Aye Up All,
1. I was recently gifted a BRS, fan assisted, wood burning stove and after a few patio tests did some minor upgrades and a modification, then I headed for the woods.
Out with the plastic container and in with a (cheap-ish) titanium pan-set.
Out with the tiny battery box screw (dont want to faff with that in the field!) and in with some BMT
(Sorry - no dedicated image
)
Out with the (so called) lock-nut hinge nuts and bolts and in with a piece of 1.6 mm welding rod enabling me to split the stove for packing. (and a future mod!).
2. Covert route out following game trail to intended shelter site.
Oooh, result a large piece of windfall conifer, time sort some fuel!
Branch sawn down into stove relevant sized pieces; I know that the dump pouch filled will provide enough fuel for cooking and warmth for the afternoon (It is February!).
Needle sections cut into sprigs spring is coming and nesting material will soon be required so why not help out?
3. I wonder if theres any fat-wood to be had? This branch has come from too high up but nearby, a conifer with some old, low down, broken branches and evidence of sap discharge maybe .
A careful saw cut later
No, only minimal turpine, perhaps any that was there has been reabsorbed over time, it is a very mature tree after all and the damage could be decades old.
Ill take some pine needles for a brew later
4. Some time later however I happened across this this looks promising .......and another careful saw cut later......
Result 2! I'd better GPS spot-mark this fella for future use!
5. On to the shelter site/set-up then -
That dump pouch full of raw fuel? shaved and baton-ed into appropriately sized tinder/kindling and fuel including quartered, fast burning pieces for boiling water and unsplit logs for a slower burn and steady heat output.
6. Out comes the stove in its previously made storage/utility bag and pan-set securing straps.
Stove plus extras are all stowed inside the pan-set. (I decant these into the storage bag whilst setting up the stove so as not loose any).
Battery pack control switch and new hinge pin are stowed inside the burner base. The base can be hard to remove, I use the handle of the suede brush packed for post use cleaning (safer than a knife!)
Ground cleared, level base created;
7. Fire box appears to be best seated on the burner base before clipping the fan unit into place (bottom edge of box is easier to locate into the lower notches. (I found this to be the case even when the nut and bolt hinge was still in use).
8. Caution required re cable socket/debris ingress (plumbers mat helps (B&Q £6). Mind that plastic battery box too (easy to stand/kneel on!)
9. Fuel ready; Stove set up. Note fan detail is back to front (II) = slow; (I) = fast. Note also, air intake plate needs to be open.
10. Over several patio tests I found that a good, initial amount of (quality) tinder and kindling is required to get a burn going successfully. Pfaffing about with small amounts and tiny sparks/coals wasn't too successful. The quantity of stove-metal/damp Feb air/less natural air venting than on other fire box stoves possibly all contributing.
When the tinder is well alight and the kindling taking the fan was switched on to low setting (set on high too quickly and the coals can be blown out!) In the image shown, 2 crumpled sheets of kitchen roll plus a handful each of fat-wood shavings and tinder sticks were used.
11. Fuel sticks were gradually added and the fan switched up to I (Full!). With the fan still on full, I then added more and more fuel sticks slowly creating a bed of red hot in the lower half of the fire box.
12. Time to put the pan on ½ litre of water. Note the pan support positions allows the pan to be moved slightly off-centre opening up a gap for easier feeding of the fuel sticks into the fire box. (don't slide it too far though!).
13. Water took 3minutes 45 to boiling, 4 mins 15 to a rolling boil air temp was around 5 degrees C. (Stove shielded from prevailing breeze by shelter and pan lid was on the pot).
14. Time to try another of the boil in bag meals meine Frau prepared last autumn and shoved in the freezer Chilli con carne de-lish!
15. And then its time to relax next to a real log fire with a brew (coffee, I inadvertently ground the pine needles into the ground whilst baton-ing - doh!) I used the same water from heating the boil-in-bag. And some choc! 'Yorkie - its not for girls!' (Only joking ladies)
16. I find that an old cut down suede brush is good for cleaning inside the fire box and either side of the air grate after use.
17. Rubbish packed up for carriage out site left as near to original as possible
Conclusion.
This stove is a great tool for outdoor support.
Is it worth the money? - I believe so, yes - it works, it's practical and it is fun to use.
It is relatively inexpensive, compact and fairly lightweight.
It can be used to purify water, heat up food and beverages; cook foodstuffs from raw etc (probably forge metal in blast mode! lol).
It does smoke on start up but as the ember bed is created and with appropriate control of the fan less so.
(It is only totally smoke free with a good ember bed, dry fuel and the fan on full).
Does it blacken pots yes, easily remedied if it bothers you - scrape on grass/scourer/wire brush. (Storage bag prevents soot/resin getting on kit in your ruck during carriage!).
This stove even has the potential to be an effective source of warmth in a suitably ventilated shelter set-up. The relatively tiny amount of fuel shown in this review lasted four hours (how much gas/meths/£s is that!).
The stove isnt as self breathing as other fire boxes due to the fan-input design and restricted air intake when the fan is switched off no issue when you are cooking though but if you do want to keep it going as a heat source I found that with no fan input at all, the fire could quite easily die too far back for recovery and so low speed fan needed to be almost constantly on.
That stated, with a fresh handful of fuel, and fan on full, the recovery from glowing embers to blast furnace is impressive!
Theoretically, with an inexhaustible fuel supply and the knowledge of how to harvest, prepare and ignite it, plus some slight modifications to it, this stove can function indefinitely. (With limited fuel requirement impact on the environment).
Batteries?
During my trials with the stove a pair of cheap AAs lasted 10 hours before I noticed fan speed reduction and I had been using the fan almost constantly.
With re-chargables (batteries or a dedicated power pack) and a means to do so (solar/hand gen etc) fan power shouldnt be an issue.
However, a small addition to the fan air duct (facilitated by the stove halves separation) could prove useful.
Now Im thinking, - That cone also fits perfectly in that bag that I made for a reason -
What if...........................
I hope you find this useful.
1. I was recently gifted a BRS, fan assisted, wood burning stove and after a few patio tests did some minor upgrades and a modification, then I headed for the woods.
Out with the plastic container and in with a (cheap-ish) titanium pan-set.
Out with the tiny battery box screw (dont want to faff with that in the field!) and in with some BMT
(Sorry - no dedicated image
)Out with the (so called) lock-nut hinge nuts and bolts and in with a piece of 1.6 mm welding rod enabling me to split the stove for packing. (and a future mod!).
2. Covert route out following game trail to intended shelter site.
Oooh, result a large piece of windfall conifer, time sort some fuel!
Branch sawn down into stove relevant sized pieces; I know that the dump pouch filled will provide enough fuel for cooking and warmth for the afternoon (It is February!).
Needle sections cut into sprigs spring is coming and nesting material will soon be required so why not help out?
3. I wonder if theres any fat-wood to be had? This branch has come from too high up but nearby, a conifer with some old, low down, broken branches and evidence of sap discharge maybe .
A careful saw cut later
No, only minimal turpine, perhaps any that was there has been reabsorbed over time, it is a very mature tree after all and the damage could be decades old.
Ill take some pine needles for a brew later
4. Some time later however I happened across this this looks promising .......and another careful saw cut later......
Result 2! I'd better GPS spot-mark this fella for future use!
5. On to the shelter site/set-up then -
That dump pouch full of raw fuel? shaved and baton-ed into appropriately sized tinder/kindling and fuel including quartered, fast burning pieces for boiling water and unsplit logs for a slower burn and steady heat output.
6. Out comes the stove in its previously made storage/utility bag and pan-set securing straps.
Stove plus extras are all stowed inside the pan-set. (I decant these into the storage bag whilst setting up the stove so as not loose any).
Battery pack control switch and new hinge pin are stowed inside the burner base. The base can be hard to remove, I use the handle of the suede brush packed for post use cleaning (safer than a knife!)
Ground cleared, level base created;
7. Fire box appears to be best seated on the burner base before clipping the fan unit into place (bottom edge of box is easier to locate into the lower notches. (I found this to be the case even when the nut and bolt hinge was still in use).
8. Caution required re cable socket/debris ingress (plumbers mat helps (B&Q £6). Mind that plastic battery box too (easy to stand/kneel on!)
9. Fuel ready; Stove set up. Note fan detail is back to front (II) = slow; (I) = fast. Note also, air intake plate needs to be open.
10. Over several patio tests I found that a good, initial amount of (quality) tinder and kindling is required to get a burn going successfully. Pfaffing about with small amounts and tiny sparks/coals wasn't too successful. The quantity of stove-metal/damp Feb air/less natural air venting than on other fire box stoves possibly all contributing.
When the tinder is well alight and the kindling taking the fan was switched on to low setting (set on high too quickly and the coals can be blown out!) In the image shown, 2 crumpled sheets of kitchen roll plus a handful each of fat-wood shavings and tinder sticks were used.
11. Fuel sticks were gradually added and the fan switched up to I (Full!). With the fan still on full, I then added more and more fuel sticks slowly creating a bed of red hot in the lower half of the fire box.
12. Time to put the pan on ½ litre of water. Note the pan support positions allows the pan to be moved slightly off-centre opening up a gap for easier feeding of the fuel sticks into the fire box. (don't slide it too far though!).
13. Water took 3minutes 45 to boiling, 4 mins 15 to a rolling boil air temp was around 5 degrees C. (Stove shielded from prevailing breeze by shelter and pan lid was on the pot).
14. Time to try another of the boil in bag meals meine Frau prepared last autumn and shoved in the freezer Chilli con carne de-lish!
15. And then its time to relax next to a real log fire with a brew (coffee, I inadvertently ground the pine needles into the ground whilst baton-ing - doh!) I used the same water from heating the boil-in-bag. And some choc! 'Yorkie - its not for girls!' (Only joking ladies
) 16. I find that an old cut down suede brush is good for cleaning inside the fire box and either side of the air grate after use.
17. Rubbish packed up for carriage out site left as near to original as possible
Conclusion.
This stove is a great tool for outdoor support.
Is it worth the money? - I believe so, yes - it works, it's practical and it is fun to use.
It is relatively inexpensive, compact and fairly lightweight.
It can be used to purify water, heat up food and beverages; cook foodstuffs from raw etc (probably forge metal in blast mode! lol).
It does smoke on start up but as the ember bed is created and with appropriate control of the fan less so.
(It is only totally smoke free with a good ember bed, dry fuel and the fan on full).
Does it blacken pots yes, easily remedied if it bothers you - scrape on grass/scourer/wire brush. (Storage bag prevents soot/resin getting on kit in your ruck during carriage!).
This stove even has the potential to be an effective source of warmth in a suitably ventilated shelter set-up. The relatively tiny amount of fuel shown in this review lasted four hours (how much gas/meths/£s is that!).
The stove isnt as self breathing as other fire boxes due to the fan-input design and restricted air intake when the fan is switched off no issue when you are cooking though but if you do want to keep it going as a heat source I found that with no fan input at all, the fire could quite easily die too far back for recovery and so low speed fan needed to be almost constantly on.
That stated, with a fresh handful of fuel, and fan on full, the recovery from glowing embers to blast furnace is impressive!
Theoretically, with an inexhaustible fuel supply and the knowledge of how to harvest, prepare and ignite it, plus some slight modifications to it, this stove can function indefinitely. (With limited fuel requirement impact on the environment).
Batteries?
During my trials with the stove a pair of cheap AAs lasted 10 hours before I noticed fan speed reduction and I had been using the fan almost constantly.
With re-chargables (batteries or a dedicated power pack) and a means to do so (solar/hand gen etc) fan power shouldnt be an issue.
However, a small addition to the fan air duct (facilitated by the stove halves separation) could prove useful.
Now Im thinking, - That cone also fits perfectly in that bag that I made for a reason -
What if...........................
I hope you find this useful.
)
