View Full Version : greenheat eco stove
has anyone ever used one of these? http://www.britnett.net/kws/listings/345.html and whats the opinion please.cheers al :-D
I've used a few of the smaller versions of these and found them pretty good ... seems more stable that the gelled meths variety which seem to evaporate quickly as well as rusting the cans. I just tossed out several unused but useless Firestar cookers because they'd rusted the cans and all the fuel had evaporated.
has anyone ever used one of these? http://www.britnett.net/kws/listings/345.html and whats the opinion please.cheers al :-D
Great Pebble
12-02-2004, 22:09
Seals must have been broken on them at some stage then, that or they're not properly sealed.
Nick in Belfast
Either way, pretty poor show to go to one only to find it contained rust! :shock:
Seals must have been broken on them at some stage then, that or they're not properly sealed.
Nick in Belfast
I've used the smaller two sizes (or tried to, anyway), when I took them on a hiking camp with the Scouts last June.
The larger sort, the ones with an hours burntime I found to be quite efficient, and compared very favourably with the hexi stoves that some of the Scouts were using. The smaller size, however were more than dissapointing. They come 3 in a packet, and in all three cases the contents had evaporated before the ringpull lid had been taken off. Fortunately the Scouts who were supposed to be testing these were able to double up on the Hexi stoves.
I went back to the place of purchase (the Scoutshop on Buckingham Palace road, London) and mildly expressed my surprise at the situation. They told me that others (including staff) had had equally dissapointing experiences, and they were not going to be stocking the small size any more.
EDIT: I would also point out that the "Stove" that came with the medium sized sort was simply a metal sheet curved around the circumference of the tin, and was quite flimsy. It was getting out of shape and worryingly flimsy after just 3 uses.
Roving Rich
13-02-2004, 11:57
The fuel itself seems quite impressive, can it be used in a hexi stove instead? ~I heard the military are now using the greenheat fuel.
Stuart is the man on this cos I believe he sourced it for them?
Cheers
Rich
One of the very small tins can fit into or under a hexi stove; in fact they come with a fold-up cooker that looks very hexi stove-like.
But - as I said - we wern't able to test its efficiency as all the tins were empty!
The green heat fuel is great, and they are working on making it even better so that is BTU output is close to heximene
the stove is well made but a little pointless it has a lever to control to heat output by rasing and lowering flaps which cover the tin
I would recomend just buying the BBQ lighter sachets and using them in a the a hexicooker or even better the new canteen cooker which is designed to use them
unlight most gel fuels it does not turn into a runny liquid when lit, it stays as a thick gell so you can use it anywhere that you would use heximine sticks etc etc
How long is the burn-time on the cans that fit the cooker, Stuart?
EDIT: after reading the link itself I withdraw the question with a certain amout of embarisment :oops:
Is there any reason they are binning hexy ... is the the waste (packets getting thrown away - or sold - after just one being used) or is it more versatile?
The green heat fuel is great, and they are working on making it even better so that is BTU output is close to heximene
the stove is well made but a little pointless it has a lever to control to heat output by rasing and lowering flaps which cover the tin
I would recomend just buying the BBQ lighter sachets and using them in a the a hexicooker or even better the new canteen cooker which is designed to use them
unlight most gel fuels it does not turn into a runny liquid when lit, it stays as a thick gell so you can use it anywhere that you would use heximine sticks etc etc
I think the main reason for the idea of binning heximine (at the moment as far as i know it has not been confermed as is still being tested) is that heximine gives off a very toxic smoke when burnt which kills people in confined spaces.... ie snow holes
green heat gives off nothing but a small amount of carbon dioxide when burnt
green heat also burns with a blue or invisable flame which does not give off much light (which can be seen by the enemy) there is also no smoke or smell and leaves no residue
it can also be lit with a spark (where as heximine can be a bugger to light)
All super reasons Stuart for dumping hexy ... to have something that lights with a spark is very handy as I've had hexy taht was hard to light with those little blowlamp lighters!
Not to mention that hexy leaves an awful mess on everything!
All super reasons Stuart for dumping hexy ... to have something that lights with a spark is very handy as I've had hexy taht was hard to light with those little blowlamp lighters!
You're *sure* that wasn't Kendall mint cake? :-? I don't think I ever had trouble lighting hexy - so long as I never tried to use the so-called windproof matches. Lowest bidder stuff... The waxed paper the stoves were packed in helped get the stuff going.
Not to mention that hexy leaves an awful mess on everything!
Aw, c'mon - you know the tea bag routine! Not much use if you prefer coffee, however.
As for flame/visibility - the smell of the cooking food is much more of a giveaway.
speaking of which.... there thinking of trying to find a way of making it taste bad so the soldiers wont eat it!!!!!!
Now if your thinking "thats stupid surely the squaddies wont try to eat it"
let me point out that Squaddies have been drinking the stuff in the glow sticks, because it makes their urine glow
RAPPLEBY2000
13-02-2004, 22:29
i have tried a few varieties of this design over the years including "firestar", i've never found them that good, basically it dosen't seem to burn very hot, and you end up carrying alot of fuel.
we had these for sale in my shop at half price
£5 for folding stove and 2x 10 min fuel tins
and £5 for a tin of 1x 30 min fuel with wind shield.
we couldent sell them for love nor money!
all you have to do is compare it with a hexi cooker of any variety and you will see its disadvantages:
1. very small so top heavy when a pot is being used.
2. if you want extra fuel you have to bring another cooker not just the gel.
3. with hexi you can add fuel as it burns, you can't safely do it with a gel.
4. gel is messy!
5. hexamine is pretty inert untill heated , an alchohol gel if spilled in your bag or a tent may light from a spark or evaporate.
6. i was given a "sachet" of green heat to try out, i followed the instructions to the letter and the stuff didn't light easily, when it did it went out again. i lit tyhe sachet and a hexamin block at the same time the hexamine block was faster and hotter!(and it stayed alight! :roll: )
7. Green heat is sold as a "fire" or "BBQ" lighter! not as a cooking fuel!
call me the enviromental anti-christ but i will continue using Hexamine! :twisted:
speaking of which.... there thinking of trying to find a way of making it taste bad so the soldiers wont eat it!!!!!!
Mmmm, Bitrex... "What's the problem, s'alcohol, innit?"
Now if your thinking "thats stupid surely the squaddies wont try to eat it"
let me point out that Squaddies have been drinking the stuff in the glow sticks, because it makes their urine glow
Amazing how many people don't believe you when you tell them that. And then go and try it even though they've been warned not to because of the glass phial in the lightstick... :shock:
ditchfield
14-02-2004, 11:57
I bought a big tin of the stuff for £3 rather than the stove which was 20! Haven't got round to using it yet. Looks tasty though :-D
Great Pebble
14-02-2004, 17:15
they are working on making it even better so that is BTU output is close to heximene
Hexy ain't that hot itself (pardon the pun). I'd be dubious about using anything that had less output. I also find the "lights with a spark" issue rather strange, as I was always given to understand that one of the reasons hexy was put on issue for the exact opposite, it didn't ignite too readily, or too violently
Nick in Belfast
You're *sure* that wasn't Kendall mint cake? :-? I don't think I ever had trouble lighting hexy - so long as I never tried to use the so-called windproof matches. Lowest bidder stuff... The waxed paper the stoves were packed in helped get the stuff going.
Don't think it was mint cake ... certainly didn't taste like it :-D Worked pretty well if you crumble the stuff a bit first. With the windproof matches I find that you just pile half the matches underneath the hexy it'll go!
Aw, c'mon - you know the tea bag routine! Not much use if you prefer coffee, however.
I've not seen a tea bag in a rat pack for years ... :-( just that awful powdered stuff!
As for flame/visibility - the smell of the cooking food is much more of a giveaway.
Less of a prob with the foil pacjed retort stuff now ... but I think if smell is going to be an issue it's hard routine time anyway! :wink:
I've not seen a tea bag in a rat pack for years ... :-( just that awful powdered stuff!
Really??? Oh well. Wonder when they disappeared then? Of course, we were always getting end-of-life stuff. At least the food was better than the tins.
Less of a prob with the foil pacjed retort stuff now ... but I think if smell is going
to be an issue it's hard routine time anyway! :wink:
Deep joy. "Have you got a spare gash bag?" ... "you can have it back now"...
:-?
And the coffee is really for serious coffee drinkers, professional coffee drinkers. Add the small sachet to a pint and my eyes are like saucers for hours! :shock:
The tea really is a pretty poor show nowadays ... in fact, I don't think it is real tea and that it just migth have see a picture of some tea leaves at some point. The "whitener" doesn't help either and just makes it taste like a cup of TippEx. The only things going for it are that it's warm and wet!
I've not seen a tea bag in a rat pack for years ... :-( just that awful powdered stuff!
Really??? Oh well. Wonder when they disappeared then? Of course, we were always getting end-of-life stuff. At least the food was better than the tins.
I bought one of the greenheat eco stoves this last weekend (Even after my poor experiences with the smaller sizes). I'm doing firelighting and control with the Scouts this Friday, so will allocate some resources (ie Scouts) to giving the stove a test run.
ie: OK Jim, how long does it take for this stove to boil a kettle?
Never had any problems lighting hexy myself, but then I always break mine up to increase the flame , someone did tell me the they are wax coated
RAPPLEBY2000
20-02-2004, 22:45
the wax on the box is to waterproof the contents very cheaply! you'll notice they just slapped it on, it really is cheap!
it possibly protects against chemical agents too, also it has always been a useful additional firelighter if torn up.
WW2 rations were put in waxed boxes in just the same way!
you won't find that in the plastic sachets of green heat! :-?
Hexy varies wildly ... the issue stuff is the best. You can usually find it in outdoor shops too but sometimes if comes in cubes and other times in little disk shaped bits ... none of which are wax coated and it doesn't produce the same amount of heat.
Oh, and of course, it's dearer than the issue stuff!
which makes me really stupid for taking a box full to the skip the other day :evil:
I bought one of the greenheat eco stoves this last weekend (Even after my poor experiences with the smaller sizes).
I finally over Easter had a chance to give the stove a water boiling test, and I've got to say that the results were disapointing. The cooker seemed to be reasonably stable on flat ground, and it proved relatively easy to control the flame.
I measured a pint of water into a saucepan and timed how long it take to boil, once on the already burning stove. One of the things I noticed was with only a gentle breeze a lot of the heat seemed to be leaking out of the gap between the can and the cooker - a wind shield would help.
Well, after 10 minutes the water started to bubble gently, and I actually never achieved a full boil - not what I was hoping for at all.
Is it a problem with the stove rather than the fuel?
I would really like this fuel to be good cos of its green credentials.
I would say a mixture of both (leaning on the cooker though), to be honest. Although the heat generated directly from the can seemed to be reasonable (on a par with a Trangia flame possibly), I don't think the cooker is untilising the heat in the best of ways. I'm sure its performance would be improved by the use of a windshield.
Although the can suggest that it has a burning capacity for 2.5 hours, I had it burning for about 30 minutes, and estaimate that about 40-50% of the cans fuel was used up.
ditchfield
16-04-2004, 20:48
I took a little bottle of this stuff out last night to test. We tryed to use it when lighting a camp fire but it had a small flame, was difficult to light and kept getting blown out. :-(
Not tried mine yet ... something to do over the weekend!