Ok I used the BCB fire dragon stove for the first time in "anger" yeasterday. By that I mean not a test but actually making my first brew out in the wilds.
So what have I learned? Well the windshield does help but I suspect it would be better with one each side, I might make a second one myself and test it.
The dragon blocks really need to burn longer, even in the mild sheltered breeze a lot of the heat is wasted and the block only just boiled 400ml water. In proper windy conditions you'd just warm the water up I suspect... or use a lot of blocks.
I learned using three year old powered milk (opened three years ago and a year out of date) isn't a great idea, it sank to the bottom of my tea and even vigorous stiring only brought it back to the surface briefly. Couriously the army whitener floated on the surface when old, which it mostly was. To be fair the tin does say use within 6 weeks of opening, so I was only 98 weeks late, and yes I did still drink it!
I learned it really helps to take the cooking pot lid, that helps a pot boil faster, luckly I had some cooking foil in my pack so I used that as a lid.
So all in all a learning curve, fresh powered milk works fine (yes I did bin the old stuff and opened a new one) and the lid in now in my pack. yes the stove will boil water but you need a really sheltered spot.
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