Hi,

I am a student and avid backpacker. I recently was allocated a project that requires finding a solution to a problem. I chose backpacking and one of the problems I have run into is with the stoves. I never seem to have level ground for the stove so have to hold the pot or pan on the stove to stop it from slipping off. Was wondering if anyone else has this same problem and if you see it as a minor inconvenience or a real pain.

Any feedback appreciated
Andrew

Minor inconvenience. It is always possible to create or find enough of a level area to accommodate a small backpacking stove.

Only a small burner atop a narrow fuel cartridge seems to be a challence to balance. For that you can 1. find a flat rock or piece of wood 2. place in soft sand or dirt or 3. get one of the tripod cartridge leg gizmos.

Other types of stoves seem to rely on three legs or supports to enable leveling on most surfaces. Four-legged stoves can be trickier.

Cheers,

Minor issue, solved by sticks, stones or moving dirt etc. no additional gear required.

Sorry. I am like the others, never have really given it a thought. Most of the problems I relate to involve functionality vs weight vs cost.

Makes me wonder where you are backpacking. Mountains where I go have lots of surfaces of varying grades, and finding a square foot of flat isn't so difficult.

Minor to non-existent issue; never had a problem finding a level spot 5 or 6 inches in diameter.

Probably the worst case scenario for level surfaces would be big wall climbs where you would be using portaledges hanging on vertical rock walls. In that situation a hanging stove would solve the problem.

I've only done one wall bivouac, a long time ago. We had a small ledge and a hot breakfast.....

Yeah...we have those little tripod legs, and my wife loves them. Just dig them into the dirt a bit, and you have a much more stable stove.

This has never been an issue with me. There's always a level piece of ground close by. Yes, my pot has gone off the stove a couple of times, but that's because I bumped into it!

I guess I am one of the few who agree with you. I agree it can be annoying getting the stove level and stable. I've certainly spilled pots of water and even dinners because the stove wasn't stable. It isn't so much that there are "no places" available, but the convenient places are not level. You set-up camp, and then there are natural places to set-up for cooking and eating. Those most convenient places rarely offer a perfectly level spot to set-up the stove on and cook.

However, I have to agree with others sentiment that the inconvenience does not mean I would be willing to carry an extra piece of equipment. I think you have a real issue, but your solution would have to be ultra lightweight to be worth lugging up a mountain.

I think this is akin to a pouch cozy. Pouch cozies certainly aren't necessary. Many dinner rehydrate fine without them (even at elevation). Some end up a little crunchy. The problem isn't that bad, but the solution is ridiculously lightweight so people bring the cozy along.

If you get a solution around the weight of a pouch cozy... you have a winner.

I've struggled with this problem a bit. It's as much a morel struggle as it is a gear issue, and both are generally a minor problem, but even minor problems can be a pain.

As for the gear part of the problem, ideally, a tripod of adjustable legs on a stove stand would be the solution, but every piece of added gear equals more weight, and sometimes added complexity, and we all want to avoid that.

As for morals, ideally, there would always be a level spot and I'd never have to tear up the earth to use my stove, but that's seldom the case around here. You either have to scrape a spot level, or dig in at least one leg on your stove. No one wants a wobbly stove, and a rock or piece of wood doesn't always easily solve that problem, so it's hard to avoid some scraping or digging and rearranging.

While I may be in a minority here on this, sometimes I don't like moving rocks. Sometimes it really bothers me to do that. Often, there are little ecosystems that develop in, around, and under rocks and I don't like disturbing them, and I am always cautious not too.

This is great feedback. When you go backpacking does anyone take a camera(with lens) or binoculars with them? I ask this as the solution I came up with for the stove is very lightweight, works on almost any terrain, takes a few seconds to setup and is very non-complicated but can also be used for steadying a camera or binoculars on rocks etc. so has multiple uses.

many thanks for the feedback - this is an interesting project

After you present it for you class, be sure to share the solution with the rest of us, too.