Last February, I received a stove in the mail. It was from Tom Bennett, a Portland-based engineer. He collaborated with Zdenek Zumr and others in the Portland State University's School of Engineering Machine Shop to produce a fast-burning, lightweight cooker for me for Iditarod. Upon arrival, I took it outside to run a comparison test with my old cooker. Needless to say, its clever engineering and smart design outperformed the old cooker in nearly every way. I had hot water in 15 minutes; it took another 10-15 for the old stove to reach the same water temperature. I think it was about 15F out.
It fits perfectly in my sled bag and worked great on the race. I received several compliments on its sleek design & efficient performance. After 1000 miles and ~30 times firing, it is trail tested and approved!
Tom organized a Mazamas (Portland-based Mountaineering Club) excursion to Talkeetna at the end of March. I was happy to have the opportunity to thank Tom & Zdenek in person. They educated me on the dynamics of the stove and already had some improvements in mind for next year.
I want to extend a huge thank you to Tom, Zdenek & Co. for building such an innovative, impressive stove! Excited to see what Version 2.0 has in store!
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| Stove Comparision Test. Same amount of snow, 2 bottles of Heet. |
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| Stoves at work. |
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| Sleek design. |
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| After 15 minutes... |
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| Also at 15 minutes. |
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| Stove (at left) at work in Nikolai. Photo by Kenneth Dåbakk |
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The stove cooked many meals on my 24 in McGrath.
Photo by Anja Radano. |
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| Meeting with excursion members: Lizzy (holding Major & Fezzik), Anna, Debbie, Ally, Tom (holding Goofy), Zdenek, & Jon. (fyi, not everyone is pictured ;) ) |
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| Tom, Zdenek & Lisbet examining the stove, post-Iditarod. |
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| Goofy, Tom, Lisbet & Ruby. and cooker! |
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| Lizzy supervises snack time on a beautiful day in Talkeetna, AK. Tom & Lisbet mug for the camera. |
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