Wheelchair Accessible - Ben's thread

[pomsbz]

A Texas Brisket after 5 hours being smoked. Oh and some kind of knife or something.

[microbe]

A Texas Brisket after 5 hours being smoked. Oh and some kind of knife or something.

(Image removed from quote.)

 

[styx]

A Texas Brisket after 5 hours being smoked. Oh and some kind of knife or something.

(Image removed from quote.)

 

   

[pomsbz]

Carrying on the food theme with a knife, this was today's lunch in work, all sliced with said knife. Kebanos with cashews, cucumber and tomato and a lemon squeezed over it.

[pomsbz]

After that nice healthy lunch, here's some Chilli Con Carne on the boil. Going to be mated with a cornbread topping to make a chilli pie!

[styx]

don't forget to share this delight in the chilli thread

[pomsbz]

don't forget to share this delight in the chilli thread

I couldn't find it weirdly.

[styx]

https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,76433.msg1671150.html#msg1671150

here you go

[pomsbz]

https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,76433.msg1671150.html#msg1671150

here you go

Thanks!

[pomsbz]

I was bored babysitting while my wife was out working last night. I'd noticed the strap on my watch was cracking rather badly and decided to make a new one. Not a NATO strap, I find them rather flimsy but rather a single piece of thick Horween Derby leather.





Not perfect by any means. Couple of things I'll be changing for the next version, especially the fit and cutout for the buckle which I'm not really happy with and I'm going to go with a lighter colour leather next time, this was leftovers from another project but hey, not bad for the first try making a watch strap! I think the rather heavy style goes with the thick watch casing. It's really comfortable to wear.

[styx]

actually it looks really good

[BCNZ]

Yeah that does look good.   

[pomsbz]

Thanks folks! It's been wearing really nicely too.

[Nix]

Great lookin' watch band! 

[pomsbz]

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-laconico-keen-spear-point-folding-knife

WANT (specifically in grey smooth). That's all.

(What wouldn't I give to be able to carry one here. As such, would love to buy but there wouldn't be much point  )

[Aloha]

You do some nice leather pomsbz. 

[pomsbz]

You do some nice leather pomsbz.

Thanks! It's been wearing well over the past two weeks. I'm still not a huge fan of wrist watches though. Prefer my pocket watch any day. So much nicer to have an unencumbered wrist while working with the hand.

[pomsbz]

So this evening I tried my water boiling test with my Emberlit Fireant. I really like the fireant for it's tiny size and ability to use available fuel rather than having to cart the fuel around with you. However it's a finicky beast. For a start it's by far the slowest to set up and get alight of the options I've tested so far. It also needs constant attention. Most of all, you need dry wood and the right type of wood. Thin twigs and lots of them rather than bigger sticks to give optimum air flow. Oh and bamboo is a big no no (cyprus wood too I found out). Basically any wood that needs proper drying out for a good fire is not going to work. I think there's just not enough air flow in there to keep these woods alight. I had to give up tonight. I'll try again with better wood. I was using some bamboo my son had brought home a few days back. Just didn't work.



I'll try to report back within a couple of days with the numbers.

Incidentally as I've been using my gas burner more I've learnt to appreciate it more however you can't store it above a certain temperature. Like the temperatures inside a black bag in the Middle East midday sun. Especially in a BoB in a car  Apparently cars 'spontaneously combust' here every summer cause someone left a gas canister in the trunk
Nice concept and I've been enjoying cooking with it in work, not so practical for an outdoors bag out here in the summer.

[Ron Who]

On a fishing trip with some friends our butane froze. We were forced to do without our morning cup of coffee and just went straight to the booze.

[styx]

nice to hear the up sides and down sides rather than just the usual "it's awesome" comments

[pomsbz]

On a fishing trip with some friends our butane froze. We were forced to do without our morning cup of coffee and just went straight to the booze.

Aha! You could have burned the alcohol. Actually, what am I saying?!

[Ron Who]

 

[pomsbz]

OK here's take two!

I've already mentioned that I've experience with the Emberlit Fireant though out in the field rather than on the stopwatch. I've had times it worked great and times it was a pain in the behind. Due to the testing I have a better idea why this was.



Goes like this, once I'd got a good fire going using some very dry pine twigs/branches:

Using a cold pot each time -
400ml took 13 minutes to boil.
700ml took 15 minutes to boil.

Now those numbers might seem weird but it's just due to how good the twigs currently in the fireant are at a given time. I tried 400ml again and the second time it took 25 mins! (reasons explained below). The flames at times were as high as the lid of the pot however as I was using wood and not firelighter cubes, this didn't leave horrible black residue or a nasty taste and smell.

It is very labour intensive relatively and finicky about it's fuel source and size (dry sticks under 1/2" in diameter are best and 3-4 at a time once the fire is going well). You are constantly feeding it and adjusting the wood. Once you have a good fire going and are cooking, the amount of wood needed will have blocked up the air ports on the sides with coals after half an hour of cooking. At that point you either empty out the coals or the flames slow all the way down due to lack of air intake. I do not know if this would be less of a problem with the regular Emberlit or its clones due to a larger 'stove' area.

My conclusions:

Pluses: A tiny package, literally fits in a shirt pocket. Uses wood so if you have trees, you have fuel (though this 'fact' is very much skill set dependant). Forms its own wind shield.
Minuses: Requires fire starting skills and constant maintenance. Firestarters or tinder highly recommended as you are working in a very confined space when getting the fire going inside the stove. Uses considerably more twigs/branches than you might expect for half an hour of cooking. Coal build up stops airflow to burning wood. Frankly an inconsistent way to cook due to irregular heat.
__________

I've been thinking about this. Specifically while I was carrying out the test. Without doubt this is the smallest footprint solution that I have tested and to be frank I doubt there will be any competitors for that title. However. You can really do with tinder to get the fire started properly as lighting the fire under your twigs is difficult in the enclosed space. If you are outdoors you're probably carrying a fire starting solution anyway for emergencies but I don't think we can look at the footprint of the Emberlit without mentioning the additional footprint of fire starting aids. Unless of course you're talented or a masochist. Did I mention it's really small in the stove area and it will be lying on the floor in most probability? Personally I use fatwood slivers. Not a huge difference in footprint but it's there.

Another point was the use of natural and available fuel. So beloved of Armageddon type theorists. Yes it's true. IF you are in a part of the world with available dry wood to burn, you're golden. I'd bring up another point though. Unless you're living off the land for real, hunting and the like, you'll probably run out of food to cook before you run out of means to cook it. The idea of requiring available stove fuel for cooking from nature assumes that by that point, you're living off nature entirely. I've not forgotten pack weight as an argument but a 100g can of butane should cook, considerably faster (3X!), for an hour of total burn time. Perhaps not a whole lot of weight for the immediacy, clean burning and negligible effort in comparison. Never mind the conservation of energy.

As such I'm concluding. If you're going to buy one of these, I suggest the regular sized model and not the Fireant. Due to its size the Fireant is a good solution for relatively fast and easy cooking foods and a patient person. If you like setting up and then cooking over a campfire, this may be for you. If you like a quick coffee mid hike, you're not going enjoy it. Personally, it's staying in the bag as backup while I work out a better main solution, probably gas if I can work out how to store it in the heat. In the meanwhile I'm going to keep using it to try and work out how best to maximise its use and perhaps restore it to a primary solution.

One thing I have thought about, most of my problems with the Esbit stove were based on the use of paraffin based firelighter cubes. Then I saw someone mention Meeco's Surestart Firelighter Cubes. They are a wax impregnated wood/paper fibre firestarter. That should fix the problems that I had with the Esbit. Well if I could buy them here it would I would love to try them though. Perhaps next time my dad flies from the US to visit I can persuade him to shlep some out.

[styx]

I wonder what you'd say about Firebox Nano after this experience. Same conclusions or is it just a gimmick?

[pomsbz]

I wonder what you'd say about Firebox Nano after this experience. Same conclusions or is it just a gimmick?

Not for me to say as I'd never heard about it till now. Watching video about it now.

[pomsbz]

I wonder what you'd say about Firebox Nano after this experience. Same conclusions or is it just a gimmick?

I like it. It solves some of the problems with the Fireant for the same footprint and can be used as a wind shield for a gas burner. I love solutions with dual usage. I also think the wood entrance solution is better thought out and the removable base allows you to avoid the  'too much coals' problem.

Would I buy it? Meh. Not right now. It's a better design but it's 40 bucks.

[pomsbz]

Here's a review of the fireant that I found that pretty much confirms my thoughts including some I forgot to mention.

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/emberlit/fireant/

[styx]

I wonder what you'd say about Firebox Nano after this experience. Same conclusions or is it just a gimmick?

I like it. It solves some of the problems with the Fireant for the same footprint and can be used as a wind shield for a gas burner. I love solutions with dual usage. I also think the wood entrance solution is better thought out and the removable base allows you to avoid the  'too much coals' problem.

Would I buy it? Meh. Not right now. It's a better design but it's 40 bucks.

to be fair, I don't see the allure of most packable woodstoves for their given price

[pomsbz]

I wonder what you'd say about Firebox Nano after this experience. Same conclusions or is it just a gimmick?

I like it. It solves some of the problems with the Fireant for the same footprint and can be used as a wind shield for a gas burner. I love solutions with dual usage. I also think the wood entrance solution is better thought out and the removable base allows you to avoid the  'too much coals' problem.

Would I buy it? Meh. Not right now. It's a better design but it's 40 bucks.

to be fair, I don't see the allure of most packable woodstoves for their given price

Hence the chinese knockoffs for a fraction of the price. These stoves are really priced at double what they should be. Hard to justify that when you can buy it for a quarter off aliexpress.

[styx]

I wonder what you'd say about Firebox Nano after this experience. Same conclusions or is it just a gimmick?

I like it. It solves some of the problems with the Fireant for the same footprint and can be used as a wind shield for a gas burner. I love solutions with dual usage. I also think the wood entrance solution is better thought out and the removable base allows you to avoid the  'too much coals' problem.

Would I buy it? Meh. Not right now. It's a better design but it's 40 bucks.

to be fair, I don't see the allure of most packable woodstoves for their given price

Hence the chinese knockoffs for a fraction of the price. These stoves are really priced at double what they should be. Hard to justify that when you can buy it for a quarter off aliexpress.

-i'm sure that manufacturers wouldn't agree, but I do