 Okay I'll be the first to admit this isn't a lightweight product, but it is GREAT fun!
Imagine sleeping under the stars, walking a costal path or traveling from beach to beach in a kayak, wandering through woodland and the countryside, fishing by the side of a loch and never having to worry about popping to the shops to get gas or meths to cook a hot meal?
Ah cooking safely over a real fire, the romance of it, the smell of woodsmoke and the sharing of good times. Yes this little beauty, will put you back in touch with your inner child, in moments.
It is a solidly made folding pocket cooker weighing in at a hefty 600g , which arrives in a sturdy pouch measuring 160mm x 110mm x 35mm and unfolds as per the picture.
Stoke it up with kindle, and literally a handful of small sticks, dry leaves, cotton wool, and ignite with your flint and steel. For the purposes of the photograph I used a cotton wad as my tinder, then added a handful of fallen sticks from around the garden and fired it up. Once the kindle had caught, I then dropped in a few sticks around 5mm thick and the heat was pouring out of the chimney.
On went the Ti-Lite mug with 500ml of measured cold water and the stopwatch was started. Naturally I did the 'bloke' thing and fiddled with it through the side hatch adding a few twigs as it was going, but in all honesty it didn't need many more sticks to maintain the heat.
Low and behold at 12 mins the water was boiling and the fire was ready for more fuel if I wanted to add it. I was really impressed with the amount of heat which came out of this cooker, for so little wood which went in, and I could imagine beach combing and easily gathering more than enough fuel to keep it going for hours on end!
The neat design means a grill base sits above the ground which prevents any earth scorch, but obviously care must be taken to ensure any impact you make it kept to a minimum. Once the embers are cold tip them out onto the riverbank and swill the cooker in stream.
The weight of 600g may seem heavy, but when you consider that 500ml of meths in the normal bottle weighs 452g and a standard 500 gas cart is 505g, all of a sudden this combined, cooker, windshield and stove doesn't seem that bad. But naturally only if you are happy with collecting fuel and the smoke a real fire creates, which of course also keeps the bugs away!
Apparently there's a whole fan club for these cookers in the bushcraft and kayaking community and it would certainly suit their needs. However I thought it would be really fun to have this as an option for those who were more adventurous in their backpacking and hiking activities.
An old woodman's poem to help you decide which fuel to use;
Logs to burn! Logs to burn!
Logs to save the coal a turn!
Here's a word to make you wise
When you hear the woodman's cries.
Beechwood fire burn bright and clear;
Hornbeam blazes too,
If logs are kept a year
And seasoned through and through.
Oak logs will warm you well
If they're old and dry,
Larch logs of pinewood smell
But the sparks will fly.
Pine is good and so is yew
For warmth through winter days
But poplar and willow, too
Take long to dry and blaze.
Birch logs will burn too fast,
Alder scarce at all.
Chestnut logs are good to last
If cut in the fall.
Holly logs will burn like wax,
You should burn them green,
Elm logs like smoldering flax,
No flame is seen.
Pear logs and apple logs,
They will scent your room.
Cherry logs across the dogs
Smell like flowers in bloom.
But ash logs, all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old,
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.
Hard woods for roasting
Apple, Ash, Beech, Birch, Sweet Chestnut, Hazel, Holly, Hornbeam, Larch, Oak and Willow.
Soft woods for boiling
Alder, Aspen, cedar, Hawthorn, Horse chestnut, Lime, Pine, Poplar, Spruce, Sycamore.
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