UL fuel efficient cook system

[prm]

prm, good to hear from you!

Overall, I'd expect about 25% less fuel used with a HE pot, and sometimes as much as 30%. In my "kitchen conditions" (5,010' elevation, 500ml 42*F Water, 69*F Air Temp) My guess is about 6-6.5g to heat 500ml with the G3 and about 8-8.5g fuel with the Titan.

That’s significant. With the windscreen I’ll bet the actual fuel usage in the field is even that much better. Thanks!
I always bring too much fuel. What if gets heavy…. With enough efficiency improvement I can probably convince myself to just bring one small canister.

 

[Dobermann]

Hi @Dobermann, Jon Fong is a wealth of information and good guy.

He's seen this modified G3 and told me he's planning on doing the same thing. We correspond over at backpackinglight where I've put most of the above in a variety of posts over the years. It was a quiet, cold Sunday morning yesterday and I thought it might be nice to share my fiddlings here. Glad you found them helpful!

Good to know!

He told me he's working on a project, but didn't say exactly what.

I'm still curious about his choice of the G3 over the Widesea or Stash pot - but if he's modding the pot, that might be part of his thinking. (I know he thinks the Stash is too expensive, but he did say a year ago that he thought the Widesea was the best available choice, so I'm interested if that has changed.)

He also made the point that the real test of HX systems (not just the pot) is in windy conditions - and that was really shown in The Gear Skeptic's testing I posted earlier.

Personally, while I'm amazed by all of these mods - especially your windscreen - I don't need ultralight, and am keen to find the best 'as-is' / out of the box option ... wishing The Gear Skeptic would do another run with more pots, but with the same stove to eliminate that variable.

 

[HighUintas]

Perhaps I wasn't clear - I didn't say the Sterno Inferno pot is more efficient than the G3 pot - what I meant was the Pocket Rocket Deluxe is slightly more efficient than the Soto Windmaster. I edited the post above to reflect this.

I tested both stoves for multiple boils at different power levels with both pots, and the PRDLX was very slightly more efficient with both pots (around 0.6g less fuel used on average when boiling 500ml H2O).

Both pots are essentially the same width, with the Inferno being 3/16" wider, but the G3 has more fins. I found both pots to have essentially identical results in terms of fuel consumption and boil times when using the same/same stove with each pot.

I didn't mean to imply that you said the sterno was most efficient. It's that in my research of other's testing, it seems the sterno is most efficient regardless of stove type. I think that is likely due to the smaller volume of that pot versus the others. Jon Fongs testing that I reviewed used the petrel pot and others in an unmodified full volume configuration... Not cut down.


Comparing your testing with the PRDLX to mine, I think it's similar if I remember correctly. My cut down flash pot with koozie and the brs stove and pot riser ring, I think I had about 5.5-6.5g fuel used to boil a similar volume in similar conditions. It's very efficient without wind, but sucks in the wind. Hence, my looking at his cheetah windscreen and fire maple stove kit for my flash pot

 

[pokes15]

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[PointlessArcher]

Great thread! Definitely motivated me to rethink my cooking system. Went with a soto windmaster + Jetboil stash combo and although maybe not the absolute lightest it is super efficient and fast.

 

[Dobermann]

Great thread! Definitely motivated me to rethink my cooking system. Went with a soto windmaster + Jetboil stash combo and although maybe not the absolute lightest it is super efficient and fast.

Thanks - would love to hear more about your experiences ... and data if you have it would be handy.

Some people get caught up on boil time; I think what we're seeing is a bit of a shift to more grams of fuel used per boil (or raising to pasteurization temperature, as per Gear Skeptic) - especially with a known wind value (rather than just in windless / indoor conditions).

 

[prm]

prm, good to hear from you!

Overall, I'd expect about 25% less fuel used with a HE pot, and sometimes as much as 30%. In my "kitchen conditions" (5,010' elevation, 500ml 42*F Water, 69*F Air Temp) My guess is about 6-6.5g to heat 500ml with the G3 and about 8-8.5g fuel with the Titan.

I did pick up a Fire Maple G3. Really like it so far. Will probably leave it unmodified as I do like the handle. Easier to get off when I don’t pay attention and water is boiling over… Seems to fit well with the PRDLX so even without an additional wind screen it should be quite efficient.

 

[Dobermann]

I heard back from Jon Fong; he reiterated that he thinks the Firemaple Petrel pots (ie G2 and G3) are currently the best-available models - but didn't say why.

We really need to see if Gear Skeptic is up for re-doing his series of tests with all HX pots, with the same stove, to eliminate that variable ... I really want some data on the G2 vs G3 vs Widesea vs Stash pots!

In any case, given that those four options provide a range of sizes, ability to stove small or large canisters, and so on, we've got some pretty good choices available right now.

 

[gtriple]

I did pick up a Fire Maple G3. Really like it so far. Will probably leave it unmodified as I do like the handle. Easier to get off when I don’t pay attention and water is boiling over… Seems to fit well with the PRDLX so even without an additional wind screen it should be quite efficient.

The micromo cozy is still pretty easy to pick up. And it actually improves the efficiency. Plus it makes it nicer to use as a coffee mug because it insulates better.

 

[gtriple]

BTW, I used a compound miter saw (chop saw) to cut the G3 pot. It takes some shimming and leveling at the backstop and underneath to get the pot straight, plumb and level for a good cut. I used a small bubble level, and speed level to accomplish this, along with drywall shim pieces, but any stiff, non-spongy material will work - you just need to be able to add subtract pieces to get the pot trued.

Have you thought about modifying the shroud below the fins on the G3? There were some comments somewhere that they could reduce efficiency. Not sure about that though. Maybe bending them down provides more of a wind screen