BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Name: Chuck Carnes
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft. 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 175 lb (79 kg)
E-mail address: ctcarnes1(at)yahoo(dot)com
City, State, Country: Greenville, South Carolina USA

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND
I love the outdoors – I’ve spent time camping in the outdoors since I was born, and have been actively hiking and backpacking since then. I consider myself a lightweight hiker, usually carrying 20 – 30 pounds (11-13 kg) for hikes up to a week in length. I hike at an easy pace, averaging 2 mph (3 kph). I am a one-man tent camper for now. I like to carry a single trekking pole when I hike to help relieve stress to my legs and knees. I like to get out on the trail as often as I can.

PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Trail Designs
Model: Caldera Cone Stove System
Year of manufacture: 2006
URL: www.traildesigns.com
Listed Weight: 2.1 oz (57 g) (Caldera Cone windscreen/pot stand and stove)
Actual Weight: 2.0 oz (57 g) (Caldera Cone windscreen/pot stand and stove)  
MSRP: $35.00 USD

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION (taken from web site)

This is a revolutionary approach to alcohol stove cookery. Trail Designs has developed a cone and stove system that is tuned to specific pots to create the most efficient alcohol stove system in the known universe. By completely enclosing the pot and stove within the Caldera Cone, and fine tuning the alcohol stove (included) to work in that environment, we are now able to milk every last BTU out of your fuel and funnel it onto all sides of your pot. Not only does the cone system optimize your fuel usage, we also eliminate the need for a pot stand by supporting the pot from the top of the cone.....and its wide base provides the most stable system on the market. And if that weren't enough, by totally enclosing the pot and stove, nothing performs better in the wind. Period. The Caldera Cone unfolds to pack flat or you can roll it up for easy storage.

Trail Designs has teamed up with Antigravity Gear to initially offer this system in conjunction with their 3cup and 2qt pots (sold separately).

I am new at alcohol stoves and cooking with them so I was anxious to get the Caldera Cone Stove System to see how well it works and how efficient it will be. It arrived in great shape and was exactly what I expected from viewing the product on the manufacturer's website. The cone is made of sheet metal and comes rolled up to prevent it from being bent. The cone has three tabs at one end and three slots at the other. The cone is unrolled to where the tabs and the slots meet up. The tabs are placed inside the slots and the ends snap together by way of a groove from top to bottom; this ensures that the cone will stay together. There are slots that are spaced out along the top and bottom portion of the cone to allow gases and air to escape to prevent pressure from building up inside the cone. The diameter at the top of the cone is smaller than the bottom. The top of the cone is designed to accept a specific sized pot; in this case it fits a 3 cup (710 ml) pot. The pot fits snug inside the top of the cone. The top edge of the cone supports the top lip of the pot. The top of the cone has a small notch to allow pot grippers to grab the pot to be lifted out of the cone.

When ready to cook the stove is filled with denatured alcohol to the desired level and lit. The stove that I received is a center or top burning can stove; not side burning. Once the stove has been lit and a flame is established, the cone can be placed over the stove with the stove centered in the base of the cone. The pot is then placed in the opening at the top of the cone. It is now ready to cook with. Depending on the pot depth, the bottom of the pot will be approximately 1 to 2 in. (2 to 5 cm) above the top of the stove. This will allow uniform distribution of the heat and the flame from the stove.

PRE-FIELD TEST
I wanted to get an idea of how fast water will boil with this system. I placed 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) of denatured alcohol in the stove and lit it. I placed 2 cups (473 ml) of tap water that had a temperature of 73 F (28 C) into the pot and placed it in the cone system over the stove. The temperature of the air was 74 F (23 C) with no wind. The lid was also placed over the pot during this test. The following information is the results of this test:

After 1 minute the water temperature was 102 F (38 C)
After 2 minutes the water temperature was 127 F (53 C)
After 3 minutes the water temperature was 158 F (70 C)
After 4 minutes the water temperature was 190 F (88 C)
At 4 minutes and 43 seconds the water was boiling at a temperature of 212 F (100 C)

I continued to let the water boil to see how long 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) of alcohol would keep the water boiling. At 10 minutes and 42 seconds after I lit the stove, the alcohol finally burned up. This gives me 6 minutes of boiling time with 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) of alcohol. If longer boil times are desired, simply lift the pot and cone off of the stove, BE SURE flame is completely out, refuel the stove with a measuring cup and not the fuel container, light and place the pot and cone system back over the stove. So, with 8 fl. oz. (237 ml) of fuel, I could possibly have approximately 84 minutes of burn time and approximately 47 minutes of boil time. To me, this is very impressive with such a light weight system and it seems very efficient.

---

Trip #1:
Location: Shining Rock Wilderness Area
Elevation: 5,700 ft (1,737 m) - 6,000 ft (1,829 m)
Temperature: 50-55 F (10-12 C) day, 25-35 F (-3 - 1 C) night
Weather Conditions: Cold and dry. No rain. No breeze.
Duration of Trip: 2 days, 1 night
Length of Trip: 7.0 miles (11 km)
Meals cooked: Coffee, pre-cooked bacon and sausage
Report: This trip was my first chance to see how well the Trail Designs Caldera Cone Stove System worked in the field under cold conditions. The first night I used it I boiled water for coffee. At an air temperature of 28 F (-2 C), I placed the stove system on the ground on smooth dirt. I filled the stove with 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) of alcohol and lit it. I placed the cone and the pot of water over he stove and in just under 4 minutes the water was steaming and bubbles were forming in the bottom of the pot. At this point I removed the pot from the cone with the pot grippers and poured myself a nice cup of hot coffee.

The next morning I got up and retrieved my small lightweight skillet in the cold temperature of 31 F(0 C) to fix some breakfast. Again I filled the stove with 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) of alcohol and lit it. This time I was not able to tell if the stove was lit or not because a flame was not noticeable. I placed my hand close to the stove and indeed it was lit. I placed the cone over the stove and placed the frying pan on top of the cone. The base of the skillet was too large to fit down in the cone so I placed it on the top edge of the cone. The pan seemed to be very stable in this position. I placed pre-cooked bacon in the skillet along with some sausage. After about 3 minutes the bacon and the sausage started to sizzle and cook. I mainly wanted to warm the bacon but I had to cook the sausage. The sausage cooked for an additional 3-4 minutes and the flame went out. I refilled the stove with another 30 ml (1 fl. oz.) of alcohol and lit it. I only had to keep cooking the sausage for an additional 2 minutes until it was done. I removed the pan and placed 2 cups (473 ml) of water in my pot to get some hot water for coffee. I removed the pot and the cone after the water started to steam and placed the lid to my pot over the stove to extinguish the flame.

---

**This concludes my Long Term Report and I want to thank BGT and Trail Designs for giving my this opportunity to test this stove system.