Swiss army volcano cooker - trial use

[Elines]

I recently got a Swiss Volcano Stove from Endicott's (no more left pending new stock) and wanted to try it out.

Stability
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When first stetting it up it seemed very unstable - even when on a flat surface, let alone when used on the ground. So I had a quick search for a mod and found several possible ones. Then I found a post on this site which suggested using the bottle (filled with water) as a stabiliser - like this:
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and that certainly seems to be a good way. If you are using the bottle to actually boil some water then you could use the cup in a similar way, or perhaps a piece of timber or sticks/tent pegs stuck in the ground.
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Fuel

It looked like it would be a bit of a faff to use bits of wood as fuel, although clearly possible. So I wanted to try my existing meths burner.

This then gave the problem of how to get the meths burner to the bottom of the stove without spilling the meths, as the rectangular hole at the bottom is too small for a burner to be put in that way.
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So I made a holder from coat hanger wire:

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And used that to lower the burner (minus lid) to the bottom of the stove. It was still possible to fit the cup (or the bottle) into the top of the stove:
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I used some tin foil as a lid:
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Lit theburner:
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and after about 8 minutes had boiling water - not bad for the very cold conditions.
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It would be possible to keep the burner in the bottom of the stove when transporting and it would probably still fit in a rucksack side pocket (not tested) but it is a bit taller than without:
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In the picture above you can just see that I have curled the 'spike' of the burner holder to make it safer.

So - very pleased - a useful smaller alternative to a kelly kettle for small amounts of water eg when making short visits to a wood, or for keeping in the car for emergencies.

 

[Realbark]

i use one of these and replaced the supplied bottle with a shorter sigg type bottle which fits snuggly on top of the meths burner and all fits together as it should for travelling. Leaves space for 3 in 1 coffees too. The hanger for the stove is now on my list to do - i had been putting my fingers in the bottom hole and lowering the stove onto them before continuing to lower to the base.

 

[Andy BB]

Two great ideas for a stove that I'm very fond of - thanks! Using wood I tend to get boil times that are as fast as most of the stoves I've got, and the same with a trangia burner in warm weather.

As far as woodburning goes, in the past I've basically just fed twigs/pinecones etc either by dropping them in the top (removing the cup briefly) or bunging them in the bottom. However, it seems to me that you could feed bigger twigs in through the bottom hole like you do with a rocket stove, stuffing it further in as the ends burn up. Anyone tried this method?

 

[Elines]

i use one of these and replaced the supplied bottle with a shorter sigg type bottle which fits snuggly on top of the meths burner and all fits together as it should for travelling. Leaves space for 3 in 1 coffees too. .

Good idea - but don't some of this type of bottle have some kind of liner which means you can't use them to boil water? If so which types don't have the liner?

 

[Andy BB]

I believe so. but I know some people don't trust the cork in the original bottle, and just use the sigg bottles to store water, boiling it in the cup. Personally, I've never had any problems with the original bottle leaking, and I think it heats water more efficiently than the cup, particularly when burning wood..

 

[Realbark]

i only carry water in the bottle - have it wrapped in ductape . Boil in the cup

 

[mountainm]

if you use a Stainless bottle like a Glogg then you can boil water in it.

 

[Realbark]

 

[andyc54]

I just got one from ebay and love it boiling water quickly with little fuel is great.dont know if people know but the the wire that holds it all together and that you used to go around the water bottle for stability,well that when put out to the side with the funny bends in it is designed to hang over a shovel to keep it out of the snow and off the ground and more stable(handle in the snow so its upside but it was designed for the swiss army so theres plenty of deep snow )

if you get what i mean

 

[andyc54]

Heres the first trail of mine making a hot choc then i had a sit in the polish tipi i had set up for the kids, who at 7 and 12 both got the volcano lit with a fire steel and cotton wool
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[rik_uk3]

They are good fun, but I gave all mine away.

 

[Elines]

if you use a Stainless bottle like a Glogg then you can boil water in it.

Thanks for that - if the alu one leaks I will get one as a replacement

 

[Elines]

......................the wire that holds it all together and that you used to go around the water bottle for stability,well that when put out to the side with the funny bends in it is designed to hang over a shovel to keep it out of the snow and off the ground and more stable(handle in the snow so its upside but it was designed for the swiss army so theres plenty of deep snow )

if you get what i mean

Yes - get it - thanks for that , it gives another option for use that I hadn't thought of and which could well come in handy

 

[ged]

... I made a holder from coat hanger wire ...

We'll make an engineer of you yet.

 

[Elines]

We'll make an engineer of you yet.

Well spotted Ged - This is about my one and only success with metal and gives you an idea of my capabilities (or lack thereof!)

 

[Realbark]

As far as woodburning goes, in the past I've basically just fed twigs/pinecones etc either by dropping them in the top (removing the cup briefly) or bunging them in the bottom. However, it seems to me that you could feed bigger twigs in through the bottom hole like you do with a rocket stove, stuffing it further in as the ends burn up. Anyone tried this method?

Yep ive done this but its fiddly to say the least - as Elines says these are not the most stable of cookers. The ally become very soft very quickly - within a boil or two - although this isnt really a problem as if it gets dented/distorted, it is easily pushed back into shape. I do tend to just use the meths these days. Quicker and can leave it to cook while i roll my ciggy or sit staring into space..................

 

[mountainm]

Here's my setup - with the SS glogg and a flat top everything fits in neatly and the bottle doubles as a kettle.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74898&highlight=

Here's the post if you can't see it (?) ... attachments "should" work

OK I have recently posted this elsewhere but thought it may be of interest (and therefore merit it's own thread)

I am prepared to suffer the wrath of mod if not.

Anyhow - thought I'd show how I modded my SVC to be a neat little brew kit. Unfortunately it does involve ditching the Alu bottle with the cork which for some reason I'm quite attached to.

At the end of it all you will end up with 2 cups and a "kettle". The SVC cup is pretty big anyway. The bottle doubles up as a snuffer.

You will need.

• SVC - ditch the bottle.
• Tantonka spirit burner
• Stainless steel 70cl widemouth bottle with "flat" lid (very important)
• One plastic beaker (in this case taken from a travel kettle set)
• One plastic teaspoon (see above)
• one zip up bag - not sure where this came from, possibly SWMBO's hair straightners.
• One plastic fuel bottle - this one has a nifty guage on the side so you can see how full it is. In a previous life it was fishtank dechlorinator.

This is what you end up with:
View attachment 5986View attachment 5985View attachment 5989View attachment 5988View attachment 5987

 

[Kepis]

Link doesnt work Mike, all i get is a "you dont have permission to access this page" error report

 

[mountainm]

Link doesnt work Mike, all i get is a "you dont have permission to access this page" error report

Odd - for some reason "made and modded" is now under full member forum - but not sure why you cant see it... edited the post to include all the original gubbins

 

[Kepis]

Cheers Mike, good info but i cant see the attachments, all i get is "Invalid Attachment specified."

I'll have search for your original thread on it