Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my birthday present Backcountry Boiler but after a reliable lightweight lighter.

Bic lighters weigh about 15g but are not that reliable
Fire steels are great for lighting a gas stove but damp/not totally dry twigs, prob not.
Every 'turbo flame' lighters have been crap.

What do people use?

I always have a normal disposable lighter in my pocket but have also started to carry an 'extended nose' gas lighter in my cooking kit - bit like this.

Same as Stu

Easy to invert into a meths burner and ready available from the market/poundshop

A little Bic and as back up half a dozen long matches and a bit of strike patch wrapped in plastic which I have never used in, oh, close to 2 years but brings me great comfort knowing it is there. Ive never seen those smaller long-nosed lighters though. Must investigate.

I'd vote for a firesteel. It is easy to light meths and gas. I carry the firesteel in my first aid kit with some extra cotton wool and a couple of diagonally cut strips from an old inner tube (they make useful bands) The cotton wool takes a spark very easily and the inner tube then burns long enough to get most tinder going. If I was planning on a fire then I'd probably squeeze a firelighter cube in somewhere.

Disposable lighters are lighter / easier but I did have one fail once....

Did the backcountry boiler make it into production then? Crikey.

I followed it for what seemed ages but eventually gave up as it seemed a classic eg of over promise / under deliver.

Interested to know how you get on with it and whether it really is a groundbreaking development.

For my money i always use a steel but usually take gas

Sometime ago Stu did some petrol/lighter fluid/meths lighters for £5 Bargin mines still going strong

Mandicky, try rubbing your cotton wool balls in vaseline and you may be able to manage without burning rubber. Try it and see

Plenty of opportunity for double entendre there

The back cou try boiler I am getting when i google is an imitation mkettle which has been about for a bit and is itself copy of the many kelly/ghillie kettle. They seem to be passing it off as a new invention am I missing something?

Matches and ferro rod plus cotton for me. Especially for my kelly kettle

Joshvagas - if you do your research the mKettle was a total ripoff from the design Devin came up with for the Backcountry Boiler.

The backcountry boiler is significantly lighter too (by nearly a half in this latest version).

Hopefully get the backcountry boiler this week - fingers crossed on customs

Going to try maya wood shavings (pencil sharpner - so ultralight) and a bit of cotton wool or fluffed up hemp string. Hopefully the cotton wool will burn easy and then the maya will burn hot. That way I can just rack my fire steel.

We shall see

Joshvagas - if you do your research the mKettle was a total ripoff from the design Devin came up with for the Backcountry Boiler.

I read some of that at the time. I'm not entirely sure as ghillie kettles and the like had been around for a good few years before either. Whilst being visually similar the key difference (weight) wasn't replicated and they were sold in pretty geographically separate areas.

Hey ho

We either way they are great not sure they would be my first choice for bike packing. Alot of empty space (although by cjtting the corners off my aeropress i can fit thatinside my kelly trekker) and you still require a drinking vessel.

They can also be a pain to light especially when everhthing is damp practice in the garden alot hiking isnt such a problem as you can gather small dry twigs you find in trees and stuff dead grass in your pocket to dry out but riding will require more though, you want the fuel sorted before you stop really or its a bit late to realise you have nothing suitable.

The best method i found was to stuff the chimney with dry grass etc and a few twigs, light it from below then plonk it on the base with more twigs.

Or dont take the base at all. I have used rocks and a hole dug in sand to great a fire space.

TBH I only tend to use one in a group when we-re trailbuilding (the biggest one Ghillie Kettle does). I find the bigger ones easier to use as they're more forgiving of fuel "inconsistencies". My mKettle is OK although (first world whinge) it's a bit bobbins to poor from.

I wouldn't bother with one as a "main" stove if I were bivvying but then it's all about comfort and trade-offs unless you're a weight weenies ultra raceer. If you love the potential romance of using it then where's the harm? Personally I'd rather blow a little extra weight on mat and pit or throw it all the the wind and hang.

Not sure 225g all in is a lot for a complete stove set up. The 450g mKettle is different story.

That also doubles as water carrier for 500 ml.

If I need to use meths I can add a 5g firefelt.

The Ghillie Kettle has been around for a lot longer, but it was never designed to be compact or light. The backcountry boiler was the first to push the double wall kettle in the lightweight category.

That's the thing, I'm interested to know, when you get it, whether it "works" (and is as light as you mention). I supect it'll have to be pretty amazing to beat the weight, size and ease of a meths burner, Ti mug and windshield (plus the fuel of course).

Genuinely interested

And again, that's just looking at it practically, which often isn't the only deciding factor when picking kit.

Practicality aside Id be firing up my kelly kettle on my desk I love it.

Let you know when it arrives. Long wait and my birthday was already over a month ago !!

have you seen this comparison by a Finish porn actor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwFLwDo7egA

Homemade ones - cotton wools balls with Vaseline, rolled then with an elastic band round the outside. Unroll and then light the while lot


My lighter is a PB207. It's the original turbo lighter, what everyone else copied. Uber reliable, efficient on gas, easy for lighting meths and fires

benp1 wrote: My lighter is a PB207. It's the original turbo lighter, what everyone else copied. Uber reliable, efficient on gas, easy for lighting meths and fires

It'd want to be good at that price!

Did you used to have an expensive Cuban habit?

40bucks?!

Its a big initial outlay, but I bought it years ago and its got many years left in it too.

Its not a designer brand name lighter, its a quality lighter - there's a difference

Buy cheap, buy twice

How much do you spend on shelters and sleeping bags?!

Has it arrived yet?


Have you burnt yourself yet?

Still bloody waiting! Last tracked in NY on the 28th.

How come postage from the states can take up to a month even when sent priority. But I can get a parcel from China in under a week!!

Because America doesn't get being a firstworld country.

I feel for you I ordered stuff from bpl on friday and it ONLY went in thr post today...