if my wife (the owner) will let me chop the top off to lighten it up.

 

[BBob]

So is the petrel pot less efficient by 1.5gm per burn even if the burner is shrouded correctly by the bottom of the pot like with the sterno pot?

Yes it is less efficient but I wouldn't sneeze at ~6.5gm per 500ml burn. That's still pretty good. I think the issue is that the shroud contacts the bottom of the fins pulling heat out of the fins.

If there is no way to get the same efficiency as with the sterno, I'll reconsider getting the petrel. I may just use a modified BRS stove under an old jetboil pot and see if my wife (the owner) will let me chop the top off to lighten it up.

Before I chopped a JetBoil I'd buy the Fire Maple Star X1 kit that's on 20% off plus an additional 12% right now ($40.26) and chop it. That pot is as efficient as the Sterno at around 5gm's per 500ml burn. I posted a link earlier for instructions to lighten the Star X1 system down to 10oz, you could probably get it lighter with a BRS or similar. Don't be tempted to buy the Fire Maple 1L pot, it is not the same as the Star X1 and is not as efficient as the Star X1.

Star X1 Cooking System

Lightweight, generous volume, efficient starter, easy flame adjustment, great nesting engineering. Ideal for Hiking, Trekking, Fishing, Hunting Trips and Emergency Us. With a 3 year warranty.

firemaplegear.com

Edit: I emailed Jon at Flat Cat as to a FM 300T stove to a FM Petrel pot:

Jon,

Do have a Cheetah windscreen for the Fire Maple 300T stove to a Fire Maple Petrel pot?

Thank you,

Working on it.

Jon

 

[Hoghead]

..

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[n816kc]

Jetboil Zip cozie fits the Sterno pot pretty tight, no issues with sag when full of water. Cut 3/8” off the top and bottom. Maxwell House coffee lid works well.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I'm just about ready to chop a BRS to fit that will get the burner just under the edge of the bottom of the pots shield.

Interested in seeing what you come up with! I assume you are just going to cut the arms where the narrow vertical part rises up to the "feet"? Should be able to grind a big enough flat spot to still have some stability?

Edit to add: What does the stock BRS look like compared to the bottom of FM Petrel? You mentioned possibly being able to just bend the feet to fit? If thats the case, could you cut the feet a different way than your previously modified BRS to lower it but have more stability?

 

[BBob]

I assume you are just going to cut the arms where the narrow vertical part rises up to the "feet"?

Exactly, pretty much where your picture shows.

What does the stock BRS look like compared to the bottom of FM Petrel?

You could easily bend the arms to fit and leave the burner exposed. My cut (length) BRS but stock height for example.
1st pic unmodified BRS, Petrel pot. 2nd pic BRS arms chopped in length but factory height to Petrel pot.

could you cut the feet a different way than your previously modified BRS to lower it but have more stability?

If you cut it low enough so that the burner is at least even with the bottom you lose length on the supports. That’s not a big deal to me as my Sterno BRS has been cut pretty short already and I haven’t knocked it over yet.

Jon at Flat Cat seems to think you need to keep the BRS further out from the bottom of the Petrel for a more efficient burn and mby to keep CO2 levels down. He didn't elaborate on why he thought that and may be keeping it to himself.

Comparing the FM and BRS arm heights. The FM arms are ~1/4” taller.

 

[cornfedkiller]

If you cut it low enough so that the burner is at least even with the bottom you lose length on the supports.

I was thinking if I cut the BRS like my pic shows, I'd end up with a longer surface area than the way you modified yours, since the distal portion of the arm would still be there.

Jon at Flat Cat seems to think you need to keep the BRS further out from the bottom of the Petrel for a more efficient burn

In which video is that discussed?

Comparing the FM and BRS arm heights. The FM arms are ~1/4” taller.

The FM burner must sit well below the shroud too?

Edit: I see in the videos that it does. But he mentions that it positions the burner the ideal distance from the bottom of the pot... but then also talks about how great the Soto Windmaster is, and that sits up way closer to the pot?

Thank you again for the detailed posts, the pictures, answering all my questions, etc!

 

[BBob]

but then also talks about how great the Soto Windmaster is, and that sits up way closer to the pot?

The Windmaster with the triflex support is a perfect match for the Petrel. No mods needed at all unless you want to trim the little tab off that’s on one of the arms. It’s mentioned in one of the videos. You do need to check the alignment of the supports when you put the support on the stove to make sure the arms slide into the slots easily. The Windmaster is a powerful stove. You only need to run it very moderately to get good efficiency, boil times and not melt your pot down.

A post above seems to show the Pocket Rocket Deluxe fits pretty well with no mods too. The Windmaster triflex arms do not stick out like the PR if you care.

Yeah I don’t get his comments on some stoves need to be below the shroud but the Windmaster is fine. He may have done some testing he hasn’t spoken about though.

 

[cornfedkiller]

@BBob Did you mention which jetboil cozie you have on your Petrel? And what about a lid?

For no more than those things cost, I might go ahead and order it and tinker a little..

 

[BBob]

Did you mention which jetboil cozie you have on your Petrel? And what about a lid?

Yes, I mentioned somewhere but likely buried. I used a Zip. I bought it at some point when it was discounted. They seem to do that fairly often. I’ve only begun to half ass look for a lighter lid. Haven’t found one yet. The lightweight Toaks are all the wrong size from what I’ve seen.

 

[sr80]

I ended up cutting the slots in the bottom of my pot a little wider to make it easier to get the pot on and off with my PR deluxe. I also have a BRS which i don't like or use because it seems to take forever to boil in the slightest breeze, so i chopped it up the other day before seeing this thread, so it will fit into the fire maple pot. I used the stove the other day on a shed hunt and there was definitely an improvement with this pot.