Welcome to SP! -

SEARCH

FOR

MbPost.com -- It's SP for Mountain Biking!

Areas & Ranges·Mountains & Rocks·Routes·Images·Articles·Trip Reports·Gear·Other·People·Plans & Partners·What's New·Forum

Hang Your Stove

Article

Images (21)

Hang Your Stove

Featured on the Front Page

Page Type: Article

Activities: Mountaineering

Page By: FortMental

Created/Edited: Jan 26, 2009 / Sep 23, 2009

Object ID: 483666

Hits: 2958

Page Score: 89.94% - 36 Votes

Vote: Log in to vote

Table of Contents

Why Hang Your Stove?

Getting Started

....Good Design

Hanging your XGK

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License

Why Hang Your Stove?

Mountaineering and alpine climbing often require the use of a stove for making drinking water for beverages, meals, or, outright survival. In many cases there is simply no convenient place in which to place a stove: there are no nice flat rocks or there the only available space is cramped with gear and bodies. Furthermore, the weather may simply suck too much to cook anywhere else than in the tent.

A single overhead attachment point makes a stove easy to place anywhere: a low tree-branch, a ski-pole jammed into a drift, a tent pole within a vestibule. A simple 3-point attachment system makes the entire assembly very stable and ready to relocate at a moments notice.

I've been using this system to hang my MSR XGK for over 10 years now, without ever setting my tent on fire or spilling anything on my sleeping bags. Below are some instructions for how I built a kit for hanging a Snow-Peak Giga Stove for use on local peaks in mild weather, and a MSR XGK stove for cold weather use.

Getting Started

In my humble opinion, the SnowPeak GigaPower gas cartridge stove is one of the best designed packages I've seen yet for the money. The entire pot, stove and cartridge kit fits neatly into a stuff sack that doubles as a water carrying bag.

Any hanging stove hardware I built had to do justice to this good design by being both bomb-proof and integrated into the package.

The kit, as purchased, contains stove w/ integrated lighter, gas cartridge, pot w/ handle and lid. A small insulated cup (not pictured) is also provided. There's enough room in there to stash away other items as well.

Parts

I learned a lot about what works when I built a hanging kit for my XGK Stove. Although it's perfect for expeditionary use, it was too heavy and bulky for a ski-touring weekend, or a quickie in the mountains.

For this reason alone I decided on a lightweight stove that could be safely suspended so that I never needed any level surface on which to boil water.

My hanging kit incorporates a few important elements key for winter use:

1) Light weight: The hanging hardware weighs a little less than 7oz. or 200 gr. , less than a cup of water.

2) Windscreen: Any protection from a light breeze is a good thing as these kinds of stoves are no blowtorches.

3) Cartridge Warming: A winter setting on the windscreen means that heat from the flame is reflected down onto the top of cartridge, keeping it nice and toasty, and the gas within, well pressurized.

Making It....

The components were made from aluminum bar from Lowe's Hardware, parts from Home Depot, and other odds and ends I had laying around the garage. My tools included a drill + drills, hacksaw, vise, drill punch, tin-snips, linesman's pliers, Brillo, emery cloth, and a chainsaw file.

Check out the detail of how the support bar slots into the screen; the upper slot is the winter setting as it brings the gas cartridge a little closer to the heat that collects under the pot and screen. When the supports are hung from the lower setting, I can keep my fingers on top of the cartridge while heating water at full blast.

The supports are somewhat collapsible such that they fit within the kit when packed. Importantly, two wingnuts are used to tighten the supports to provide rigidity to the entire assembly. All bolt ends are dimpled so that nuts are not lost.

The screen was cut from an old cookie sheet that my wife had "mysteriously lost". While I was at it, I polished it with a Brillo pad and inscribed passages from, what else? The Inferno.

Hanging It...

The cables are lightweight derailleur cables with fishing swivels that clip into the small holes in the screen. A 3m length of 3mm cord helps when hanging from trees, ski poles, pickets, whatever. A flat "spreader plate" cut from an old aluminum lid keeps the cables spread apart so that the pot can be easily removed from the suspension. It works!

The screen is compressed and slipped into the bag. Having the suspension slots on the screen and not on the supports means that the pot can slip easily in and out of the bag without being marred.

Everything is conveniently re-packed into the bag. Total Weight including 1/2 empty cartridge: 25 oz. / 709 gr.

Need more info? Check out the following links:

Useful Tips from Andy Kirkpatrick
Big Wall Comfort from Climbing.com
Further Big Wall Ruminations
Personal Site of a Fellow SP'er

....Good Design

In the world of mountaineering we like to use gear with multiple uses. This hanging kit has been designed to be used with an MSR XGK as well; no need for super-specialized-one-use-equipment. Below are photos of how an old-school XGK has been modified for use with this kit.

Hanging your XGK

For cold weather use, at altitude, or for extended trips into the mountains, few pieces of gear match the clean design, efficiency, and reliability of the XGK. If you've been around long enough you probably have an old metal tube unit lying around that you've relegated to the antique gear pile. Now's the time to resurrect it! I haven't modified the new XGK for hanging but I think it should be even easier.

The only part that differs from the hanging microstove kit is the stove support assembly and the priming cup.

After taking an axe to the XGK, I removed the base plate, support arms, and surrounding metal; I was left with just the cup and fuel line. A little bit of bending and the fuel line was now pointing vertically down. You could make it horizontal, but that would take an extra bend, and the tube is hard enough, with bare hands, to bend once. Regardless, it's important that the tube be bent at either 0 or 90 degrees because the fuel bottle must not hang at some funky angle.

Parts

1. The Burner/Fuel Line...not much to it and pretty bullet-proof.

2. Holding Pin.... holds the stove to priming cup and support arms. It slides into the hole that MSR drilled into a small extension under the burner cup. It's not an ideal situation, but you have to work with what you have. I found this thing in the garage and filed it down to fit. A coat hanger will work just as well but won't look as sexy.

3. Priming Cup... Another one of those "mysteriously lost baking items from the kitchen". It's just a lightweight metal measuring cup with a hole drilled into the bottom, and a slot filed into the side for the fuel line.

4. Support Arms...(This took a little bit of tinkering) A few turns of the wing-nut underneath loosens everything for quick folding. The pot supports are just simple one inch screws with the nut hammered into place so that they don't loosen. There's no need for supports that extend all the way across the burner head.

5. Fuel Bottle Support... A loop of crimped derailleur cable drilled through one of the arms will support the fuel bottle in an horizontal position.

6. MSR Fuel Bottle... Take the pump out of the bottle and make sure that the fuel intake has been rotated such that it points down when in the suspended position. This certifies that the stove slurps up fuel from the lowest point in the bottle.

Center Support

The center support, when tightened, makes the hanging kit nice and rigid. For holding the XGK burner I had to make a "U" piece that will connect to the arms. A few, strategically placed, locking washers complete the unit. Drill, file, hammer, or chew the last few threads so that the wing-nut doesn't fall off. At right is the assembly in action.

Works Great!

It takes a long time to boil water from snow in a cold environment. On a big mountain, it seems that you spend all your free time melting snow. It's nice to fire up this baby, kick back and not have to worry about knocking it over.

Boil Time at 50º deg. F (10º C), 1 qt. (1 l.) of 40º deg. F (4.4º C) water, at 5700 ft. (1,737 m) = 4:12 minutes

Big Deal....

At left are all of the hanging XGK Kit parts; at right are all the parts put away and ready to go.

Again, cooking anywhere near your tent, bare feet, nylon gloves, or fuel-soaked eyebrows is dangerous. Use your frikkin' head. If you don't, please send a photo of your misadventure for posting here....

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License
.

Images



[ View Gallery - 9 More Images ]

Comments

[ Post a Comment ]

Viewing: 1-20 of 21

« PREV 1 2 NEXT »

Nice detail

Voted 10/10

And I like the choice of inscription. :)

How much wind outside the tent can this setup take before tent shaking makes it swing back and forth? That would seem to limit its usefulness in many settings.

Posted Jan 27, 2009 3:23 pm

....Thanks!

Hasn't voted

The beauty of a hanging stove is that it can swing as much as it wants without ever spilling anything. I can take this rig, put on a 1 liter pot full of water, boil it up, and swing it vertically through a full 360 degrees without spilling. Really, I'm not kidding! Bumping into it, however, is another story. A sharp elbow into the side of the pot (not the suspension point) can spill water, without, I stress, knocking over the stove, pot, or flame.

Posted Jan 27, 2009 8:49 pm

So good, this should be marketed

Voted 10/10

I have used the ancient Bluet hanging system in the 80s to mid 90s here in the Western US and in Asia. In inclement conditions, one is more or less forced to use inside the tent hanging system and yours looks like a gem. There is precious little on the market for the alpine climber,ski mountaineer or expeditions these days, I cannot find suitable hanging system (for inside the tent) anywhere. Your system looks bomber. Have you ever consider marketing it? BTW while ski mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, hanging system can also reduce weight and offer comfort. You ski all day, set up the tent, get in it fast and within minutes the tent is 50 degrees warmed up by the stove. Good article. Thank you.

Posted Feb 1, 2009 1:11 pm


	FortMental	I Agree!
	Hasn't voted	...But I ain't doing it! Making it easy to do a dangerous thing, like cook in a tent, also makes it easy for some knucklehead to kill himself by setting his tent on fire or poisoning with carbon monoxide. Few manufacturers can afford the liability insurance which is probably why you don't see a lot of these types of gizmos on the market. You're right; in the winter, there really is nothing like quickly warming up the tent after a long approach! With the tent door open and the screen zipped up, there's plenty of ventilation without there being a large loss of heat. Incidentally, the Russians have long used a very slick lightweight, titanium tent heater for their winter expeditions.
		Posted Feb 6, 2009 10:45 am

Wastral	Why are you hanging at all?
Voted 2/10	If you are in the alpine enviro, you have a shovel with you unless of course you are going super light on a speed ascent. In which case use your ice axes as a base and quit taking extra weight with you. Otherwise in a tent cook on a shovel which you already have with you. That way you can actually cook with decent sized pots instead of micro pots. DUH!!!
	Posted Feb 3, 2009 1:26 am


	FortMental	Re: Why are you hanging at all?
	Hasn't voted	One day you'll actually get outside and see for yourself what works and what doesn't, and, no, your parents backyard doesn't count.
		Posted Feb 6, 2009 10:56 am

Ventilation

Voted 10/10

Very good description of your setup!
But what about ventilation? It does not seem to be an issue with your setup... however, I am wondering if it's due to the type of fuel you are using.

Posted Feb 3, 2009 11:17 am


	FortMental	Ventilation is Critical
	Hasn't voted	A stove uses oxygen and puts out CO2 and CO, regardless of fuel used. Inside a tent or snow cave, this is dangerous, no doubt about it! I always zip down the door and zip up the screen. Enough oxygen gets in, wind stay out.
		Posted Feb 6, 2009 10:51 am

Wastral	Shovel works great
Voted 2/10	I have used a shovel/ice axes on snow for the last umpteen years. Never spilled. Yes, you have to use your brain for 3 seconds to set it up correctly. Not to mention if you are winter camping, you will have a vestibule on your tent. IF you don't, get a real tent? If you are on snow you dig a hole in front of your tent so you have a great spot to sit/store stuff and cook at the same time. I had a friend who tried using a setup like yours. Getting his lid on and off was a royal pain in the butt. Cheers, to each his own even if it is less efficient. But, as you said you do it for just camping not real alpine stuff where weight is critical.
	Posted Feb 7, 2009 3:29 pm


	FortMental	Re: Shovel works great
	Hasn't voted	If you're the sort of person who cuts the handle off his spoon to save weight, you shouldn't even be reading this article. The suggestion that a suspended stove is very efficient in an alpine setting comes from Marc Twight, Todd Bibler, Andy Kirkpatrick, and legions of others who climb "real alpine stuff", just like you! As for me, I save weight before real alpine stuff by taking a piss..... about 7 oz. worth. -Goodbye!
		Posted Feb 10, 2009 8:53 pm

home sweet home

Voted 10/10

there is something to be said for a comforting fixture. when stuck for 3 days on 11,000 off the west fork of the ruth, the hanging stove was our warmth, our source of hydration, and the focus of any useful efforts. it became the only positive thing we had going (as we all were not in a great position).
after the climb, i went out and bought one as the one we used on that trip was my buddy's (and i have never regretted it).

Posted Feb 13, 2009 12:42 pm


	FortMental	Re: home sweet home
	Hasn't voted	That's true! After a couple of storm-bound days in a tent, looking at a bright, shiny thing sure beats staring at ripstop! -Keep Suffering....but not too much.
		Posted Feb 13, 2009 12:54 pm

Wastral	Ah I see your problem
Voted 2/10	Ah I see your problem. You are using cartridge stoves. The guys you quoted tried out the hanging cartridge stove system because the stove itself is lighter, but the need for a heat exchanger at high altitude is NOT. The heat exchanger to the cartridges is so the gas actually comes out of the cartridges and it hanges below the cartridge, thus it has to be held off the snow for it to work. White gas you do not need a hanging system and Twight and company use white gas because it is ultimately lighter after 2 weeks of use because Kerosene holds more BTU's per lb than Butane does. Thus, for any serious endeavors, white gas is the only way to go. Not to mention butane cylinders can lose their seals in cold temps whearas white gas you replace a seal if something goes wrong saving your fuel.
	Posted Feb 13, 2009 2:31 pm


	FortMental	No...There's no problem.
	Hasn't voted	From the 3rd paragraph, above: "I've been using this system to hang my MSR XGK for over 10 years now, without ever setting my tent on fire or spilling anything on my sleeping bags. Below are some instructions for how I built a kit for hanging a Snow-Peak Giga Stove for use on local peaks in mild weather." The point of hanging your stove is to make it easier, safer, and more convenient to use, which is why many alpinists have rigged their own hanging kits. It's true, you don't have to hang your white-gas stove in cold weather, but ever since I did, I've never once looked back. It's perhaps why Marc Twight did as much with his MSR: From Extreme Alpinism by Marc Twight, p.188, "Today I use an MSR stove that burns white gas. I use it in a tent. I hold it on my lap. I set it on a ledge. I constructed a hanging system for it and mastered the field maintenance these finicky stoves require."
		Posted Feb 13, 2009 11:12 pm


	Bob Sihler	Re: No...There's no problem.
	Hasn't voted	FortMental, don't feed the troll. He came sniffing on one of my pages, too.
		Posted Oct 17, 2009 1:06 am

That's great.

Voted 10/10

I love this kind of tinkering in the shed.

Quote from Dante - nice touch!

Posted Feb 13, 2009 4:23 pm

Nice

Voted 10/10

Personally, I think that's a sweet setup. Nice ingenuity on your part, I think it looks (and probably works) great!

Posted Feb 17, 2009 7:13 pm

Nice!

Voted 9/10

Quick question. Why the upward curves on the bottom of the heat shield? Is that to let more air circulate while at the summer setting? You have given me some great ideas. Thanks.

Posted Feb 18, 2009 12:23 pm


	FortMental	Re: Nice!
	Hasn't voted	Why....Thank You! The shield itself doesn't have to be as wide as it is, however, there's no easy way to stiffen the connection between the arms and the shield through the slots; making it all one piece is the easiest way. I didn't want to have to sit there all day and drill holes into sheet aluminum, so I just cut the extraneous material off. Could just as well been right angles but curves always look better! Right? -Good luck making yours!
		Posted Feb 18, 2009 12:52 pm

Well done

Voted 10/10

Great article FortMental, well-outlined and good pics. Thanks for posting. I also dig the ingenuity with respect to the supplies used - awesome.

Posted Oct 22, 2009 6:06 pm

Viewing: 1-20 of 21

« PREV 1 2 NEXT »

Sign in to post!

Don't have an account? Register now.

"When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old."

© 2006 SummitPost.org. All Rights Reserved.