At just under seven pounds this is no ultra light unit, but for boating or car camping it makes an interesting alternative. It may look like a woodgas stove, but no, it’s basically a refined rocket stove.
This clean burning unit will outperform any open fire, particularly the classic 3-stone setup. With a combination of insulation and directed flame, the rocket stove will reduce energy use by 60 percent while lowering smoke by 80 percent.
These stoves were invented by Dr. Winiarski to help developing countries where firewood usage and health issues are a continuing problem. Pioneered at the Aprovecho Institute twenty some years ago, Winiarski and the crew are still refining the idea and providing testing, support, and impetus to get these stoves to the developing world.
This stove uses a ceramic insert to both insulate and focus the flame. The metal tray allows you to push wood into the fuel chamber as needed to control the flame. The tray and a grate keeps a constant flow of air for clean combustion. In use we found it easy to light with a wad of newspaper covered by the tips of four sticks of wood. Once the flame was going it was easy to feed more sticks into the firebox to keep it going. We used a wok which made a potskirt impractical. Still we cranked in more sticks and got a blaze going, and in matter of minutes a steaming rice n’ veggie stir-fry was on our plates.
The grates fit neatly within, and the whole outfit will stow neatly in a 5 gallon plastic bucket.
$99
