Swiss Volcano cooker

magentus · **on:** July 18, 2016, 09:51:21 AM

Just found some old pics of my trusty Swiss Volcano cooker - Very handy piece of kit for a day out bimbling:

P4080111 by Magentus, on Flickr
For those unfamiliar with this, it comprises of an aluminium tube which will take a burner or wood to heat up water in a cup or bottle (also aluminium). It's quite versatile and extremely well thought out. Problems with stability can be overcome by pegging the oven to the ground.

I may do a more in depth review some time as this is an interesting piece of equipment. Does anyone else have/use one? Thoughts?

DaveK · **Reply #1 on:** July 18, 2016, 10:29:50 AM

That looks really interesting - what are the dimensions?

I'm still using my Trangia set with the meths burner and see no reason to change it so far, other than it is a bit bulky. That thing does look interesting though.

magentus · **Reply #2 on:** July 18, 2016, 10:48:19 AM

It's around 10" high and 3.5" in diameter. It's not as good as the Swedish trangia IMO but for boiling a cup of tea or making noodles etc it's nice and light and handy that you can use twigs etc to fuel it.

You have inspired me to get my stainless steel Swedish Trangia out too - Maybe I'll take some pics of them together for a comparison review.

DaveK · **Reply #3 on:** July 18, 2016, 12:02:29 PM

That would be great

The Trangia is great for camping etc, but something more compact just for heating up some soup or making a cuppa on a walk would definitely be of interest.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #4 on:** July 18, 2016, 01:10:23 PM

I'd love to see more of this stove. I don't think I've ever seen one like that before.

Def

magentus · **Reply #5 on:** July 18, 2016, 03:29:44 PM

What the boss wants the boss gets. I will dig them out this week and take some snaps.

eamo · **Reply #6 on:** July 18, 2016, 07:12:20 PM

an interesting stove Mags - is it similiar to a kelly kettle thingie ?

magentus · **Reply #7 on:** July 18, 2016, 08:30:24 PM

Quote from: eamo on July 18, 2016, 07:12:20 PM

an interesting stove Mags - is it similiar to a kelly kettle thingie ?

Yes - in fact Volcano kettle is another name for the Kelly. Rather than having a water jacket with a central chimney to feed fuel into, the Swiss version is in 3 parts; The chimney, with a hole to feed twigs etc, the Water bottle with a cork stopper and a cup that fits onto the top of the chimney to boil water. I made a lid for mine from an old can lid to speed up the boil time.

You can also boil the water in the bottle. There is an unusually shaped handle on the chimney which, when folded correctly, provides a shelf for the bottle to sit above the flames.

I'm finding it hard to explain, but later this week I'll take some pics to demonstrate how to use it.

Spork, Lord of Lime Jello! · **Reply #8 on:** July 19, 2016, 01:25:08 AM

The cooker was originally intended for use with Meta fuel tablets...the Swiss equivalent of Hexi and Esbit tablets.

I've tried about every alky stove version I can think of in it,,,problem is that anything pressurized will get overheated and flare up or burn inefficiently from the thermal feedback. After much experimentation, I've settled on using gelled fuel in mine. Using a steel tuna can with a single row of holes...basically a Supercat used in chimney mode. I get an inward jet effect which keeps the flames away from the walls of the stand. The tuna can gets stowed upside-down on top of the cork.

I have seen photos of meltdowns caused by burning wood in these cookers. I think the users used pieces of splitwood and allowed the coals to build up. I would not use wood in mine, but I think bunches of small, fast burning twigs not larger than pencil size would be OK.

The bottle is the same diameter as a 1L Sigg. I'm not able to lock the cup closed because it looks like the shoulder of the SIgg is higher and interfere with the cup. Mine are contemporary bottles...I wonder if an older Sigg has a lower shoulder?

TazzieRob · **Reply #9 on:** July 19, 2016, 06:16:02 AM

That is fascinating how the chimney effect causes the flame to suck back into the centre!

Megan · **Reply #10 on:** August 07, 2016, 11:37:22 PM

That's really neat!
I've not seen one of those before.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #11 on:** August 07, 2016, 11:58:43 PM

Quote from: Spork, Lord of Lime Jello! on July 19, 2016, 01:25:08 AM

The cooker was originally intended for use with Meta fuel tablets...the Swiss equivalent of Hexi and Esbit tablets.

I've tried about every alky stove version I can think of in it,,,problem is that anything pressurized will get overheated and flare up or burn inefficiently from the thermal feedback. After much experimentation, I've settled on using gelled fuel in mine. Using a steel tuna can with a single row of holes...basically a Supercat used in chimney mode. I get an inward jet effect which keeps the flames away from the walls of the stand. The tuna can gets stowed upside-down on top of the cork.

I have seen photos of meltdowns caused by burning wood in these cookers. I think the users used pieces of splitwood and allowed the coals to build up. I would not use wood in mine, but I think bunches of small, fast burning twigs not larger than pencil size would be OK.

The bottle is the same diameter as a 1L Sigg. I'm not able to lock the cup closed because it looks like the shoulder of the SIgg is higher and interfere with the cup. Mine are contemporary bottles...I wonder if an older Sigg has a lower shoulder?

How did I know you were going to come along with all of the info about these things I had never heard of before?

Def

jcs0001 · **Reply #12 on:** August 31, 2016, 05:32:33 PM

Very interesting cooker. I also use a trangia 27 - mostly for car camping so weight doesn't matter too much. I really like the simplicity of these types of cooking stoves.

John.

magentus · **Reply #13 on:** August 31, 2016, 09:41:09 PM

I haven't forgotten I said I'd review the Volcano stove - I have been busy with other stuff unfortunately - allergic dog and job hunting is taking up a lot of time at the moment - hopefully one or the other will calm down enough for me to scoot to the park and take some pics soon.

DaveK · **Reply #14 on:** September 01, 2016, 06:05:09 PM

You've been hunting for allergic dogs?

magentus · **Reply #15 on:** September 02, 2016, 02:23:49 PM

Quote from: DaveK on September 01, 2016, 06:05:09 PM

You've been hunting for allergic dogs?

Yes I have - all the jobs for allergic dog hunters want you to have experience, so I'm out there day and night searching, always searching.

jcs0001 · **Reply #16 on:** September 03, 2016, 12:45:30 AM

Magentus

Once you get time I look forward to a review. Good luck with the job search.

John

magentus · **Reply #17 on:** August 13, 2017, 08:44:29 PM

Necro thread!

Almost a year later I got to use this stove at the meet.

I forgot to time how long it took to boil a cup of water but it was early on Saturday morning after a night in a very small tent (see pic). I love this stove because you can use wood or fuel tabs etc and it;'s extremely light as well.

sak60 · **Reply #18 on:** August 15, 2017, 11:03:30 PM

I like the sentry you've got to guard the tent

magentus · **Reply #19 on:** August 16, 2017, 04:27:23 PM

Didn't stop a couple of comely maidens trying to get in my sleeping bag though - at least they said they were comely maidens, definitely not Kev and Tony in dresses.

sak60 · **Reply #20 on:** August 17, 2017, 06:06:24 AM

ironraven · **Reply #21 on:** August 27, 2017, 03:32:54 PM

I keep on in my car as a chip stove. Only takes a few minutes to heat something up, and then a few minutes to cool down. More robust than a coffee can stove, but I'm not sure how much I'd trust it for a long burn.

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