What stove do you use?

[andrewbish]

It would be great to get some insight as to what sort of stoves are used by forum members. What is your main stove? Are you happy with it. Do you have a different one for the snow?

(I use an MSR pocketrocket, which has worked great to date and is small and light, but will add a new stove for next Winter)

Andrew

[ULWalkingPhil]

I use a trangia 27 metho stove kit. I don't take two one litre pots that cone with the kit. Instead I purchased a trangia 27 kettle. All I use my stove for is to boil water.

Am I happy with my kit? Not really. It's to heavy for my liking and take up to much pack space and the metho fuel is to heavy. I've recently purchased a trangia triangle stand, it's 111 grams, from now on I'll be taking the triangle stand with me, metho burner and kettle. Total weight apx 350 grams, compared to the kit at 778 grams. Eventually I will purchase the gas conversion kit for my trangia pot stand to replace the metho burner.

[Tony]

Hi Andrew,

The Pocket Rocket (PR) is a great little gas stove, but there are lighter and better, the PR pot supports are not known as the most stable and at 85g it is considered heavy these days. Upright canister stoves are not great performers inthe snow, while say that it is possible to use them in very cold temperatures but you have to keep the canister warm which sometimes can be difficult.

On warmer trips I use a Kovea Supalite stove at 60g it is lighter and the pot supports are more stable than the PR.

For winter I use a Coleman Extreme these are the gold standard for remote canister stoves but sadly they are not made any more and as I understand the canisteres are going out of production too. Wth an adaptor you can use regular canisters.

Another possiblity is the MSR WindPro the WindPro is actually lighter than the Extreme but from what I have read is not as good as the Extreme.

There are a few good remote canister stoves suitable for cold weather around.

The other option, Shellite fuel stoves are very good in the cold but they are are heavy and less efficient.

I would not bother with alcohol stoves in the cold.

Tony

[wayno]

MSR XGK - EX Stove - designed for high altitude expeditions, uses a range of fuels, great stove but a noisy one, doesnt really simmer very well, i tend to cook in bursts, otherwise it can be thirsty on fuel. rock solid dependability though, designed to resist wind well.

No. 1 choice on expeditions worldwide
Reliably burns more liquid fuels than any other stove
Easy to field maintain; Shaker Jet™ cleans fuel jet with a simple shake
New flexible fuel line allows stove to fit in a 1.5-litre MSR pot
Boils 1 litre of water in just 2.8 minutes (using kerosene fuel)
Burn time per 600ml of White Gas is 109 minutes, per 600ml of kerosene is 98 minutes and per 600ml of diesel is 170 minutes
Extra-Stable: Retractable legs and pot supports provide a secure platform

[MartyGwynne]

Hey I use (apart from my enamelled tin mug) several combinations.
A large Trangia if cooking for more than one.
A Small Trangia if cooking for myself or weight is at a premium.
A small Kovea gas burner type which weighs about 70 grams or so if I am likely to be cooking in huts or places where it is sheltered and take my small or large trangia pots or a small billy as required.

Both my trangia's are the stainless lined types.

[corvus]

I am a stove collector (last count was 14) so I have a good cross section to pick from however my stove of choice for all seasons is my Fire Maple FMS100T 200gm which I can turn down to the barest simmer,invert the cannister for very cold conditions and it uses up all of the gas
Not cheap or ultra light nor widely available in Australia but a really nice well made stove.
corvus

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Kovea Supalite Titanium.

Goes from flat out (which is a lot!) to very low simmer so easily.

Weight 60g.

Weight with gas for 10 day trip = 290g.

Unbeatable IMHO.

Might not be useable outdoors during a Tasmania winter, but provided you keep the canister warm, there's generally no problem in cold weather - just buy the isobutane/propane gas. Butane/propane is much more likely to suffer in the cold.

[photohiker]

Snoweak Gigapower ti. (essentially same as the Kovea)

Jetboil Sol ti.

I used to be a one-eyed Snowpeak gigapower fan, but the Jetboil changed that. It boils way faster and it uses less fuel than the SnowPeak. For an overnighter, the SnowPeak is still a great stove, but after a few days the Jetboil comes into its own with weight savings from its better fuel economy.

[Hendo]

I use a Monatauk Gnat, at 48 grams it's the "lightest in the world". I ordered mine from Antig Outdoors for US$49 and it took about 2 weeks to arrive. It's made out of titanium and aluminium, has a nice big burner head and it simmers very well.
http://www.antigoutdoors.com/collection ... nium-stove
Good review at BPL for it: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... eview.html

[corvus]

Hendo,
Good stove and it is manufactured by Fire Maple http://www.fire-maple.com and sold in various guises I have the Fire Maple FMS-116T I think from memory I landed mine for around $25.00 Kathmandu had them for over $100.00 now reduced to under $40.00.
Fire Maple make stoves for many in Europe and are now starting to market their own Brand albeit in a "quiet way" so if they get their maketing division up to speed we should see a bit lot more of their products on our shelves in future
corvus

[johnw]

1. Kovea X-1 Hiker (now called Solo)
2. Kovea Titanium. Bought used from a forum member with only one multiday trip's use.
Both lightweight, compact and perform well for my purposes. I've noticed that the Titanium's piezo unit is sometimes a bit fussy re-starting in slightly cool, humid conditions. Fires first time no problems though.

[etrangere]

Coleman Dual Fuel 533
Kovea Camp 3 Titanium
MSR Dragonfly stove
MSR Pocket Rocket
MSR Simmerlite stove
MSR Whisperlite
Optimus 99
Optimus Svea 123R
Primus 96
Simon Stove
Trangia 27-2 HA - metho, gas & multifuel burner
Trangia mini
Trangia triangle

Backpacking fave - Kovea Camp 3 Titanium used with Snow Peak 700 Trek mug
4WD camping fave - Coleman Dual Fuel 533, 20 pumps and light, no priming needed, shellite or unleaded petrol straight from a jerry can, incredibly reliable

[corvus]

Hey etrangere,
I thought I was a tragic nice collection , you really need to round it off with a FMS-100T
corvus

[andrewbish]

Coleman Dual Fuel 533
Kovea Camp 3 Titanium
MSR Dragonfly stove
MSR Pocket Rocket
MSR Simmerlite stove
MSR Whisperlite
Optimus 99
Optimus Svea 123R
Primus 96
Simon Stove
Trangia 27-2 HA - metho, gas & multifuel burner
Trangia mini
Trangia triangle

Backpacking fave - Kovea Camp 3 Titanium used with Snow Peak 700 Trek mug
4WD camping fave - Coleman Dual Fuel 533, 20 pumps and light, no priming needed, shellite or unleaded petrol straight from a jerry can, incredibly reliable

Crikey - a set like that should go straight to the pool room!

[andrewbish]

.. you really need to round it off with a FMS-100T
corvus

Sounds good to me, Corvus - but this is one hard product to find!
- this UK ebay site has them for 66 pounds. A few places have the non-titanium version. Lean pickings after that.

Any other outlets you can suggest?

[etrangere]

I have had more stoves but have either given away or sold certain ones that I didnt find that useful. Im a confessed gear tragic but have decided to keep my collector urge limited to just backpacking stoves. It takes up alot less space than collecting tents/sleeping bags/packs etc. Although the bivy collecting urge is starting to bite and have an OR Standard bivy, OR Highland bivy and just recently an Integral Designs Bugaboo eVent bivy.......again smallish items.

A dream stove for me would be a Optimus Svea 123R made of titanium. It fits perfectly into the Snow Peak Trek 700 mug but its just a tad on the heavy side......but its beautiful to the eye, to use, and great sounding.

Im currently eyeing off the new Trangia Multifuel burner X2, although on one forum there has been some conjecture on is being to hot and melting the windsheild on the Trangia 27 model. I for one cant understand how it is ok for the 25 model and wont melt a trangia 25 pot sitting on top of the flame but will suposedly melt the trangia 27 windsheild which is even further away from the flame. Plus there is nothing on the trangia website or their PDF multifuel instructions regarding it only being for the 25 model. Also a Google search fails to find any verified account of a trangia 27 windsheild melting. Anyone have any info regarding this issue at all??

[vagrom]

Basically two:
Don't throw out your old Trangia as you never know if gas cannisters become hard to get. Metho, or Vodka at a pinch, will always be around.
The Pocket Rocket, the American made one at least, proved it's worth and is still in a class of it's own. It's simply an adapted Bunsen Burner. So long as the cannisters are about and you get more practice using it, you can't go wrong.
Try the rest but for simplicity the above two have stolen the show for a while. Trangia has heaps of sentimental value and the bowls, the older ones by preference, will always be useful. At 100gms each, they're solid enough to hold heat for a quicker boil, while still being light. In this regard, Titanium's simply gone off the boil.

[Tony]

Shellite stoves
MSR Whisperlite,
Primus 71

Canister stoves upright
MSR Pocket Rocket x 2
JetBoil PCS/GCS
Kovea Ti Supalite
Kovea Eagle
Kathmandu Backpacker Stove Titanium (48g Gnat)

Remote canister stoves
Coleman Extreme
Bulin BL100-B5
16.8g myog stove

Alcohol stoves Commercial
Trangia 27
Trangia mini
White Box
Gram Weenie
Zelph Starlyte
Zelph Cobolt
Zelph Supa Stove

Alcohol stoves myog
Volcano
Candle light stove (burner less than 1g, 8g with pot stand)
Numerous cat can stoves
Numerous aluminium bottle stoves

I like the new MSR Whisperlite Universal stove

[corvus]

.. you really need to round it off with a FMS-100T
corvus

Sounds good to me, Corvus - but this is one hard product to find!
- this UK ebay site has them for 66 pounds. A few places have the non-titanium version. Lean pickings after that.

Any other outlets you can suggest?

G'day Andrew,
Same site as I bought mine from.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fire-Maple-FMS-100T ... 2165wt_871
corvus

[ILUVSWTAS]

Jetboil
Pocket Rocket

I use the pocket rocket whenever I start to worry about why i own it.

How do you guys that own 500 stoves manage??

[Tony]

Basically two:
Don't throw out your old Trangia as you never know if gas cannisters become hard to get. Metho, or Vodka at a pinch, will always be around.
The Pocket Rocket, the American made one at least, proved it's worth and is still in a class of it's own. It's simply an adapted Bunsen Burner. So long as the cannisters are about and you get more practice using it, you can't go wrong.
Try the rest but for simplicity the above two have stolen the show for a while. Trangia has heaps of sentimental value and the bowls, the older ones by preference, will always be useful. At 100gms each, they're solid enough to hold heat for a quicker boil, while still being light. In this regard, Titanium's simply gone off the boil.

Hi Vargrom,

The Pocket Rocket is made by Kovea in Korea as are several major brand stoves.

I am currently doing some testing on pot materials for an article with Roger Caffin for BPL and I can tell you there is very little difference in the performance of Titanium pots vs Aluminium pots or even Stainless Steel pots for that matter, but in my opinion you are right Titanium pots are not worth the money.

My Trangia 27 pots are around 100g without lid but add the lid and that adds another 166g, my mini Trangia pot comes in at 172g with lid, my cheap $7 one liter billy with lid from my local camping shop comes in at 107g.

Tony

[Stibb]

I got a whisperlite (international?) and a small Trangia look-alike that works great.

A question to you stove freaks ( ); how does the old whisperlite stack up to some newer stoves? I've casually looked at upgrading (=reduce weight) and has previously been tempted to get a rocket pocket style thingo but think they are just too top heavy and seems unsafe. The FMS-100T certainly looks good but at a premium price and it would save me..what 200g? and some weight on the fuel I guess? Might be a lot to some but the big picture is that I could lose a whole lot more on most of my other gear before 2-300 gram becomes a real concern. I like new thing but is financially restricted. I guess I'm just looking for someone to say that the whisperlight is actually a great stove so put your money somewhere else Just curious what you think

[Tony]

I got a whisperlite (international?) and a small Trangia look-alike that works great.

A question to you stove freaks ( ); how does the old whisperlite stack up to some newer stoves? I've casually looked at upgrading (=reduce weight) and has previously been tempted to get a rocket pocket style thingo but think they are just too top heavy and seems unsafe. The FMS-100T certainly looks good but at a premium price and it would save me..what 200g? and some weight on the fuel I guess? Might be a lot to some but the big picture is that I could lose a whole lot more on most of my other gear before 2-300 gram becomes a real concern. I like new thing but is financially restricted. I guess I'm just looking for someone to say that the whisperlight is actually a great stove so put your money somewhere else Just curious what you think

Hi Stibb,

To compare different stove systems check this thread out .

I would recomend a Kovea Ti Supalite stove for warmer months and a maybe a MSR Windpro or the Fire Maple FMS-100T as has been suggested for colder months.

The MSR Pocket Rocket pot supports are not the most stable and it is heavier than the Kovea.

Tony

[Stibb]

Tony,
I was hoping to still be able to casually look at stoves, now I have to put my research hat on or at least my glasses I'll go through that later for sure, thanks.
If I replace my whisperlight it will be one single 4-season thingo.

Edit. not too complicated after all. some good info there, thanks.

[rucksack]

etrangere

I have a Primus-built Trangia Multifuel X2 stove in my collection. I bought it in March this year to use with my Trangia 25. After I bought it, I had an email conversation with Trangia in Sweden and, according to them, (and this probably came from Primus, who designed and build the Multifuel X2 stove for Trangia): the X2 is not recommended for use with the smaller Trangia 27 set-up. According to Trangia, Primus combined elements of their OmniFuel and MutiFuel EX liquid fuel stoves to create the Multifuel X2 and they do not recommend the burner be used in the smaller Trangia 27 set-up, as - according to them - the stove can burn extremely hot. This may be lawyer-speak, of course, but it is the 'word' from Trangia. I bought my X2 to use on slightly higher mountains than are found in Australia and for much lower temperatures too. Trangia said to me (and to others earlier this year) not to use the X2 burner in their 27 cooking sets. I have fired up the X2 in my 25 and it does indeed put out some ferocious heat, so there may well be some truth (and a warning to be heeded) in there somewhere.

The original multifuel stove for use in the Trangia 25s and 27s was made by Optimus and was based on their Nova multifuel stove. Unfortunately for Optimus, they outsourced those stoves to a factory in China and then suffered ongoing manufacturing problems, which finally led to all China-made Nova stoves and pumps being recalled last September. It seems at this point, Trangia turned to Primus, who have been making a very successful canister gas burner for the 25s and 27s for many year; the new Multifuel X2 is the result. One of the benefits of the new X2, over the old Nova multifuel, is that the X2 can also use gas canisters, (as do the Primus OmniFuel and MultiFuel EX stoves). Very useful and I hear that MSR are going down the same path with some of their stoves.

The Trangia 27 has a smaller windscreen than the Trangia 25, of course, and that apparently is the problem. There has been discussion of this on some of the stove sites, and whilst some have expressed their scepticism, no-one has volunteered to put their X2 stove into a Trangia 25 and crank it up to see what happens. Funny that. Unlike the Nova multifuel burner, the Primus-built X2 does not have a second control valve, (it's configuration is more MultiFuel EX than OmniFuel), so simmering is going to be an acquired skill, shall we say.

What I would really like to find, (but have largely given up the search for), is a genuine KAP Arctic stove; these run on kerosene. They have a silent burner cap (and a very ingenious set up for priming) and were also made to fit into a Trangia 25 set-up. The KAP Arctic has been out of production for over 10 years now. I know a couple of mountaineers who have these stoves, but they will not part with them. I agree though, a titanium SVEA 123R would be a stove god, wouldn't it? Perhaps, we could encourage Evernew to begin a conversation with Optimus? The Optimus SVEA 123R is now being made in Taiwan, so they are in the 'neighbourhood', so to speak.

I don't have an especially favourite stove anymore; it's more a case of where am I going and for how long? Nevertheless, if I was forced to choose, it could quite likely be my SVEA 123R, as much for sentimental reasons as for it's legendary robustness and simplicity. A titanium one? Well, that would be a god in stove heaven, wouldn't it?

And yes, I have many gas stoves too. Tragic.

rucksack

[etrangere]

Rucksack

Yes i have read the forum from spiritburner.com and that seems to be the only spot online that even has mentioned the issue of the trangia 27 and the multifuel x2. Why does trangia make no mention of not being able to use the trangia 27 and the multifuel 27 anywhere on their site even under the usage warnings list on the multifuel instruction manual? I'd buy the multifuel x2 and try in myself with my trangia 27 but I have the hard anodized windsheild which is not so readily available to replace if it does melt/warp.

[Penguin]

I have one of the Kovea Ti stoves, as well as the Whisperlite and Trangia, BUT i now always take the Moonwalker.

I have become attached to its stability (good for cooking in a tent) , ability to work in an inverted canister, its concetrated flame (so good with heating water in a mug), and not bad in a mild wind without a shield. It is heavy, while I am making everything else light. But I seem to use less gas on longer trips compared to the Ti, so the weight penalty is not too great.

Like Ruchsack says, I have become attached to its practicality.

The main thing I miss about not using the Whisperlight is the napalm balls of flame you create while lighting it in huts for the entertainment of other hikers.

Penguin

[rucksack]

etrangere

Yes, it does seem a bit odd, doesn't it? The instructions which came with my X2 stove are obviously Primus-sourced and are very similar to Primus' OmniFuel and MultiFuel EX stove instructions, in fact, many sections of the instructions for all three stoves are identical. You can download the pdfs and compare, if you like. My theory, for what it's worth, is that Trangia were stuck in a hard place when Optimus had trouble with their Nova and Nova+ stoves, (which obviously meant their multifuel burner for Trangia too). When Optimus did a general recall of the Nova stoves last September, to resolve the leaking problems, Trangia turned to Primus for their own solution, as Primus have long supplied the popular gas burner conversion for the Trangia 25 & 27. It may be no more complicated than that. I think that I am right in saying that the X2 only came out last December, (or about that time). I cannot imagine that these multifuel burners are really large sellers for Trangia; I am assuming that they sell most of them in northern Europe and principally to European mountaineers and Nordic skiers, and to a few stove tragics. Somewhere along the line, Primus has told Trangia that even though they have backed off the burner for the Trangia kit, it could still create heat problems operating at full thottle inside the smaller Trangia 27's windshield. It may be as simple as that. There are still no reviews available, as far as I can tell .. well, there weren't the last time that I looked, but Trangia will probably do something sooner or later, by way of explaining this issue to potential buyers of the X2 stove.

As you have perused the spiritburner.com web site on this, you will know that some of those who posted on the X2 stove are sceptical about this issue of the potential melting windshields (or melting pans, for that matter). For myself, if it was a very cold, snowy winter's day, I would likely take the risk, but the one thing about the new X2 burner head is that it does sit very high in the windshield base, so the flame is quite close to the bottom of the pans. That may be more of an issue in the thinking at Primus/Trangia, but who is to know unless they specifically say something. It could be that the smaller windshield combined with the very close proximity of the burner head to the pan is the real concern. An alternative, and one which many have previously opted for, is to buy an Optimus Nova/Nova+ and take the legs off and, by using an adaptor kit, (they are available, but making one isn't complicated), put a Nova in your Trangia 27, especially now that the leaking problem has been solved. Walkers & climbers have been putting all sorts of stoves into Trangia set-ups for a very long time, including more recently, the Primus OmniFuel & Multifuel EX stoves and the Nova and Nova+ stoves and yes, even an SVEA 123R (by making a 'long' key). I am sure that there have been others. Being a regular reader of spiritburner.com, nothing would surprise me.

One of the advantages of using one of the the Nova stoves (and the Primus OmniFuel too), is that they have a second regulator valve at the burner head, which means that these stoves can more easily be simmered. That might solve the claimed 'potential heat problem' when putting an X2 burner inside a Trangia 27.

I am planning to use my Trangia 25 UL and X2 stove on a three week walk next month. I will let you know how it performs, if you are interested. It won't exactly help you with your Trangia 27 HA and X2 stove question, but there is still so little information about as regards these new X2 stoves.

rucksack

[etrangere]

Rucksack

I Look forward to seeing how your Trangia multifuel x2 performs. Not sure if I recall it exactly right but I think the Trangia multifuel x2 has a smaller sized jet to use with shellite than the primus omnifuel, perhaps that was done to reduce the BTUs of the trangia model to lessen the overheating issue. I can always live without the multifuel x2 but was hoping to get one to have the option of shellite and gas in the one model and then could sell of the old multifuel burner and gas burner I already have.

[ULWalkingPhil]

Been following this topic, with interest. decided that my trangia is just to heavy and bulky for my liking, and the fuel is to heavy.

Purchased a Kovea Supalite titanium stove today. Also looked at the Kovea titanium at 88 grams, it has a couple features I did like, such as a piezo lighter and a hard case for storage, the Supalite does not have the case or piezo lighter.

It was a difficult decision which to purchase, I ended up purchasing the Supalite titanium because it's more economical than the titanium version. Goal is to save weight, being the Supalite uses less gas per hour according to the specs supplied on the packaging and it's lighter at 60g. The 18g difference in weight would not have bothered me, it's the gas consumption on the titanium I did not like. The Supalite according to the packaging uses apx 50 grams of gas less per hour over the titanium.

I tried the Supalite stove today, boiled 500mills of water and used 7 grams of fuel. That works out apx 7 extra boils per canister I can achieve with the Supalite.