the honey stove

I never win anything in raffles and prize draws. That's not strictly true, I did win a huge Easter egg once and at that time eating chocolate was a big no no for diabetics. Mum was happy though, as I gave it to her. And I won a bottle of whiskey in a spot waltz dance competition when I was fourteen. Dad was similarly pleased with his son's two stepping expertise, and the drink.

Fortune was again looking my way on Saturday, on the OBF Bloggers open meet I was lucky enough to win a Honey stove donated by Bob at BPL. And unlike the Easter egg and whiskey I get to keep and play with the stove.

I've not had the time other than put it together a couple of times so my first impressions are limited to just that. There are other blogs out there that cover the ways that the stove can be used, so I won't be replicating what's already been stated or filmed.

A big plus is that the stove packs flat and is, subject to intended usage, modular which means some parts can be left behind if not required. The stove comes with a pouch to keep it all together and, as it's made from fairly thick grade steel, it doesn't need protecting in a pot like the Bush Buddy or Caldera cone needs to be. This strength is one of it's weaknesses, it makes the stove heavy. It's stated weight is 351g or thereabouts which is over double the weight of a Bush Buddy Ultra. I found putting the stove together a bit awkward and wondered how I'd fair with putting it together at the end a long days walk or with cold hands. The edges of the stove components aren't sharp or unfinished in any way but if I had the tools I'd try and polish them a bit as they aren't entirely finger friendly.

I'm going to take the stove off to the Backpackers Club Christmas gathering this weekend for a field test. If the campsite allows I'll try it out as a wood burner and as I'm car camping my trusty Trangia is the stove of choice so I can rig the Honey with the burner and see how they compare.