Sierra zip stove (burns wood)

I use a Sierra Zip stove (that burns wood) regularly. For those who are
considering it, here's a few notes.

Using a Zip is itself an art, regardless of what you're trying to cook on
top of it. You have to be ready for a project. Cooking with the Zip stove
is a full-time job. With some other stoves you might set the stove to
boiling water while you set up your tent. With the Zip, you have to pay
attention to it.

The stove burns wood. This makes it like a mini-campfire in a tin can. All
of the rules of building a campfire apply - you need to start with tinder
and work your way up to "big stuff" which for a Zip might be 1" diameter
sticks, or I often use half-burned chunks of wood from previous campers'
campfires. When dry*, half-burned chunks of firewood very quickly form a
hot bed of coals, which is great for cooking! (*Unfortunately, since most
people put out their campfires with water, left over campfire wood is often
wet.) With the Zip, my goal is to get a glowing hot bed of coals filling up
the stove.

I usually carry with me some "starter" tinder - either newspaper or small
twigs - especially if there is a good chance of rain or lack of small
starter stuff. Having fresh batteries will make your stove work much
better; as others have noted, the batteries run a small fan which acts as a
bellows for the fire. It is a little noisy.

The Zip works well but it is not as quick as a white-gas stove. I find that
the stove works very well when I am travelling alone, because the quantity
of things that I cook is smaller. With two people, it can take a long time
to boil water, cook, etc. One solution might be to take two stoves!

It can also be messy - I bought the 1 quart pot that the stove nestles
inside. That is good, but then the bottom of the pot gets very black and
sooty. I carry a plastic grocery bag to put the pot (with stove inside)
into.

This may be less relevant to bicycle touring but for backpacking, I think
the Zip is technically illegal in federal wilderness area (it has a motor),
and is also not allowed above treeline in the west, where fires are
forbidden.

When I bought my Zip Stove (1997?), I didn't use it for the first two years.
I was too skittish of taking it somewhere that I would be counting on it. I
finally went car camping and took both the Zip and a regular fuel stove, but
committed to using the Zip unless completely impossible. This enabled me to
get "good" at using it.

So I'd recommend you practice with this stove before using it for a trip.
It is a great stove, once you get used to it, if you want to save weight
(weighs only 15 oz), if you're travelling solo, and/or if airline
regulations are a concern.

Becka

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Becka Roolf, Director becka@VTBikePed.org
Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition
PO Box 4003 . Burlington VT . 05406
802 . 861.3300 fax number available by request
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