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Bothwell Voyageur Twig Stove

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I had the opportunity to try out, in field conditions, the twig stove made by Bothwell Voyageur.
It performed very well.

Features I really liked:
1. It comes apart and is stored in a canvas envelope. Keeps the rest of your gear clean and stores nicely in your pack.
2. Depending on how one positions the sides, it will accommodate a smaller pot as well as a larger one.
3. Depending on how one positions the bottom, it can be used as a twig stove, or with an alcohol burner. So I plan to use the twig stove for most of my cooking, but will have a burner and a bit of alcohol as emergency backup. Unless there is a fire ban, in which case I would have to go back to all alcohol, possibly with my trangia.
4. It weighs about 4 ounces. There is a titanium version which is ultra-light.
5. I had to blow on the twigs quite a lot which I tried this at home. However, on the windy beach there was no problem at all keeping a raging tiny fire going.
6. It brought a cup of water to a simmer almost instantly. Of course, it was hot out (90 degrees.) Might take longer in cool weather. At home, it took six minutes to bring it to a roiling boil, the kind needed to sterilize water if that is what you wanted to do. But for most dehydrated/freeze dried meals the simmer works fine. At least for me.
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You can see the ventilation holes and slots for assembling the stove.


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View of empty stove showing ventilation holes and slots for assembling. You can see there is a higher slot at the back. These, along with the ones on the side raise the bottom so it can be used with an alcohol burner. The tabs on the top of the sides can be turned in, as pictured, for smaller pots. Or turned out for larger pots.

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A pic with my foot for an idea of size. That is my entire kitchen. Simple.

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Here's the pouch. It is about 4x6 inches. The stove weighs about 4 ounces. There is a titanium version which is lighter.

BUT THE SOOT! This is true for all twig stoves. What a mess that black stuff is. It gets on EVERYTHING! At least if you are a klutz like me.

Thank you, Bothwell Voyageur for this nifty stove. I think I'll order a titanium one now.
 
I like that simple clever design. I suppose you could burn twigs with a shallower firebox (alky set up) for a ground friendlier fire?
Otherwise the size looks good for simple meals for 1-2 people.
Thanks for this review Erica.
 
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Thanks for the review, they really are quite ingenious. Is that the nomad or the nomad xt?. Bothwell Voyager makes some great stuff! We’ve been using one of his bigger Yukon fire boxes for our family trips and despite its weight, we don’t leave home without it. It’s built like a tank and I doubt we’ll ever burn it out.
A titanium nomad xt is definately on my wish list for solo play.
 
Thanks for the positive review. I'm looking forward to a summer without fire bans that let us use ours! I always carry a pair of leather gloves if I'm planning on any sort of fire. Helps keep the soot off and for picking up hot pans. I wonder whether one of those tiny air pumps they sell for inflating mattresses would work to fan the flames, failing that a metal straw could help.
 
I have a short (6”?) section of tent pole with about 2’ of vinyl tubing. Easy to direct the air where you need it without crawling around on ones knees.
Jim
 
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