Introduction

For ultralight blower stoves, without a wing wall extension, an air tube extension can help to keep the blower fan and power supply safely away from the stove’s flames. The dragon head fitting can do the same, but can also act as an air deflector for makeshift stoves in any suitable cavity such as a little hole in the ground or a channel formed with rocks. rock-n-hole stoves

Rock-N-Hole ultralight blower stove- a stove that you don’t carry.rock-n-hole stoves

My double pot stoves (both small and large) have a wing wall extension that helps the stove support the second pot. It also has the effect of keeping the flame away from the cook’s hands, pot handles and the blower fan/power supply when wind gusts could otherwise blow the flame back onto these components. This means that they do not require the extension or DragonHead.

Double pot stove with wing wall. The flame is controlled by wing wall. Gas combustion is completed outside of the main burn chamber, but the blower and power supply are out of reach of the flame.

In contrast, my other ultralight blower stoves (single pot Roll-up stoves, student stove, Snow stove and Fiddle free stove) do not have a wing walls, for this flame protection, and consequently, they need some other protection. As an example see the photo of the chaotic flame below.

Single pot ultralight blower stove with a pot on top. A wind gust is curing the flame back around the stove so that it is close to the blower fan. It is difficult to see, but the silver air tube is just visible in the foreground just to the left of the flame.

Air tube extension

Simple, light and cheap protection can be provided by using an air tube extension that simply puts the blower and power supply further out and away from harm. The air tube extension has slightly different circumferences and finishes on each end so that they can be systematically joined (screwed) together when required, but can be disassembled easily for compact backpacking.

Small single pot ultralight blower stove with simple straight extension tube added (marked EXT) to put the blower and power supply out of reach of the flame during wind gusts.
Large single pot ultralight blower stove with air tube extension to put the blower and power supply out of reach of the flame during wind gusts.

DragonHead (bent air tube attachment). This is another option that is not so simple. I put a bend in the air tube near the stove burner. This means that the blower can be angled away from the flame risk area. Although this second option is more complex and costly to make, it does make the stove:

  • lighter,
  • more compact,
  • more versatile (for hole in the ground stoves),
  • keeps the LED light (when used) closer to the cooking area,
  • the bent air tube can be used to easily adjust the vertical entry angle of the blower air into the burner to optimise the charcoal burning and
  • The bent air tube can be used as a DragonHead attachment to be used in some makeshift ultralight blower stoves that use any suitable cavity such as the simple Rock-N-Hole Stoves where a ~45 degree change in direction of the air flow at the end of the air tube is required (see photo below).
Rock-N-Hole Stove formed with a hole in the ground and rocks used for pot supports. The DragonHead fitting on the long air tube causes the air to blow down into the hot coals to make a clean and hot, ultralight blower stove.
Small single pot ultralight blower stove with an elbow in air tube to put the blower and power supply out of reach of the flame during wind gusts.
Large single pot ultralight blower stove with an alternative elbow in air tube to put the blower and power supply out of reach of the flame during wind gusts.

Tim

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