"I did not like the stability of the stove with my 12 cup coffee pot. For a 1 qt pot it was ok.
Remedy: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/232209/overview#8428056
I used the cook kit from an old Coleman 502 stove. Drilled 3 holes in the lid for the motor supports and motor. 4 holes for screws as feet and to hold the l-brackets. 2 L-brackets hold the ring on there unsupported sides.
I have sense used my zip stove to heat a gallon pot of water and stability was not a problem.
An added bonus is I can use the pot from the cook kit and I do not have to take the burner off the base unless I want to. It fits in assembled ready for use. By disconnecting the burner from the base, I have room for extra batteries, lots of fire starters, my pot grabber and my spork.
As bought this stove is good for 1 qt pots. The company states this in their advertisements. For my needs an adjustment to the base was called for and to the ring.
I find that 1 to 2 inch thick chunks of wood makes tending the fire a lot easier. Charcoal brackets in this stove make it a dream come true.
I do not fear taking this stove out without a back up stove for weeks at a time. I use rechargeable batteries and in the last year have not had the expense of fuel or maintenance.
Don"
"This simple stove burns wood, or anything else you have. It has a small fan unit that blows hot air into the fire chamber and keeps the fire blazing as long as you keep giving it fuel. I usually collect a small pile of sticks about the width of a finger and break them into 2" lengths.
It provides plenty of heat to cook, and it can be adjusted for simmering. But it will blacken the outside of your pots. I rub the outside of my pots with soap before I cook and the black soot washes right off.
If you want to have a campfire, but also be low impact, the stove will shoot flames a foot in the air. I call it a campfire in a can.
Of course you don't have to carry butane, gas, or propane because the stove burns anything burnable. But I do advise that you bring a couple of extra AA batteries for the fan.
All in all I love my little stove, and I love it more each time I use it."
"Bought this stove a couple years ago. Now I won't recomend anything else unless your packing above treeline.
It will boil water faster than any other stove I've used. Great not to have to pack fuel bottles, no leaks in your pack either."
"I've used one for nine years and I haven't found anything to beat it! Two stoves fed 12 Scouts for 11 days in a wet boggy environment. Only wet rotting wood was to be found. It came through like a champ. If you are above the tree line, carry an long walking stick for fuel. You would carry fuel for any other stove. It's the only stove you can sit around for hours on a cold night.
I've learned to like black pots. Carry each pot in a plastic bag to keep your pack clean.
Drawbacks: rotten wood makes them smell bad. Use zip-lock bags to contain the smell in your pack. Carry a extra AA for each 5-6 days of travel."
"This little stove makes carrying fuel bottles,etc. seam rather dumb. Actually I started with a Zip and have never had nor wanted anything else.
Completely agree with the other reviews including the how to use suggestions.
One suggestion, I think in Sierra's packing literature. Carry cotton balls soaked in vasoline. Put in in below the twig starter pile. Light it and let it burn a few seconds before starting fan on low. Switch to high once you got a good flame. Keep plenty of fuel on hand, a couple handfulls."
"I've used this stove everywhere and for many purposes. Kept me warm one night above timberline while hunting. Great stove if you hate messing with fuels and cannisters. And doubles as a campfire especially in places picked clean of wood. Not recommended for anal retentive clean freaks who can't rub a blackened pot in the sand to clean it"
"Awesome stove. Best improvement is to switch to the "D" battery."
"I got this sucker after an airline crash in the everglades and the all the other airlines cracked down on fuel cannisters in flight. I had never seen one work, nor did I have much faith in a contraption like this. HOWEVER, after my trip to Australia I have never, NEVER used anything else. I use cotton balls dipped in Petroleum Jelly (kept in 35mm film cans) for fire starter, It weighs less than my other stoves, I use a gerber retractable saw (3ozs)for cutting larger chunks up. 3-5 pine cones will boil 2ltrs water in about 5mins. I even have a homemade shower now made out of a mylar wine bag. Can purify water when the filter clogs, melt snow, grill burgers with a homemade grill. I have even used wood soaking in water and the starter to fire it up. The black sooted pots just heat up faster. The stove fits in the pot and the 35mm can and matches fit in the stove. You'll never worry about fuel or gas stove clogs again."
"this stove has NEVER let me down.I have used it under every condition conceivable including after hurricane Isabel to sterilize LARGE ammounts of water. It will eat anything that burns,wood,pine cones,trail trash,anything!!! Its also very cool to see the looks on other peoples faces as your little stove out performs their $150 piece of modern art. the best aftermarket mods to this little monster are to add a variable resister into the fan circuit, this allows you to control the heat from a slight simmer to full after burner boil"
"I had a slight problem with this stove when I first bought it. The ring that holds the pot was riveted off center making the stove unstable (the pot could rock back and forth a little more than I was comfortable with). I contacted the manufacturer and they were very helpful in giving me the option to send the whole thing back at their cost or they could just send me the replacement part and I could fix it myself (I chose the later).
Negatives:
-Not very stable
-Soot on pots
-Tricky to regulate heat
-Have to be VERY careful of sparks and hot embers shooting out
Positives:
-Easy to use
-No fuel to have to buy or carry (very nice for longer trips)
-Blow torch-like heat output
For me the positives far out weigh the negatives. I bring a couple of firestarter sticks broken into 1" chunks just in case I need to get it started in rainy weather but once it gets going it puts out plenty of heat."
"Just got back from a weeks' hiking in Scotland. The weather was, as predicted, on and off wet. I took my new Zip Stove with me and I must say it is a fantastic bit of kit - totally exceeded my expectations. All the pros (no fuel to carry, burns wet wood etc)and all the cons (can be unstable, blackened pots etc) people list are true - I won't repeat them again - but for me this baby is a winner. There's something very cheery about seeing it take kindling and fire up to full throttle twigs: very heart-warming at the end of the day, and a great little fire for those times when you can't have a fire. It's a stove with soul. I love it."
