Bushwalk Australia

Hi Tony,

With your extensive stove knowledge, what would be your recommended best 'off the shelf' stoves? I currently own a pocket rocket style stove, which is great for mild weather & low wind speeds, but I wouldn't trust it in the snow or with a wind shield. What would you suggest as a shortlist if I was to upgrade? I was thinking of a remote canister style, but your thoughts on this style, and any good examples would be appreciated.

Cheers
Luke

Hi Luke,

luke_vic wrote:Hi Tony,

With your extensive stove knowledge, what would be your recommended best 'off the shelf' stoves? I currently own a pocket rocket style stove, which is great for mild weather & low wind speeds, but I wouldn't trust it in the snow or with a wind shield. What would you suggest as a shortlist if I was to upgrade? I was thinking of a remote canister style, but your thoughts on this style, and any good examples would be appreciated.

Cheers
Luke

Thank you for you question.

Firstly I would advise to get two gas stoves one for warmer and one for cold conditions.

The one for warmer conditions I would advise it would be hard to go past the Kovea Supalite or Mini upright stove at 60g it is the lightest off the shelf stove.

http://www.kovea.com/product_view.php?b ... 00&pno=696

The stove that I would advise for cold weather unfortunately is not made anymore and that is the Coleman Extreme, it is an outstanding performer in the cold, I modified mine to take the JetBoil 1.5l GCS pot with the flux ring and even though this stove pot combination is heavy it a standout performer, I have used my Xtreme JB pot combination to melt snow at -18C and had complaints that it was too quick, my mate did not have time to get his food ready before the water boiled.

There are a few alternatives, one is the Kovea moonwalker, and the gas canister can be used upside down with no problems. It is off shelf in most gear shops in Australia, I have not used this stove.

http://www.kovea.com/product_view.php?b ... 00&pno=617

The next is to use the Kovea Mini with the Brunton (made by Kovea) stove stand , this lowers the pot so a lower windshield can be used, there is also a simple cold weather MYOG modification that can be done, this combination is lighter than the moonwalker, the details are available on http://www.backpackinglight.com but you have to join to get the details. (I am still unsure how well this modification works but Roger Caffin, the designer thinks it works OK)

http://www.legear.com.au/Brunton-Stove- ... 100695.htm

Rogers site http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_Stoves.htm has some great information on it.

Tony

I hope you guys don't mind, but I've split this off into it's own topic as I think it has valuable information that is quite different to the original topic.

Thanks for your reply & useful information Tony. I'll also study the Roger Callin website in more detail.

Cheers
Luke

luke_vic,
Your pocket rocket (type)will work in almost all conditions with this little beauty http://www.brunton.com/magnify.php?imag ... TAND_L.jpg cheapest price I could find was REI , I dont make stoves but I am a sad collector (9 last count)and whilst the PR is not my choice of burner now it is still used at home (to roast capsicums) I think if you really need to acquire a new burner the Kovea KB0101 (my latest) or the KB-0707 would be good choices .
By the way if you do purchase one of these stands they come with a a lightweight wind screen 60g,and if you are really doing the minus% winter walks put your canister in a warming sock which will help
corvus

Tony,
I am not convinced that Kovea make the Butane Stove Stand that I advised you about as the one I have was made in China and I would suspect that any Kovea gear would be made in Korea ,still could be wrong.
c

Hi Corvus,

corvus wrote:Tony,
I am not convinced that Kovea make the Butane Stove Stand that I advised you about as the one I have was made in China and I would suspect that any Kovea gear would be made in Korea ,still could be wrong.
c

You are probably right, I have not seen one yet. I was going on that the valve on the Brunton stand looks the same as the one on the moonwalker.

Kovea make MSR stoves, I have a Kovea Eagle and some of the parts fit the Pocket Rocket and even have the same machine marks.

Tony