A new, wider Fire Maple Petrel pot - first look and first use.

 

The pot in use 

Fire Maple has launched a new pot in the Petrel series, the Ramen 800ml. It's the biggest Petrel pot so far, just, but more significantly for those of us who cook in our pots and don't just boil water it's also the widest. Thanks to Mark Perry (@markperry222) in a comment on my video (see below) for the information that in China ramen noodles come in a wide flat disc that is dropped into the pot, something you couldn't do with the narrower Petrel pot. Fire Maple is of course a Chinese company.

The Petrel Ramen 800ml

Back in January I wrote a post about the then new Petrel G2 pot which is wider than the original Petrel pot, now designated the G3. The Petrel 800ml is wider than the G2. 145mm wide and 70mm deep compared to 100mm wide and 120mm deep. It weighs slightly more - 193g compared to 187g (with lids) - and holds slightly more. The G2 has a max fill line of 0.75l marked inside. The 800ml has markings for 500ml and 900 ml. There isn't one for 800ml despite the name.

From the left - the 800ml, G2 and G3 Petrel pots.

All the Petrel pots have heat exchangers on the base that increase stove efficiency in terms of fuel usage and boil times and slots for fitting onto the pot supports of a stove, which improves efficiency even more and adds stability. A difference with the 800ml is that has slots for stoves with three and four supports. The other two pots only have slots for stoves with three supports. This means that the 800ml will fit the Soto Windmaster 4-Flex stove. The slots for three and four supports are marked on the 800ml pot heat exchanger.

Markings for three and four pot supports

Another difference with the other Petrel pots is the lid. Instead of plastic it's made of aluminium like the rest of the pot. There's a soft rubberised tab for lifting it off the pot. Inside there's a clip for hanging it on the side of the pot. I'm not sure if I'll ever use this. 

There's one visible drain hole on the lid and three more on the lip that fits inside the pot. These only work when aligned with the pour spout. There is a mark on the lid for doing this. As with the other pots the long insulated handle clips over the lid to hold it in place for packing.

Because the 800ml is shallow a 230g canister won't fit inside with the lid on. A 100g canister will fit and leave plenty of room for a stove.

I tried the pot with several stoves and found that it was a bit fiddly with the Soto Windmaster 4-Flex and the MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe but the Pocket Rocket 2 fitted easily. The Soto Windmaster Triflex fits too but isn't very stable as the supports are so short they only just fit in the slots. I wouldn't use the pot with this. With the other stoves stability is excellent and the pot can tilted almost horizontally without falling off as I show in this little video I made.

I had thought that the difficulty with some stoves might be due to manufacturing tolerances with the pot. I now think it's due to stove pot supports become slightly bent and so not fitting exactly. This is easy to see with a four pot support stove. Looking at the Windmaster 4-Flex I can see that the supports don't form a perfect cross. Slightly bending a support made fitting it easily. All my stoves are well-used so it's not surprising 

I've used the 800ml pot on one overnight trip so far and found it excellent. I took noodles that needed simmering and then a sauce stirred in and it was easy to do this in such a wide pot. The width also made it easy to use as a bowl. Boil time was fast even when it was just 2C in the morning. I suspect it may be faster than with the other Petrel pots. I'll do a test to check at some point. I think this is going to be my most-used pot. 

For those interested in cookpots for hiking! A new Fire Maple Petrel pot.

Fire Maple G2 on the left, Petrel G3 on the right.

Recently Fire Maple launched a new pot with a heat exchanger (HX) on the base called the Petrel G2. It’s bigger and wider than the original Petrel, now called the Petrel G3, with a 750ml rather than 600ml capacity. I received one in the post yesterday and on first look I like it a great deal.

The Petrels are, so far, unique amongst heat exchanger pots as they have slots in the base in which you can fit the pot supports of a stove with 120° between them. This brings the burner inside the heat exchanger and closer to the base of the stove, which increases wind resistance and makes the unit more stable. It’s also meant to reduce boil times and improve fuel efficiency though my tests with the G3 suggest there’s no significant difference with standard heat exchanger pots as long as a windshield is used with the latter.

G2 left, G3 right.

Last year I wrote a post about heat exchanger pots and why I was now using one year round (see here). In mild, calm weather they don’t make much difference. It’s when it’s cold and windy that they come into their own, especially when used with a stove with a regulated burner like the Soto Windmaster or the MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe.

As part of my testing I tried the two Fire Maple HX pots then available, the Petrel G3 and the 1-litre FMC-XK6, and preferred the latter, although it’s a little heavier, as it’s wider and so easier for stirring when simmering, with less chance of food at the bottom burning, and easier for eating from – my pot often doubles as a bowl.

From the left, FMC-XK6, Petrel G2, Petrel G3

Back in November when it was winter in the hills, unlike now (mid-January), I had a camp where I needed to melt snow for water. The FMC-XK6 proved excellent for this (see this video). I think the narrower, taller, smaller Petrel G3 would not have been so good.  The FMC doesn’t have slots in the base though and the handle and lid aren’t as easy to use as the ones on the G3. I’m hoping the Petrel G2, which is as wide as the FMC and has the same type of handle and lid as the G2, will prove as useful for snow melting. I just need winter to return to find out.

The G2 is slightly lighter than the FMC, 187g rather than 195g, and a bit heavier than the G3, which weighs 166g. That’s with lids. For some reason Fire Maple has decided to give the G2 a hefty lid weighing 46g. The FMC lid is 24g, the G3 28g. Without lids the G2 is only 2g heavier than the G3. Of course 20g or so difference is irrelevant for most people. Only dedicated ultralighters will change the G2 lid for a lighter one. I just wonder why Fire Maple have put such a lid on a pot they’re promoting as ultralight. Other than weight it's similar to the G3 lid with a big rubber knob that makes it easy to lift off and made of transparent Tritan plastic.

The G2 measures 127.5 x 126 x 147.5mm with the handle folded over the lid. The pot itself has a height of 100mm and a diameter of 120mm. A 234g gas canister will fit inside but there isn't room for a stove as well.

The design of the G2 is similar to the G3 with the same snap-in-place folding handle that holds the lid on when closed. The G2 has a small pour spout, unlike the G3, and a single drain/steam hole in the lid rather than three slots. Of course steam can also escape at the spout, which isn't fully covered by the lid. There's only one volume mark, max 0.75L on the inside. The G3 and the FMC have incremental marks, which are useful. I wish Fire Maple had put these on the G2.

I’ve attached the Soto Windmaster Triflex and the *MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe to the G2 and both fit OK.  The combination is slightly more stable with the PRD as the supports fill the slots on the base. The shorter Triflex ones don’t and that means there’s a slight wobble and it’s harder to centre the pot on the stove. In practice this probably makes no significant difference. I’ll find out.

*A note on the MSR PRD and the Petrel pots. There are videos and online reviews that say it won’t fit the G3 and others that say it will. I suspect this is down to manufacturing tolerances with the pot. My PRD won’t quite fit the G3 without the legs being closed slightly and then it’s awkward – I wouldn’t want to use the combination in the field. However it fits the G2 fine.