We have owned a BushBuddy Ultra for a while and have always thought that it is ideal for places where there is an abundant supply of firewood, especially along the coast. The stove weighs 150 gms and fits snugly into our Backpackinglight 1100 ml pot but will also slip inside a MSR 0.85 litre pot with about a cm of the stove protruding above the pot.
We used the stove this past weekend on the Österlenleden. The stove lived up to all its claims of burning efficiently with the design allowing continuing refuelling from the fuel sources available, in our case small pine cones which provided a hot fire and almost ash free residue. Given our proximity to ample supplies of driftwood we were able to keep it burning longer than we would have been able to with a gas stove.
One of the benefits of the stove is also its warming glow that it can provide at night, though this also means that it is difficult to use in confined surroundings.
Nielsen, can you comment how the BB works with moist or even wet wood? I ordered mine last weekend, and am thus fully anticipating it to arrive soon (well, three to four weeks), but I can't yet test it myself.
ReplyDeleteI ask because in the autumn and spring it can rain quite a lot here in Finland, and thus it might be difficult to find sufficient dry wood. I will carry a alcohol burner as back-up with me, but would like to know if that's really necessary or if I can fully depend on the BB.
Hendrik, I have been lucky I guess, not much rain when out hiking, though I have found that with careful selection of small wood and getting some heat in the fire then most wood burns okay. I have also noticed that sometimes there is a build up of smoke then it bursts into flames, I assume this is due to the woodgas build up.
ReplyDeleteBy the way Bob at BPL UK did a nice blog on the Bush Cooker which included a very informative intro into wood gas stoves. Also I would carry some esbit tabs along with "The gram cracker" as a back up instead of metho.
I am still pondering whether to go with the convenience of a gas stove or the Bushbuddy for the
Nordkalottleden Trail (thanks for the tip) The weights will be the approximately the same.
Do you have a link to the mentioned blog from Bob at BPL UK? Could be a good way to kill time till the BB arrives =)
ReplyDeleteSo you will walk the Nordkalottleden? Awesome! I am so looking forward to read about it, and I wish you a great time up there. I myself will go there in the autumn, was thinking about early September as I really like autumn as a season.
As BB vs. Gas, I would go with the BB. Gas can't be transported via plane, and I do not know how easy it is to get the cartridges there (I heard its easy in Finland, but can't say about Sweden and Norway).
Okay I should have said Right hand side, but I am sure you found it anyway.
ReplyDelete