Most people are using gas based cookers and I can see why. It's unproblematic, clean, fast, highly efficient. Also, a gas cooker is really one of the lightest options you an carry. But I don't like the cartdriges.
Disclaimer: This is _not_ advertisment or product placement. Any product shown here I have bought on my own, and in this test you only get to read my opinion about it.
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Bushbox XL
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They take a considerable amount of space in your package, and I am depending on people, say "civilization" in order to replace them. I don't like that idea. I'd like to be independent from anything I cannot built up myself when I'm outdoors. Also, I'd like to have an option to be able to always cook something, regardless of where I am, and what I have with me.
Humans used it since the birth of humankind, and mother nature is full of fuel if you know where to get it - simple fire. It may rain since days, but you'll always find some dry
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Bushbox XL in action
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wood to get started. And that is the idea that I follow. Find something that in - be it worst, accidential, or wanted - case allows me to have a controlled little fire in order to cook my stuff. That brought me to take a closer look at Bushcraft Essential's Bushboxes. These are backpacking compatible hobo stoves, that use the air convection effects to produce a efficiently burning flame, and a large amount of heat on top. In other words, you feed the Bushbox with small wooden sticks found in the area, can make use of basically unlimited fuel, and of course don't need to carry fuel around.
Multiple fuel options
Now on my longer trips, very often I visit camp grounds where open fire is forbidden. And of course, this has to be understood and followed under all circumstances. For this reason, my cooking option has to offer a way to cook in a different way from the same setup. And the Bushbox indeed can deliver: it is compatible with a trangia like alcohol stove, and can be operated with dry fuel such as "Esbit" as well. So usually I carry a small amount of spirit with me where I am not allowed to burn wood. It's a clean option that is tolerated on most of Europe's campsites.
Lightweight and small packing size
Of course, the solution has to be relativlely lightweight; I am not an ultralight backpacker, but of course on a grand scale everyone has to watch out for weight. Being ultralight is however clearly not my first priority. However, the Bushbox delivers even here, in both space and weight. It is a plug-in system, and when it's folded it takes around 11 cm x 9cm x 1cm of space. By that, it weights about 260g, and that is the steel version.
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| The standard Bushbox is a plug-in system |
There's a Titanium version available too, which I don't have. For me that's greatly accepted for a system of so many uses and so many possible fuels. I was a little bit in fear that the heat will bend the metal and at one point the Bushbox could not be build up, but time told me differently: I've used the Bushbox probably 200 times, and it always correctly builds up and the pieces are fitting together. Once correctly put together, the cooker stands really sturdy and provides a safe little fireplace.
When using wood, the Bushbox includes a safety measurement that many Hobo's don't feature: it provides an ashtray, so that hot ashes from the burned fuel won't fall on the ground directly. It provides two pot support poles that can be put on the Bushbox to allow pots of all sizes to stand above. These can be placed to fit the top of the cooker directly, for small pots like a coffee cup, or can be placed to leave around 5mm of airspace between the top of the cooker and the pot in order to heat larger pots, allowing the flame to receive enough air. The solution is well thought.
Efficient burner
Due to the ground metal area is full of venting holes, air goes through the box from bottom to up, allowing for efficiently burning the flame. It works really nice, provided you have gathered enough small wood pieces before. Once you have enough hot coal inside the Bushbox, you can add larger pieces of wood that burn a little bit longer. While in operation, you have a bigger hole
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The small standard Bushbox
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on one of the sides of the cooker, that allows you to add pieces of wood when a pot if standing on the Bushbox. Depending on how long you want to cook, one has to contantly feed it with wood. That's not a problem if enough has been gathered before. Taking into account that one doesn't need any tools to collect fuel for the Bushbox, it's an easy and quick task.
Don't understimate the heat that the Bushbox produces, and the feelings associated with it. It provides the warmth and home-like feeling only a little fire place can provide. After a long walk, this makes a huge difference. Looking into an actual natural flame is a little bit like cinema ;)
Now the ground plate is removeable, and can be placed a little higher. This is the perfect place for some dry-burn tablets to use. If you prefer that kind of fuel, the Bushbox is with you. The Bushbox additionally fits very well with a Trangia alcohol stove, plus the wood-feed opening is just big enough to get the Trangia fire extinguisher through, so that the Trangia can be stopped at any time without a hassle.
Crazy powerful: Bushbox XL
While the normal Bushbox is perfectly suited for my single trips, when doing the same with family or with some more people, I'll instead use the Bushbox XL. Now this is a different kind of beast. Instead of plug-in, it is a folding cookset. The stainless steel variant I have weights about 800g, surely not something you want to carry through on a single trip. However, with it's size of 12,5 x 12,5 x 19 cm, it offers a burn chamber large enough to cook with using really large pods. It's basially our family outdoor cook system, and provides enough heat so that you can sit around it and have a nice time. Like the normal Bushbox, it is compatible to Alcohol stoves as well as dry burn tablets as well. Additionally, we use an optional grill grate with it. And let me tell you grilling on the Bushbox XL works great, since it gets incredibly hot, grilling goes on very fast, so that you're still very fast even if only one piece of meat fits on the grate. In particular we like it that we don't even need to buy grill coal any more. Just collect some woods and you're done.
Stable and reliable
All that said, it's clear both the Bushbox and the Bushbox XL are pieces of great workmanship on their own. They are made in Germany, and some of it is handcrafted, such as the pieces that hold the folding mechanism of the Bushbox XL. This is great work and can be seen! I've used both cook systems to the core, and in both cases the whole mechanism just works. The Metal does bend a little over time under the heat, but never to the level of not being useable anymore. Provided that the user cares for some rules, such as never distinguishing the Bushbox with water when hot, alway let it burn out, nothing will go break, bend, or hinders it from folding anymore.
The Bushbox is nowadays available in much more variants. For those into ultralight trekking, there's a specific ultralight variant, and there's a in-between version, smaller than the XL, but larger than the normal Bushbox. All of them come in a fitting small pack where all the single pieces can be placed. Check out Bushcraft Essential's site.
