Evernew Titanium Cross Stand

A lightweight, durable pot stand option for a common style of alcohol stoves that stows flat and takes up minimal space. While it can result in top-heavy cooking, its simple design is executed in quality material and provides outdoor enthusiasts with a compact pot stand option for Trangia-style alcohol stoves.

What It Is

The Evernew Titanium Cross Stand is a compact pot stand intended to fit on Evernew's Ti Alcohol Stove. However, as Evernew's Ti Alcohol Stove borrows its design cues from the more venerable and more common Trangia Spirit Burner, the Titanium Cross Stand also fits this stove as well, and it was this flexibility that inspired me to purchase the stand for use with my Trangia burner.

I use it with a belt kit I carry on day hikes. Its compact form and light weight were key considerations that motivated its purchase, and it takes up very little room and adds little weight to my kit.

The stand itself is comprised of two parts, each with cutouts to reduce weight without compromising strength. This feat is accomplished by removing material in such a way that what is left is, in essence, a strong, triangulated series of trusses that support the pot.

The stand is 3.78 in/ 9.6 cm wide and 1.11 in/ 2.8 cm tall. It weighs .5 oz/ 16 g.

 
Assembly

Each of the two pieces of the stand also has a notch in its center; these notches allow the two pieces to nest together when positioned perpendicularly to one another.

Once assembled in this simple fashion, the Cross Stand drops over the stove—in this case, my Trangia Spirit Burner, but obviously the stand is intended to work with the Evernew Ti Alcohol Stove, too. It nestles conveniently and securely on the burner thanks to notches in the base of the stand. Trangia owners will recognize that this design prevents one from using the Trangia simmer ring, a limitation for those who might wish to simmer rice or the like. 

Note: the efficiency of stoves depends in part on the pot being positioned an optimal distance from the heat source the stove provides. The Evernew Ti Stove looks very similar to the Trangia Spirit burner, exchanging titanium for the latter stove's brass, but it also includes a second and lower ring of holes (burners) that the Trangia does not have and thus produces different results than the Trangia. I mention this because the Cross Stand is presumably optimized for the Evernew Ti Stove, not the Trangia. However, I am treating this as a review of the stand, not as a review of stoves, and certainly the stand is equally adept at supporting a pot on either stove given its simple design.

Use

Once the stove is ignited, the pot stand is ready for use. Its cutouts allow flames to swirl throughout its grid, heating the pot's contents.

As the image below suggests, one still needs to use a windscreen with the stove—the Cross Stand does not offer any wind protection for the flame. 

I used a variety of pots on the stand including the TOAKS 550 ml titanium pot, the Snow Peak Mini Solo titanium pot, and a Rothcho stainless steel canteen cup.

The nature of this stand means that the base of the stove must support the entire weight of your laden pot, making a flat cooking surface essential. This top-heavy use principle contrasts with other types of pot stands, which may suspend the pot above the stove and its flames, and could be a liability.

The Cross Stand stand worked with each pot I tried, but I did notice that I had issues with pot stability when cooking with my well-loved and long-used Mini Solo pot—the bottom has assumed more of a convex than flat shape from use, bulging out slightly against the flat cross beams of the stand. This produced a bit of instability in this pot, which also happened to be the tallest pot of those I used (see image, below). If your own cooking vessel has similar deformities, this could be disconcerting or even disastrous if you bumped the pot or experienced a powerful gust of wind.

The other pots I used, though, did not suffer from this particular deformity, and they rested securely on top of the stand. Given a flat grounding and a flat pot bottom, the Cross Stand functioned without issue.

Conclusions

The $12 price allows one to have an extremely well-made and compact pot stand for use with Trangia-style alcohol stoves. The stand stows flat, allowing it to be readily inserted in a pocket or slipped beside a pot in a stuff sack. 

One sacrifices a measure of pot stability by going this route. The Cross Stand forces the stove to hold the weight of your loaded pot (whereas other stands might hold the pot above the stove), and this fact can amplify any instability in the stove's surface. If you're a bit of a klutz, weigh the pros and cons purchase carefully!

One also sacrifices the option of using a simmer ring with one's stove. However, as the purpose of this stand is to offer a functional pot stand at minimal weight, one expects some compromises--judicious and careful preparation minimizes tip-over risk, and a fast-and-light mentality may preclude carrying along the extra weight of a simmer ring, anyway (as it does for me).

Ultimately, the Evernew Titanium Cross Stand is a durable, affordable, and well-made piece of kit for those seeking a compact pot stand for Trangia-style—and, of course, Evernew—alcohol stoves.