Reviews > Cook Gear > Stoves > Brasslite Turbo II-D Alcohol Stove > David Anderson > Initial Report

Name: David Anderson
E-mail: danderson@backpackgeartest.org
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2" (1.87 m)
Weight: 285 (130 kg)
City: Lynnwood, WA

I grew up car camping with my family in California, and started backpacking sometime around 5th grade. As an adult I've lived, worked and backpacked in New England, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. I've also gotten involved in sea kayaking in the last few years.My backpacking style could be described as light-heavyweight. I carry the lightest version of the gear that I believe is up to the task. I will sleep under a tarp, but I will be sleeping on a CampRest mattress so that I will be able to sleep.

Over the years I have used many types of backpacking stoves. I started in the '70s with a couple of white gas stoves, then in the early '80s I switched to canister stoves, just to avoid the flare-up issues while priming. After a bad experience with the stoves that sit on top of the canisters, I switched to the more stable stoves that sit on the ground and attach to the canister remotely.

In the mid '90s I discovered alcohol stoves and have been using them ever since on trips where they are more appropriate for the style of cooking. They serve me well if I am mostly boiling water or cooking over medium to high heat. If I plan on doing any extended simmering, my stove of choice is still a canister stove. I have used both commercial alcohol stoves and home made soda can stoves.

Product Info

Manufacturer: Brasslite

Year: 2003

Turbo II-D Stove

MSRP: $50.00

The Brasslite Turbo II-D Stove is a lightweight, hand-made, alcohol fuel stove. As the name implies, the body of the stove is made from sheet brass, with the exception of the pot stand which is made from stainless steel hardware cloth.

There is a single, central flame hole, approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter in the top of the stove body. Around the base of the stove, there are 6 small vent holes to provide oxygen to the flame inside the stove. There is a rotating sleeve that has cutouts that enable backcountry chef to regulate the amount of air being fed into the combustion chamber. Reducing the amount of air will reduce the size of the flame, allowing for some ability to simmer.

8 Ounce (0.24 L) Capacity Dispenser bottle

MSRP: $5.00

The 8 ounce (0.24 L) fuel storage and dispenser bottle that came with the test stove is an ingenious two chamber design that allows for metered dispensing of small quantities of the alcohol fuel.

The larger main storage chamber has graduated marking up its side starting at 1ounce (30 ml equivalent, but there are no metric markings on the bottle), and going up in 0.5 ounce (15 ml) increments. This chamber has a screw top fill port at the top of a short neck.

At the bottom of the storage chamber, there is a tube that leads up the side of the bottle to the top edge of the small dispensing chamber. To fill the dispensing chamber, the storage chamber is squeezed lightly forcing alcohol up the tube till the desired amount is in the dispensing chamber. There are two markings on the small chamber, "1/4 oz" and "1/2 oz" (~7 and 15 ml respectively, but again there are no metiric markings).

The small chamber has the same size screw top as the main chamber. But in addition to the regular cap, there is a nozzle that can be screwed on to allow for a controlled stream into the fuel chamber of the stove.

Instructions

The Brasslite Turbo II-D comes with four pages of instructions. The first page is mostly the warnings that you get with all backpacking stoves, basically pointing out that you are "playing with fire", and if you aren't careful, you might get burned, and the manufacturer is not responsible. It also covers the warranty against manufacturer defects, and the 30-day return policy.

The second page includes instructions for making a windscreen and a reflector to use with the stove. The windscreen and reflector are not included with the stove because they are relatively easy, yet time consuming to make out of aluminum foil, which makes it cost prohibitive to include with the stove. There is also a section of tips for maintaining the stove, selecting a pot, and adjusting the simmer sleeve.

The third page covers stove operation, including fuel usage, lighting the stove in both normal and cold weather conditions, and using the simmer sleeve.

The last page is a set of instructions to make a pot cozy out of a closed cell foam pad.

Initial Impression

The Brasslite Turbo II-D appears to be extremely well made. All the edges of the brass have been deburred, and the external solder joints are clean and even. If it weren't for the hammer marks from shaping the metal, I would not be able to tell from looking at it that it was hand made. It really is a little work of art, in addition to being a functional stove.

When I compared the stove I received with the pictures and information on the Brasslite website, I found that the depiction of the stove was accurate. Aaron, the owner of Brasslite, obviously believes in his stoves and puts a good deal of effort into informing the user in the proper use of the Turbo line. He also does a good job of mentioning some of the limitations of his stoves, such as pot size and appropriate group size to be using the stove.

Stove with ports fully open.

Of course, the first thing I did after I received the stove was to run down to the garage and fill up the fuel bottle with some denatured alcohol and set out to light up the stove. I filled the small chamber of the bottle with 1/2 ounce of fuel (15 ml) and turned the bottle over to add it to the stove. The problem was that the fuel was coming out of the fuel bottle, but it wasn't stopping. It was then that I noticed that I was not holding the bottle absolutely vertical, and the fuel level in the large chamber was above the tube that connects the two chambers. This allowed the fuel to run down the tube and out the nozzle. Oops.

According to the scale on the side of the bottle, I had only used up 1.5 ounces (44 ml) of fuel, so I was still safely under the limit of 2 ounces (59 ml). So, following the instructions, I dripped a little fuel on the top of the stove and lit it. Things flared up nicely, fuel inside the chamber lit, and then it promptly went out. I figured that I didn't put enough fuel on the top of the stove to prime it, but at this point I just wanted to see it burn, so I added the fuel to the priming pan around the bottom of the stove and lit it.

The stove was quickly engulfed in flames!

After about 15 seconds a large central jet of flame emerged from the hole in the top of the stove, and a few seconds later the priming flames died out. I suspect that I over-primed it, and as a result I was getting around a 12 inch (30 cm) flame for the first minute or so. Then once the stove cooled down to a more normal operating temperature, the flame seemed to stabilize in the 4-6 inch (10-15 cm) range. Later tests using proper priming technique confirmed that this is the normal mode of operation for this stove.

Adjusting the simmer sleeve to reduce
airflow into the chamber.

So, now that I knew how big of a flame the Turbo II-D could produce, it was time to start playing with adjusting the simmer sleeve. The instructions suggest that the vent hole always be fully open when lighting the stove, and then adjusting the sleeve once the stove is burning normally. Once I got the hang of properly priming the Turbo II-D, I found that this was not required in the relatively mild climate conditions on my front porch. In fact, I could get it burning with the vent holes totally covered. Though I found that in that situation I could easily blow out the flame with a light puff. This became more difficult the more the vent holes were open.

The stove needs some sort of a weight (like a pot of water) on top of it to hold it in place while the sleeve is adjusted. The sleeve is adjusted by nudging it a little bit at a time with something more heat resistant than a finger. I found that a paper clip or knife blade handled this job perfectly.

The Brasslite Turbo II-D does not respond to adjustments as quickly as a canister or even a white gas stove. Regulating the airflow does not have the instantaneous response that regulating the fuel supply would have. I don't expect that this will have a major impact on my cooking, but it is something that I will have to keep in mind.

The flame is quite adjustable between the "fully open" position and "fully closed", which produces a flame that isn't even one inch (2.5 cm) high. Adjusting the flame when it is down near simmering is a lot more difficult than when the stove is set up to boil. Small changes in the opening size can make for significant changes in the size of the flame.

Test Plan

I love to cook while backpacking. In fact, I probably eat better on the trail than I do at home. While I have come up with a number of meals that just require adding hot water, some of my other favorite meals require being able to simmer for a while. Pot cozies might help with some things like pasta or rice, but you can't cook pancakes in them, and they do a lousy job at caramelizing onion.

I will be testing the stove with a broad range of backpacking food, in the full range of weather conditions that Western Washington offers in the fall and winter months. It should see lots of rain and wind, and I plan to take it on some snowshoe trips, to test it with a piece of insulation underneath it to insulate the stove body from the snow.

I will be making the windscreen and reflector as suggested in the instructions, as well as testing it with some of the other windscreens that I have lying around. I will probably also make a pot cozy by following the directions, but I am less concerned about that since I already have several options available on that front.

The biggest test for the Turbo II-D will be on our annual Thanksgiving weekend backpack out to the Olympic Coast. On this trip, I eat as well as I ever did at home, but with a much better view. The stove will be called into service heating smoked turkey and stuffing, cooking pan bread, making gravy, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, and cooking soup. Will it be up to the challenge? (To be honest, I will also bring an additional soda can alcohol stove that will be used just to boil water)

This is looking like it will be quite a fun test, and the best part is getting to eat the test results.

David Anderson
squtch.quiet-like-a-panther.org

Reviews > Cook Gear > Stoves > Brasslite Turbo II-D Alcohol Stove > David Anderson > Initial Report