Beginning of the week the postman rang the doorbell - he had a package which didn't fit through the post box. A sticker on the side said Trail Designs. Wow, that went fast, I thought! I opened the package to find the Ti-Tri and Inferno stove in it, together with the Caddy, two Titanium stakes, the Gram Cracker and a few Esbit tablets, the 12-10 Alcohol Stove, and a little bottle + measurement cup. I immediately started playing around with it, figuring out how it should be put together and reading the instruction leaflets.
However, I can't make a fire in the house - I would need to hack up the parquet flooring which I'm sure my rent lord wouldn't approve of. So I went on a mightly long trek of 500 m to the nearby lake, collected wood on the way, cleared a space and started my experiment. And because I wanted to try something new, I decided to make a video of it.
Because new gear always is put up on the weight scale (much to the amusement of my girl friend), here are some cold, hard numbers for the Mathematicians out there. UL backpackers also seem obsessed with numbers, so they might as well enjoy them ;)
Caldera Cone 51 g
Gramm Cracker + underplate 6 g
12 - 10 Alcohol Stove 16 g
Inferno stove 65 g
Caddy 75 g
Fireplate 24 g
Titanium Stakes 17 g
Alcohol bottle (full) 146 g
Esbit Tablets 43 g
Makes for a Grand total of 443 g. That allows you to cook with either esbit, alcohol or wood. However, I reckon no one would carry a double back-up around, so taking only the Gram Cracker and esbit tablets as back-up with the Ti-Tri, Inferno, stakes, fireplate and caddy you would have 281 g for your stove and back-up. And while I throw around numbers, I should say this: I have a TT 1100 pot, and the Ti-Tri and Inferno are made to fit that one. If you got a smaller pot, say a 750 ml pot, the Ti-Tri and Inferno will weigh less. Then there is the Caddy, a might 75 g, though it protects its contents well and can be used as two cups. As the Titanium edges are a bit sharp, I am hesitant to put the cones like that in the backpack, too big the probability that the backpack or something else takes damage. So for the moment it comes along.
What else is there to say? Don't make the mistake and put the Inferno cone down the right way. It belongs upside down (wide end up), which makes feeding it a lot easier and it burns hotter. The fireplate has holes in it, so you can stake it to the ground. I used two nails for that, as I don't have titanium stakes. It gets easier to use with every time, and also folding and getting it out of the caddy is easier with every use. The Inferno is hungry, and uses quite some wood. But damn, it is fast! 7,5 minutes is a record time for boiling a liter of water for me, my BushBuddy Ultra takes longer. Finally, the Inferno isn't yet on the Trail designs website. If you want one, you need to contact them and they will hook you up. Contact is fast and friendly, excellent customer service to be precise.
Well, so much for my Initial review. When Joe is here in two weeks, the two of us will be able to make some comparisons of BushBuddy Ultra versus Ti-Tri + Inferno, and the Ti-Tri + Inferno will get its first trail test.
/edit: Roger from nielsenbrownoutdoors.com wrote an excellent comparison article of the Ti-Tri versus BushBuddy. If you're on the fence about either of these stoves, head over and have a read, it should help you decide =)
However, I can't make a fire in the house - I would need to hack up the parquet flooring which I'm sure my rent lord wouldn't approve of. So I went on a mightly long trek of 500 m to the nearby lake, collected wood on the way, cleared a space and started my experiment. And because I wanted to try something new, I decided to make a video of it.
Because new gear always is put up on the weight scale (much to the amusement of my girl friend), here are some cold, hard numbers for the Mathematicians out there. UL backpackers also seem obsessed with numbers, so they might as well enjoy them ;)
Caldera Cone 51 g
Gramm Cracker + underplate 6 g
12 - 10 Alcohol Stove 16 g
Inferno stove 65 g
Caddy 75 g
Fireplate 24 g
Titanium Stakes 17 g
Alcohol bottle (full) 146 g
Esbit Tablets 43 g
Makes for a Grand total of 443 g. That allows you to cook with either esbit, alcohol or wood. However, I reckon no one would carry a double back-up around, so taking only the Gram Cracker and esbit tablets as back-up with the Ti-Tri, Inferno, stakes, fireplate and caddy you would have 281 g for your stove and back-up. And while I throw around numbers, I should say this: I have a TT 1100 pot, and the Ti-Tri and Inferno are made to fit that one. If you got a smaller pot, say a 750 ml pot, the Ti-Tri and Inferno will weigh less. Then there is the Caddy, a might 75 g, though it protects its contents well and can be used as two cups. As the Titanium edges are a bit sharp, I am hesitant to put the cones like that in the backpack, too big the probability that the backpack or something else takes damage. So for the moment it comes along.
What else is there to say? Don't make the mistake and put the Inferno cone down the right way. It belongs upside down (wide end up), which makes feeding it a lot easier and it burns hotter. The fireplate has holes in it, so you can stake it to the ground. I used two nails for that, as I don't have titanium stakes. It gets easier to use with every time, and also folding and getting it out of the caddy is easier with every use. The Inferno is hungry, and uses quite some wood. But damn, it is fast! 7,5 minutes is a record time for boiling a liter of water for me, my BushBuddy Ultra takes longer. Finally, the Inferno isn't yet on the Trail designs website. If you want one, you need to contact them and they will hook you up. Contact is fast and friendly, excellent customer service to be precise.
Well, so much for my Initial review. When Joe is here in two weeks, the two of us will be able to make some comparisons of BushBuddy Ultra versus Ti-Tri + Inferno, and the Ti-Tri + Inferno will get its first trail test.
/edit: Roger from nielsenbrownoutdoors.com wrote an excellent comparison article of the Ti-Tri versus BushBuddy. If you're on the fence about either of these stoves, head over and have a read, it should help you decide =)
