Review: Hansway High-Temperature Carbon Felt

Pot holder (top) and stove base (bottom)

Carbon felt is a soft fireproof material commonly used to make welder’s blankets. It’s easy to cut down at home using a utility knife and can be fashioned into a pot holder, stove base, or even a wick for an alcohol stove.

Stats

Make: Hansway
Model: High Temp Carbon Fiber Welding Blanket
Model Year: N/A?
Dimensions: 12″ x 12″
Estimated Weight: 63g
Date Purchased: 2019-04-10
Price Paid: $9.99
Usage: 2019 – present

Pot Holder and Stove Base

My cook system consists of an Evernew mug pot and Kojin alcohol stove with a Caldera Cone pot stand.

Although the mug’s lid has an insulated handle the mug itself does not, its handles are just bare metal. Even if they were insulated, flames shoot up through the gap in the cone where the handles sit and since the handles are so short there’s no way to avoid them. In order to be able to grab the handles and remove the pot from the cone I fashioned a pot holder out of carbon felt. By folding it over on itself I can safely grab the handles without being burnt.

The inside of the cone gets incredibly hot and the bare ground underneath becomes nice and toasty if not actually scorched after just a few minutes. To protect the cooking surface I use an octagon of carbon felt as a stove base. This also seals any gaps under the cone due to the unevenness of the ground and provides a layer of insulation when cooking on snow, both of which increase efficiency.

The pot holder weighs 11 grams and the stove base weighs 17 grams.

Storage

The dimensions of the pot holder (2.5 inches by 10 inches) are such that I can use it to line the lower half of the pot. By putting my stove and lighter inside and then covering everything with the octagonal stove base (not pictured) it keeps everything nice and snug and rattle-free.

Alcohol Stove Wick

According to several reviewers on Amazon.com, carbon felt can also be used to make wicks for alcohol stoves. I don’t have any personal experience with this but I wonder if it could be used similarly to the batting inside the Kojin stove.

Alternatives

An ultralight titanium pot gripper from Vargo is heavier, more expensive, and cannot be crumpled for easy packing ($26.95, 23g).

Some folks like to wrap a piece of cardboard in aluminum foil and use this as a stove base. Although lighter and cheaper this solution is less packable and also seems less durable, although I cannot vouch from experience.

Notes

The first time you get carbon felt near a flame it will appear to smolder like hot coals. Although this is rather off-putting since it looks as if you’ve caught it on fire, it’s just some extra bits from manufacturing burning off. With a temperature rating of 1800F the only thing in the wild that can damage it is lava.