People (and dogs) seem to like it!

by Devin on March 26, 2011

A West Highland Terrier named Gabby and the elusive Boiler #001. Both belong to long-time friend of the Boiler Steve Martell. Photo also courtesy of Steve, I added the LOLtext. :)

I was almost holding my breath late last week as I drove home from the Post Office after shipping the last of the Boilers. I had invested a lot, both financially and psychologically, in the project and there were high expectations among those who had waited a long time for their very own Backcountry Boiler.

Thank God people like it – I’ve gotten a lot of kind emails and praise elsewhere from folks who have gotten their Boilers and really like both them and having been able to watch them be created. Just awesome.

And now that people have them, the Boilers have really taken on their own lives, animated by the fires that, very literally, now burn in their bellies. I’ve taken some time to compile some of the videos, tests, and other posts folks have made since getting their Boilers. They’re totally worth checking out:

Brian (#063): I had purposefully not posted images of the finished Boilers before they went out, hoping that the excitement could be spread out among the new owners as they opened their very own. So it was Brian, with this post that, as near as I can tell, hosted the first images of the finished Backcountry Boiler online.

Heber (#092): If you don’t have a Boiler, and want a really clear, articulate explanation of how it works, Heber provides it in this video. As one might suspect, he’s a professor. He later made a great post on how to use the Boiler with wet wood. The only note I should make is on the first video, and it’s to say that the second stopper merely plugs a hole made for anodizing. It’s not a safety feature, though I had played around with the idea.

Charles (#119): In another pair of videos, Charles starts by showing how much smaller the Boiler is than the most compact chimney kettle that preceded it. In that video, he fuels it with cardboard (an excellent way to dispose of the box it comes in), and in the second he uses twigs – a fuel you are hopefully more likely to happen upon on the trail. :)

Robert (#43 & #104): There were two questions I got a lot while the Boiler was in development: 1) can a pot support be added to heat water over the chimney? and 2) can you play a musical instrument while using the Boiler? Robert answers both with a resounding “Yes!” in his video. He made a handy pot support with galvanized wire mesh and serenades the listener with the resonant tones of a Mountain Ocarina. And I thought Ocarinas were just for casting spells in Zelda.

James (#039): Aside from a pot support, the other question that I was actually asked a lot when the Boiler was in development was whether an alcohol burner could be used with it. James had great luck with a Trangia, using very little fuel and getting a rather timely boil (this is also a great comprehensive review in general). Douglas (#037) had a faster, more spectacular, but less efficient Boil with another stove.

Forums: There’s also a thread on Backpacking Light where folks have commented on their new Boilers. “Knotty” over on Hammock Forums performed a series of tests with different alcohol burners. Since none of these stoves were designed to work with the Boiler, it’s not surprising that they’re a little inefficient. A Trangia seems like the best bet so far, but check back here on Monday for more on using alcohol with the Boiler. ;)

Twitter: I started a hashtag for the Boiler on Twitter – #BCBoiler – and it’s becoming a pretty handy way to keep track of it there. In particular, there have been some great pictures of the Boiler in use by, for instance, Ryan (@bigskyry) using an older prototype during a packrafting trip, and this close-up by Hideaki (@ULG).

Facebook: I have also started a Facebook page for the Boiler, but haven’t made much use of it so far. I plan to start doing more and if I get just a few more fans there, I can get a custom URL.

So that’s where I’ve found the Boiler online – let me know im the comments below if I’ve missed it anywhere. And again – check back here on Monday for… a development and a bit of a challenge. Thanks again for the kind words!

[ 6 comments… read them below or add one ]

Amos March 28, 2011 at 1:22 pm

I had great fun using the Boiler with my 3.5 year old daughter. She enjoyed helping me make the twig fire. Of course I watched her closely for safety reasons and lectured her on the danger of matches and fire. She had a lot of fun watching me demonstrate how to put out a fire with water when I poured the boiling water out of the Boiler onto the twig fire. After she went to bed, my wife wanted to try her hand at making a cup of tea with the boiler and had fun as well.

MedicineMan April 1, 2011 at 2:30 am

Glad you liked the Mountain Ocarina serenading the BCB!
Yes a lot of use use alcohol or esbit while hiking, so it was natural to see how the BCB would do with either fuel.
Knotty at HammockForums has come up with a very simple and incredibly lightweight alcohol stove that I’ve
played with several times now. It is ‘plumbers cloth’ by Otey, and a simple coil is formed with it and placed into the burner plate of the BCB. After coiling the cloth I coiled soem brass snare wire around the cloth and formed a circle. A huge amount of heat is directed onto the walls of the BCB. So why?
Well you might be hiking in pouring rain and just not be in the mood to gather dry tinder and wood. An ounce of alcohol (yellow Heet) would get you a hot drink or two or a meal.
I did play with Esbit because I’m always carrying a tab or more. In fact Esbit has been my fuel of choice since watching a thru-hiker spill his alcohol bottle :( Also, a little piece of Esbit can really help speed up the firing of the BCB.
All in all its been big fun and I can actually see me carrying this boiler on the trail–its’s already been paddle camping with me at Cape Canaveral NS.
Also, the stopper mod works great. I’d had no problems pouring but I was usually pouring in a fast fashion. Hollowing out the stopper allows one to pour at any rate without any dribbles.
Obviously still loving your creation Devin!!!

Devin April 7, 2011 at 11:18 am

Hey guys, sorry for taking so long to get back on this!

Amos – That’s so cool. This is why I love wood fire – it’s primal. Something we pass down generation to generation. Would anyone show their three-year-old how a Jetboil works? I think not. Also, because I saw it on your blog, how great is Dolly Sods? I could just live there.

MedicineMan – thanks! I’d like to see your stove creation – is this the carbon felt I’ve seen elsewhere?

Mike fae Dundee April 9, 2011 at 6:27 am

Number 13 has finally arrived in Scotland! It sat in Customs for 9 days.
Looks excellent Devin. Hope to fire it up soon.

Steve April 18, 2011 at 11:59 pm

Boiler #001 Test report:

Boiled 2 cups in 8 minutes of 60F water with 38 pages (38 sheets ~4″x6.75″) from a not-so-good paperback book. This was about 34 grams of paper.

It took 13 pages (60 grams) of standard size office paper for 50F water. Paper quality, moisture content along with wind & weather will result in some variation of these numbers.

Devin May 5, 2011 at 9:34 am

That’s great performance, Steve! Just about any fuel indeed – I do worry about your book burning, though. :)

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