Siberia.... biolite camp stove... wood
 

I'm looking at bringing a bio lite camp stove to Siberia. I don't want to get stuck with no dry wood and am also planning on a detour through Mongolia and then back into Russia. Any comments on availability of dry wood for this thing? The alternive is a petrol based unit but its not nearly as nice as the biolite as I see it. comments/thoughts?

cooking aparatus
 

Hi Fred,
Petrol based cooking aparatus is the best solution for me.
Scavenging dry fuel in areas where it is not abundent is going to be a pain in the ass. Siberia has vast forests, Mongolia not so much, the locals used a lot of dried animal dung before, most use bottle gas nowadays.
My experience with the Biolite system was not a great success, even under optimal conditions.
Good luck
Peter, in Oslo

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

I don't think a wood-burning stove is the best idea for this trip. Sure, Siberia has plenty of forests, but the wood won't necessarily be very dry. Depending on route through Mongolia, wood of any sort will be hard to find. If you're on a motorbike, you're carrying fuel anyway, so a petrol stove makes sense. Otherwise, a little gas stove will work but you'll need to make sure to source the gas canisters in the cities when you can.
If you're wanting to cook using wood, you don't need a stove. Better to just make a fire and carry a small gas or petrol stove a back up (which when you just want a quick brew in the morning is far preferable than having to collect wood and start the fire!).

[I've cooked on wood fires for months at a time in Africa where it's dry and my stove was broken but wouldn't consider it for your trip. When cycling in Siberia I had a petrol/multifuel stove, another trip in Mongolia I used a MSR pocket rocket and carried a few gas canisters that I picked up in UB to last a couple of months.]

Not a good idea for most of Mongolia. You see lots of signboards of the national forest department...but no forest nor any wood. And if so it belongs to someone. The locals cook on kerosine, dried cow shit or anything which would burn. In Russia you can find wood, but there you wont need a stove to prepare food or boil water. So, a stove for wood feels like useless for me.
We had multifuel stoves, they worked perfekt.

I used to have a little stove like that, fan driven. (Zipstove, I think). That thing was a monster. Little twigs, pinecones, wood scraps, dry cow shit, elk shit, deer pellets- anything organic, wet or dry, would burn in there once you got it started.

It requires a little work- I could almost always scrounge a small pile of fuel from the ground without walking more than 20 steps. I would carry a small scrap of newspaper and a few dry twigs (in a plastic bag) to start it up and then, start feeding in my gathered fuel and stand back: boiling water in a jiffy. Turn the fan off for a sedate simmer, if you like.

I was never anywhere I couldn't find something to fuel it with. Great stove. If I were you I'd test it out under various different conditions before taking it, though. You might find it a hassle (and your hands will always be dirty.) I stopped using mine because in drought conditions it is illegal- open flames.

..........shu

Appreciate the responses
 

After further reading and the great comments here I think the petrol based is the best way to go. It just completely removes the fuel issue and probably a lot cleaner and safer.

I would agree on the petrol stove. Not the cleanest to be honest, but you can suck out some of the fuel from your gas tank if needed and prep yourself a meal.

I am using old Optimus Svea 123 stove, the same model my grandfather used when climbing in the mountains like 60 years ago.

Bulletproof small, simple, and rugged,

Enjoy your ride,

Cheers
Dooby