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Titanium Goat Cylinder stove review.

Some time ago I was sent a proto type Ti-goat cylinder stove for testing. The stove is basically the same as the production model with the exception of a 3-inch stove port. The production stove uses a 2 3/8 port and pipe. Here is some info from the Ti-goat site:

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/cstove.html

"The new Vortex Cylinder Stove, takes down smaller, weighs less, and it puts out more heat than stoves twice its size. While
wood burning stoves are not what some would call "ultra light" , this one is as light as they get. While not as bomb proof as
our box vortex stove, the titanium body section, cylindrical shape, and damper, make this stove burn very efficiently. The
Vortex Cylinder Stove is very basic, its been stripped down to pure light weight function, while still retaining big performance.
You get the same stainless roll up pipe that is on our box stoves, but in a smaller diameter, along with the same great heat
transfer properties of titanium in the roll up portion of the body. I know, how do you cook on a round top stove? No problem
we have pots that conform to the stoves. The pots are the Wally World grease pot with an arc formed into the bottom.
Standard features:

-Stainless roll up pipe
-Titanium roll up body
-Damper
-Storage bags
-Snow platform/vegetation

protection patch

Options:
-Form fit pot
-Titanium pipe

Specifications:

Weight: 11oz stove body,
15oz pipe assembly (6.5'
pipe for Vertex 6) 3.5oz for
bags and snow platform.

Size: 6.25" diameter by
12"
long, for 368 cubic inches.

Price: $175 with 6.5' pipe"

The stove and pipe packs down very small.

[Linked Image]

Here is a view of all the components. These include a rollup pipe, Ti rollup stove body, wire loops for stove and pipe, stove ends, door flap, damper, inline spark screen and wing nuts. I added a collar from my Kifaru stove as this increased the spark screens to 3 and slowed the whole system down. The price paid is a few seconds of smoke on start up but this tends to happen to all my stoves when using more than two screens. Removing one or two of the Kifaru screens on start-up alleviates this minor issue.

[Linked Image]

Setup of this stove can be difficult. I would compare it to pushing two soda cans together when making an alcohol stove. It is either an exercise of humiliation or a simple affair. After a few times I can set up the stove and pipe in about 5-minutes. But you don�t want to the do this the first time in the field.

[Linked Image]

This pipe was taken from my Paratipi setup. It is 3-inches by 5-foot. The one from Ti-goat is similar. Setting up the pipe is easy with practice. Care must be taken not to cut ones fingers on the sharp edge. This danger is reduced after a few burns. All one needs to do is slide the wire loops over the pipe and attach a wing nut at the end. After that the inline spark screen is pushed into the pipe and the damper slides into the stove end. The inline spark screen must be pushed at least 5 inches into the pipe to keep it from sliding down into the damper. The spark arrester is non removable during operation however the heat appears to make it self cleaning. That looks to be the case anyways. I will have to do further testing with some softwood to see if this holds true.

[Linked Image]

The stoves weight feels about the same as a full soda can. Here I am picking it up with just my fingers.

[Linked Image]

The door opening is small and there is not a lot of room to feed thicker sticks. The best way to fire it up is using a cotton ball soaked with Vaseline.

[Linked Image]

It does not take long before a good fire is burning. The round opening and shape of the stove increases the efficiency of the draft.

[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6423.jpg[/img]

The door flap on mine is a proto type but I don�t think it has been much improved on the production model. This is a bare bones UL system. I find the door works best if placed on the ground to cover the opening. The downside being it will rattle a bit as the air flows around it.

[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6435.jpg[/img]

Cooking on a cylinder shaped stove is no easy task. The stove does come with a modified Wally world aluminum grease pot. It has a bend in the bottom conforming to the shape of the stove. The pot is stable but lacks a handle. There are commercially available pot handles so I will be purchase one in a few weeks and report back. It is possible to balance an unmodified cup on the top but it can be dumped if someone is careless.

[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6442.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6473.jpg[/img]

Disassembly is very fast. Just unhook one of the spring wire loops and the stove comes apart in seconds.

[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6489.jpg[/img]

The stove's heat output is instant and extreme. The thin Ti body and Stainless pipe transfers heat very efficiently. My tent heated up almost instantly. But the thin stove does not retain heat like a heaver sheet metal stove. It seems to have a reasonable burn time for such a small fire box. Never timed this but think it must be around � hour or maybe more.

I do have one concern that needs to be worked out. I added a fiberglass shield to protect the ground as the stove is just an inch above the earth. I believe this is the same material that both Kifaru and Ti-goat use in their stove jacks and may have been included in the production model for a ground cloth. However my testing has shown the heat of the stove burns the fiberglass and the ground under it. The result is a slow but steady smoldering. I will have to work out another solution for this. Maybe put the stove on a few rocks or make a wire stand.

[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6485.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6482.jpg[/img]


Pros:

1. It is the most UL tent stove I have ever seen.
2. Fast heating.
3. Super small pack down.
4. Comes with a damper.
5. Interesting spark inline spark screen.

Cons:

1. Expensive
2. Less durable than other UL stoves on the market.
3. Hard to setup without practice.
4. Challenging to cook on.
5. Does not retain heat once the fire burns down.
6. Sits low to the ground.

Conclusions:

I need more testing to determine overall durability. But wow thing is so UL. I can�t recommend this stove 100% without more experience in the field. As it stands this is my second trip using the Ti-goat stove beyond a few burns in the backyard. There are some things I need to work out but like the performance.
[img]http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/Daytraderwon/100_6459.jpg[/img]

Update.

Further testing results.

I took the Ti-goat stove for an overnighter this weekend. I had my first failure with the stove. One of the springs that hold the front and back together was MIA. I had no clue that this part could just slip off the wire. Windy and cold I was in no mood for BS. After about 30 minutes I decided to take out the multi tool and cut the spring in half. Than stretch it out to make two of equal size. Worked well but I need to find a new springs and pack extras.

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Great review I just ordered one of these and one of their tents for a spring brown bear hunt I hope it all works well. I will let you know when I get back

Woody

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WW that's a great review, pertinent, concise and full of information.

thank you so much for sharing your results with the rest of us.



ahhhhh what the bping forum is supposed to be! good on ya


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Nice job on the review. Very ingenious design!

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Seems like the stove does a lot for what it is. I'd suspect one could rig a wire platform to sit on top of the stove.

Closeness to ground would be the only drawback.

And of course there will be some kinks like learning about the springs, maybe making a retainer....
I"m still trying to remember to wire retain every "possible loose" part on my airboat...

Thanks for the review, its on my list, but down bag is first.

Jeff


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Quote
Setup of this stove can be difficult. I would compare it to pushing two soda cans together when making an alcohol stove. It is either an exercise of humiliation ......


That is for sure. I guess I will be the dissenting opinion with this one. I ordered one last year, and when I took it out, and started putting it together I just felt like a sucker who had just paid about $130 bucks more than this thing is worth.

I would hate to put that together in cold, low light conditions,
in the feild. I would have to build a campfire first.
I sent mine back and was fully refunded. I like TI goats other products, but for me this was taking "light and fast" to obserdity. At some point you loose funtional relevance. I think this product is at that point.

Last edited by MarkG; 03/31/08.

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I went to Ti Goat on Friday. Just stopped by the shop, I live 15 minutes away. Looked at the cylinder stove and their TI box stove. The guy I was talking with (DJ?) said he liked the box stove better but his partner likes the cylinder stove. The cylinder stove is primarily for heating and the box stove is for heating and cooking. I think the box stove makes more sense and I think I'm going to try to make a box stove like on the other thread.

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The other take on the survival issue, and thats what the stove is to me, where an unexpected severe change in temps hits, is that I'll erect the shelter first while grabbing wood, and then inside I can take my time putting it together.

OR I've got sticks piled up just in case and the stove in a pack just in case it changes...

Nothing like being clothed for 20 and above and a freak storm hits to drop it well below and dumps snow... And that can happen on backpack hunts real quick.

I have one of their box stoves, I never cook on it, its used to heat a larger tipi. We have iso butane to cook with.

Jeff


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Woods Walker,
As always, a good post and review from you.

I've been going back and forth between selecting the Ti Goat cylinder stove or the Kifaru Para stove.

For those �unplanned bivouac� situations, I�d like to use the Kifaru ParaTarp (w/ annex) and one of the stoves mentioned above. I�m looking for something ultra light and small to keep in the daypack.

If money weren�t an issue, I�d have one or the other already. But I look forward to your updates and recommendations.


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MarkG.

I have been able to set the stove up when cold and at dusk. But I am good at sliding pop cans together too for building stoves. If this was not the case I could easily see how someone might work up a good rage assembling the stove. The missing spring issue really pissed me off. It turned a 3 minute job into a 30 minute multi tool adventure. For the record I like my Kifaru small stove better due to bomb proof construction and stove top cooking. Think the Ti-goat box stove would share much of the same goodness.

Andy.

I would go with a ST over the Paratarp. I think the Paratarp is just too small. I know what you are talking about. An unexpected bivy however the ST packs down nearly as small. If I had to pick one the Parastove would get the nod. There is nothing that can go wrong with the Kifaru design. I just need to play with the Ti-goat stove more before I could trust it with my life and that is what we are talking about with an ER setup. I know more springs need to be packed. For the Kifaru extra 10/24 wing nuts are packed. In anycase the Ti-goat stove is packs down crazy small.

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Well, I'll throw in a vote for the cylinder stove. It's my choice when backpacking, obviously for weight factors. I figured out how to assemble it without frustration, although I did go through the frustation phase. Once setup, it produced heat. So for me, super light plus heat equals all I want. If weight isn't a concern, I take my Four Dog Ultralight.

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I've also got the TI box stove... IMHO and not having dealt with the cylinder yet... The box stove takes time and dexterity to screw together also. THe tiny screwdriver would be fumbling if I was hypo... if it was that bad, I"d start a fire outside before I did anything else if possible. I"ve been hypo to the point of walking the wrong way before and when I got my swamped waders off my socks had ice in them, I know what that does to you.

Under normal circumstances I don't see an issue with the cylinder, and would pack a few extra things with the box stove, after all if you loose a screw or two, you can't cut the others in half and make it work... though in my survival kit I do have some small wire that will be replaced with smaller leader wire at some point....

Jeff


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Originally Posted by WoodsWalker
MarkG.

I have been able to set the stove up when cold and at dusk. But I am good at sliding pop cans together too for building stoves. If this was not the case I could easily see how someone might work up a good rage assembling the stove. The missing spring issue really pissed me off. It turned a 3 minute job into a 30 minute multi tool adventure. For the record I like my Kifaru small stove better due to bomb proof construction and stove top cooking. Think the Ti-goat box stove would share much of the same goodness.


WoodsWalker,
I agree on all accounts. For me a light hunting set-up would be the Kifaru Paratipi (or 4man tipi) and a small stove.
For more of a survival rig I would go with the Ti-goat box stove and a good tarp. I use the Go-lite lair two myself.



Currently I do not have a really light box stove. I NEED one grin! but I currenly use one of these with my tarp.
The kni-co packer jr
[Linked Image]

Or for going real lite
The Stratus Trailstove.
[Linked Image]
For early season bow hunts where the temps aren't severe, this little guy is the bomb.
Go-lite shelter - less than 2 lbs.
Trail Stove - 14.8 oz.

Last edited by MarkG; 04/01/08.

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Thanks WW,
I'll look at the ST (w/ annex) again for my intended use.

Back to the stoves, I like your comments about the Ti Goat being:
"...the most UL tent stove (you) have ever seen." and "Super small pack down."

However, can you expand a little more on: "Less durable than other UL stoves on the market." In what ways?



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Mark G.

The trailstove rocks. I like mine. The Kni-co packet Jr. has been a disappointment. It smokes me right out of my tipi.

Andy

I use my gear a great deal. For the guy going out maybe a few times a year I guess it would not mater. But I have used my Kifaru stove more times than I could count. It has been kicked, dropped and run for days on end. The Ti-goat has a foil body. Will that hold up to a carless foot? I know the Kifaru box stove will and bet the Ti-goat box stove is durable too. I just don�t have enough experience with the rollup stove to answer these questions. It does seem to me that the wire and spring combo could be an issue. I was able to field repair the spring by making two out of one. I guess some stainless wire should be packed too. But the Kifaru legs are not going to break and will be much harder to drop than a spring. I guess familiarity makes for confidence. So I will get back on the durability issue in about a year�s time.

As for a survival situation? There is no way I could setup a tipi stove camp before freezing to death if I just fell into the ice. I have taken a dunk in winter and let me tell everyone it sucks. It takes me an hour to fully setup a tipi camp. I can setup the Paratipi in less than 5 minutes. The larger tipis takes me longer but then again I use them less. The stove takes another 10 or 15 minutes for full assembly and placement. I am picky about my wood. Only standing deadwood will due. This stuff tends to be harder than punky wood so I need to saw and or split the stuff to fit into the small fire box. This takes about 40 minutes. I like to gather more wood than necessary just in case I need to run the stove longer or get snowed in.

I would first warm up next to a fire before stetting up the stove and tipi. I have been turned around to the woods before and didn�t like the experience. However even in the coldest winter an unexpected bivy inside a Paratipi with stove would hardly quality for one of those I shouldn�t be alive shows. More like easy living.

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WoodsWalker,

I had read something your wrote a while back about the kni-co packer jr smoking on you. I have never used mine in a tipi, so I cannot speak to that; but I have used it with the Lair 2 tarp. I just use the 3 section pipe that came with the stove and a 3" Elbo from Lowes to get the pipe heading on a 45* angle, away from the tarp. I don't have any smoking issues really.
I seem to remember you were using yours with a stack robber or something. That could be an issue?? don't know.


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WoodsWalker,
I don't know what the foil on Ti Goat stove will hold up to. That's why I asked you. smile

How light is the foil on the cylinder stove? Similar to that of a Kifaru stove pipe? That�s the only thing I have seen to compare it to.

I know you use your gear a lot. That�s why I find your posts and reviews so valuable. I plan on using my gear a lot too. The gear will be in the day pack for those "unplanned bivouacs", but it won't be in there collecting dust. I plan on being familiar enough with the equipment to where it becomes second nature. I�ve practiced setting up dome tents blindfolded and wearing mittens in the safety of the backyard, just in case I need to do it four miles from the trailhead as darkness and a storm is rolling in. eek

Right now, you�ve got me leaning towards a Kifaru stove.

Thanks again for the pictures and the reviews.


I'm intelligent enough to know I'll never be genius and I'm OK with that.
I live vicariously through my own memories.
Is the boy you were proud of the man you are?
Any fool can be uncomfortable in the field.
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Here is an update on the Ti-goat stove.

I replaced the lost springs. Got some from ACE hardware and cut them down to size even made an extra one just in case.

[Linked Image]

I tested out using sand from the river. Worked well to protect the ground from smoldering but hardly a winter solution as my hands froze digging out the stuff and even if I packed the camp trowel I would expect trouble.

[Linked Image]

The stove burned well but everything was wet the stove needed to boil off the trapped moisture in the wood before combustion so there was a longer period of cold before the thing got going with each fill. Also I miss having a place to dry the wood under a stove.

[Linked Image]

I hanged the pack up to dry it. Works better than just placing it on the ground after the weather breaks.

[Linked Image]

So far the stove has worked fairly well. I still prefer my small Kifaru stove as it seems to hold heat a little better and cooking on the rounded top even with the modified cook pot is challenging. On the positive side setting the stove up is getting easier with practice.


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