Ursa Designs Clikstand-S 1 (Complete Stove Set)
Field Report by André Corterier

Personal Biographical Information:

Name: André Corterier
Age: 32
Gender: M
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight: 78 kg (172 lb)
Email: andreDOTcorterierATfreenetDOTde
Home: Bonn, Germany
DATE: 2004-09-17

Backpacking Background:

I began backpacking in my late teens using Europe’s „InterRail“-System – weight hardly mattered, as we were on trains a lot. I usually traveled through southern Europe during summer, for about three weeks at a time, moving from campsites (often without tent) to youth hostels etc. I recently rediscovered backpacking and have started out slowly – single-day 15 mile (24 km) jaunts by myself or even shorter hikes (pushing a stroller uphill through the woods). I am getting started on longer hikes, as a lightweight packer. My gear is either old or really new – nothing in between.

ITEM: Clikstand S-1
Year of manufacture: 2004
Manufacturer: Ursa Designs
URL: http://www.clikstand.com/
MSRP: 51.95 $ US for Clikstand, windscreen and burner
MSRP: 42.95 $ US for Clikstand and windscreen

Weight Comparisons - scale accurate to 5 g (.2 oz)
Clikstand listed weight: 91 g (3.2 oz)
Clikstand measured weight: 95 g (3.4 oz)
Windscreen listed weight: 32 g (1.1 oz)
Windscreen measured weight: 30 g (1 oz)
Stove (by Trangia) listed weight: 67 g (2.4 oz)
Stove (by Trangia) measured weight: 110 g (3.9 oz) (incl. cap w/ O-ring, simmer ring and extinguisher)
0.9 l Titanium Pot / Lid (by Evernew) listed weight: none given
0.9 l Titanium Pot / Lid (by Evernew) measured weight: 100 g / 40 g (3.5 oz / 1.4 oz)

Field experience:
Mostly dayhiking (and on the balcony a few times), and an overnighter in a nature park. Temps varied from about 15 to 30 C (60 to 85 F), altitude from sea level to a few hundred meters (call it 800 ft) above sea level. Mostly low humidity in somewhat hilly terrain.

Description:
The Clikstand consists of four flattish pieces of metal with a number of holes punched into them, pre-bent at the edges. Little tabs on the ends of three of these pieces fit into slots on the others, so that three of them fit together to form a triangular wall. The fourth, with a large hole in the middle, fits inside these as a bottom, providing the structure with a certain amount of rigidity. The trangia alcohol burner fits into this hole without touching the ground. The holes punched into the sides of the Clikstand allow air to flow towards the burner. The sidewalls each feature an upright with "teeth" on it which hold up the pot. Little tabs on the ends of the walls hold up the windscreen. The windscreen is a flattish piece of reflective metal I can store rolled up into the pot, the width of which is equal to the height of the pot's sidewalls. It is bent around on both ends, so that these fit into one another. Sitting on the tabs allows air to flow underneath the windscreen and allows it to cover the space between the top of the burner and the bottom of the pot. You may wish to look at the very good illustration at the manufacturer's website (link above). For a more detailed analysis of the setup, see my Initial Report.

The Clikstand:
It really does provide additional stability on rough ground (although I am still suprised by how far off the exact horizontal some of the spots are I choose for cooking). In contrast to my old burner, it has been very easy to find a suitable locale to place the Clikstand. To find one, I simply look for a somewhat level area - which is just what I did with my gas burner. That's where the similarity ends, however (unless I need to clear the spot of combustibles). All I then needed to do was fit the Clikstand together (I'm pretty quick at it now), place it on the ground and move it about a little until it seems level. This seemed to me to be the major advantage over the (very few) other burner setups I've seen: The triangular layout means the Clikstand doesn't wobble. And as it needs only three points on the same altitude, rather than a contiguous zone of uniform altitude, I could set it up quickly (because I found the former more easily than the latter). Also, having fitted the Clikstand together in something like 10 seconds (I haven't timed this) and the burner simply placed within, this meant that I could begin heating water a minute after I sat down.
I found pots to sit stably on the uprights of the Clikstand. This includes my old steel pot (which I haven't used in the field due to weight) as well as the Evernew 0.9 l Ti pot which came with the cook set. I have had no issues with it sliding. I cannot say in how much this is due to it having stood very level every time or due to the teeth on the uprights, but as I consider both to be design features, it is definitely a compliment to the designer in my book.
I have found no durability issues with the Clikstand so far. It still does not flex when put together. Of course, it sits protected in the pot when I carry it, so it's been exposed to minimal wear so far.

The Windscreen:
I guess the best thing I can say about the windscreen is that I haven't really noticed it much in use. I guess that this is actually a compliment. I had had reservations about the sort of home-made ultralight windscreen contraptions I have seen on the internet, doubting that they would stand up to wind and wear. I've had no such doubts about this one (rolled steel having a presumption of robustness in its favor in my mind), and apparently no reason to. Of course, like all the other components of this cooking system, transporting them in the pot means effectively zero exposure to wear while on the trail. I haven't had to cook in strong wind - my camps have been in areas wooded enough to reduce wind to a soft breeze. I've always used the windscreen, however. I feel that its reflective surface should help focus heat on the pot. I have no means to verify this, however. (Mmmmh - maybe a controlled test ... nah.) Anyway, as the windscreen would only lie about uselessly if not employed, it seems neater in camp to put it where it belongs. Once there, it doesn't get in the way. Scratches have been minimal (I had to carefully examine it for scratches to find some, I hadn't noticed any).

The Pot:
The size was just right for a meal for myself (on a very short hike with my daughter, sufficient for her, as well). As I tend to be more hungry than most of the people I know, I suspect that this really does mean that the pot's size is adequate - it is certainly adequate for me. It also allowed me to heat enough water for morning coffee for a few fellow hikers who are caffeine addicts. The plastic-covered handles mean I couldn't use it over a wood fire for fear of melting the plastic. That was sad. While I had decided that I really had no need to look for another pot once I found that my doubts about this one's volume were unfounded, I am now again thinking about an aluminium pot. Same diameter, about the same volume, with a lid that doubles as pan and plate, and which I can use on the Clikstand as well as over an open fire. To be honest, I haven't missed a plate - cooking only for myself (and my daughter, once) I (we) ate straight from the pot.

The Burner:
The burn times are excellent - no need (so far) for a hotter flame - just enough time to stir to prevent burning the contents. I find having to wait for 10 minutes for nearly a quart (900 ml) of water to boil no particular bother. I can drop my pack, set up the Clikstand, light the burner and put the filled pot on top, then do some camp chores (or just prepare whatever it is I mean to cook). By the time I'm done, the water is nearly (or entirely, if I am slow) boiling. I do not like to eat in a rush, so I do not miss having boiling water in half the time on my gas stove. I don't mind snacking on the run, but when I sit down to eat a warm meal, I'm taking an actual break. Maybe I would really want hot soup fast, several times a day, if I were to hike a lot in sub-freezing temperatures, but so far this suits me just fine.
I've tested the fuel retention ability of the burner as well as the smell factor. Results: Fuel retention works reasonably well - the burner lost less than 2 mm (a 16th of an in) in fuel level when kept, filled with the screw-on lid on, on the balcony for three weeks (exposed to the direct sun, which I guess promoted evaporation). Encouraged by that, I used the burner with the cap on, filled to the brim with fuel, for a weekend trip, leaving the fuel bottle at home. That worked beautifully from a weight/space saving point of view. The smell of fuel was definitely present, however. I had made sure to pour the fuel into the burner only and had left it outside of my pack overnight before packing, so I am sure this is due to fuel managing to evaporate out of the closed burner. Kept in the pot, with the pot in a bag, it wasn't bad (and I react more strongly than most to the smell of volatiles). Howevever, I would not pack foodstuffs close to this. As there is very little space left in the pot with Clikstand, windscreen and burner in it, that may not seem like much of a consideration. However, I would have liked to put the cappuccino powder, which I had packed in a Ziploc bag, somewhere safe from impact. The inside of the pot would have been perfect, but I wished to avoid serving fuel-flavoured cappuccino. This may be more of an issue with a larger pot, where the inside of same would be a natural place to store foodstuffs in fragile packages.
However, used this way I was able to provide a cup of instant cappuccino for four people in the morning after I had used some fuel to pour onto kindling to start a wood fire the day before and still had enough fuel left in the burner to cook a meal (maybe two - my buddies opted for Schnitzel in a nearby restaurant, instead). Using the burner in this way requires dropping the lid on the stove to extinguish the fuel. This means I have to hit the burner just right (which I've managed every time - maybe it's just not that hard). I was concerned every time that I might be unable to recover the lid if dropped on incorrectly (because the stove would continue burning). With the clikstand around the stove, it seems to me that getting the lid off is a bit more complicated. (Use a knife and a spork?). The burner cools down reasonably quickly - by the time I finished my meals, I could pack it away again.

(Preliminary) Summary:
I can't see myself going back to my old burner. This cookset has worked beautifully so far, and it's light. Having used my old camp stove just before going out for the first time with this one has shown me what the Clikstand does exceptionally well - provide an instant, flat, stable surface. Due to the smell issues I have, I have thought that for a longer trip, I might like one of those new, really light, gas stoves that I can screw onto a gas cartridge. But I would want a Clikstand to provide a stable cooking platform...
Of course, this one is labeled "S-1". So maybe there'll be others...

For the Future:
I will try to find out how far I can go with just the fuel in the burner. Using a pot cozy (I guess I will make one from a cutoff of an Evazote pad), I think it should go pretty far. I plan to continue to use the stove primarily dayhiking in the local area, temps for the Long Term Report mostly between 10 C and 20 C (50 F and 70 F), probably down to -5 C (23 F) come winter. Elevations will be between sea level and maybe 500 m (1700 ft), humidity and precipitation are anyone's guess.