stoves, stoves and more stoves questions

I started with the pocket rocket, but switched to the gigapower because the pot stands on the pocket rocket were so thin that my 2L pot with 4-5 cups of water waved around so much I was afraid the pot would fall &/or the stove arms would bend when I tried to stir Lipton meals like Fedachini Alfredo. I use the gigapower with MSR canisters in temps around freezing, but not high altitude and it's plenty stable and works great.
The auto-starter is also a great convenience – especially if the stove blows out and the pot is too hot to set on your ground cloth while you fumble with lighting it again, or you decide to make hot water for cocoa in the hot pot you just poured the boiling water into your dehydrated meals from and prefer to fill the pot while it's sitting on the stove rather than melting your ground sheet.

sounds great, i'm looking foreward to fuel efficency and ease of use.

also open to any other canister stove suggestions, how about the coleman f1 ultralight? i was just reading some rave review on bpl.

"i'm looking for the best balance of fuel efficency to weight."

As the weights vary from about 2oz. to about 4oz., I propose that the criterion of weight is of little use. Furthermore, the affects of wind, pot, and choice of hi or low flame (by the user) are likely more important than design for efficient outcomes…

It appears the micro- and lite-max are designed to function in the wind, but probably need a real windscreen to thrive.

I have the stainless giga with piezo and optional windscreen. I'm satisfied. Peizo and a stable factory windscreen lower fiddle-factor,(but screen attachment could be easier).

If I were inclined to use a homemade windscreen, I'd probably just get the canister stove with the lowest shipped price.

Happy hunting. (edit: there are some heavy, scout oriented ones out there to avoid. Also, you might consider this deal http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/770279 )

Hi Jared

There are a LOT of articles on BPL about canister stoves, their safety, their efficiency, the amount of CO they release, whether they go bang, and so on. May I humbly suggest some reading? It's what we write these articles for!

The Snow Peak stoves are a benchmark. The Vargo Jet-Ti is also very good. The Pocket Rocket is NOT: the pot supports bend too easily and the flame is too concentrated.

Cheers

Jared,

I have a Vargo JetTi canister burner that's very light and very sturdy. I like most of MSR's stoves & own two of them
but the Vargo JetTi burner is much more durable and sturdy than the Pocket Rocket.

BTW, I use Vargo's Triad EX alky/ESBIT stove, minus the alky burner, for ESBIT & FireLite tablets. FAR better than alochol in weight/BTU, ease of use and range of useable temperatures. Often I use 2 tablets side by side for faster cooking,blowing out what I don't need & using it the next meal.

Eric

"I use Vargo's Triad EX alky/ESBIT stove, minus the alky burner"

Jared,

Did you remove the alcohol cup / holder somehow?

i've been slowly reading, i just wanted some personal opinions on how they work for the average guy. from what i've been reading i am leaning towards the coleman f1 ultralight. it's stout, powerful, fairly efficent, works in all conditions i'd encounter and darn light. all in all i'll be gaining a few ounces back, but i think it's worth it for the adjustability and the lack of needing to gauge each time you fill the exact amount of alcohol needed. i'm not too concerned about the CO2 emissions, since i never use the stove in my tent, everywhere is bear country around here. just wanted to get some opinions before i decide to switch.

I definitely would not recommend the Pocket Rocket. I know the stove has many devoted followers, but in the end, the pot supports are the least effective (yes, worst) I've seen. It is a quite light stove… I've also used the two Snowpeaks. Like everything we discuss here, a lot is based on personal preferences; that said, I've never bitten on the auto-ignite feature. It's a fraction of added weight–inconsequential, really, but in my mind also a likely failure point and slightest lull into complacency on remembering fire-starting things.

Edit- Knew I forgot something when I posted. Crazy thing about the Gigapower windscreen is that it weighs nearly as much as the stove itself. My personal approach for protecting canister stoves from wind is to stand my sleeping pad on its side and curve it around about a foot or so from the pot. Sure, it requires I stay there to monitor and hold… but I do anyway.

Jared, I have an older Gigapower and the Coleman F1 Ultralight. They are both good stoves, but I prefer the F1 because it is much less sensitive to wind than the Gigapower. It is advisable to use a light touch when unscrewing the somewhat quirky pot support system on the French made F1, but otherwise it is a good stove that has lasted me several years.

Also, as Rodger says, use the search function of BPL to find stove related articles where you will find a wealth of information. Sometimes it is hard to find the information on this site, but it is there if you search for it. It would also help if you payed the BPL light fee to gain access to more of the articles. I cancelled my subscription to Backpacking Magazine and joined this site several years ago and have never regretted it.

I own the pocket rocket. It does boil water quickly but I feel that it is not sturdy enough to support even a small pot without watching it. I've used my alcohol stove exclusively for quite a while now. I've watched a giga power in action and it seems more sturdy than the pocket rocket. I know what I've said is echoing what everyone else has to say about the pocket rocket. Good luck on your search.

I suggest you look at these two alcohol stoves. I had the same objections as you over my other alcohol stoves and their 2 models solve the "how much fuel" problem and are very efficient. http://www.packafeather.com/

I agree with Bob, but I prefer a Caldera Cone with snuffer cap. Extremely efficient heat transfer and fuel recovery, but for truly cold alpine conditions I still go with the rather heavy MSR WindPro canister system. Incredibly stable, fast and wind resistant. The Giga is also a good bet. Basically toss a dice and be happy with your choice.

Hi Jared! Recently I bought a Caldera Cone from BPL and used it for the first time last weekend. Previously I had been using a Vargo Triad, seemed happy with that but was open to being surprised. I was surprised! Using only 15mm (~.5 oz) I had two cups of water boiling…wow! The Triad uses way more than that, maybe more than twice, and that's with a windscreen. I'm still in awe with the cone as being the most effective windscreen I've ever used.

I also have the Gigapower Lite Max and think it's a terrific little stove and somewhat better than my Brunton Crux if only because the flame doesn't spread out so much…a real boon if you're using a small diameter pot like the Snow Peak Solo.

I tend to rely on an alcohol burner for short, weekend trips and a canister stove for longer, high altitude trips and plan on making an inverter as per Roger Caffin for winter, though I've never had any problems with mine not working (doesn't get that cold here in the PNW). You can check out various brands rather cheaply by going to the REI bargan basement or the used equipment pages on this site. Happy trails!

as for the comment on reading and getting a membership… i've had a membership for a while (hence the M next to the name) and once again, i have been reading but wanted some more opinions. i don't have a problem searching the main bpl, but the search within the forums plain sucks… i don't want to see 20 replys from the same thread cause it mentions the word i searched for. the forums really should be updated to something similar to the VBB style boards which show particular threads with the mention of the word and highlight it in the thread and not every single reply. therefore most searching within the board side, isn't worth searching several hours for a short sentence on someones opinion.

anyways back on topic

presently i use a .9L evernew pot since most of my trips are with my girlfriend and i need to boil on average about 4 cups per meal to rehydrate the food.

i'm definately going for a canister stove for now. overnight trips i'm not too worried about the excess amounts of fuel. but i'm planning a few loop trips as soon as my summer college courses are over next week. these trips will put me out in the mountains for up to a week, and the fuel efficency is needed, over saving 2 oz in stove weight vs carrying an extra 8-16oz or more in fuel for the alcohol stove.

i'm going to take a closer look at the coleman f1 and the gigapower. only problem i see with the f1 is that rei is the local outdoors shop and they don't carry fuel. i'll have to check sportsman's warehouse in bremerton and the little backpacking shop in tacoma. eventhough walmart probably sells the fuel. i'll also look into the caldera cone. i've just kind of overlooked it in all my research.

thank you guys for the comments on the different stoves.

I have an F1 that I bought pretty much on a whim (great price)

I have carried it primarily as a backup to my Jetboil…since it uses the same cannisters. On a recent trip (4 pass loop-Maroon Bells) one of my partners had his Jetboil so I threw in my F1 and a spare cannister for backup

The first night he was fishing and I decided to make a hot drink so rather than root through his pack I pulled out my F1 and snowpeak 600 mug and made a hot drink, followed by dinner. It worked so well that I proceeded to do my own cooking for the remainder of the trip. The stove worked perfectly for the 4 day trip (2 meals a day) morning and night at elevations above 10,800 ft and temps down to the low 40's

Keep in mind that cooking (for me) means boiling water

Check out the great recent thread on pocketrocket vs. litemax.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=14191

I’ve been eyeing the Primus EtaExpress (see it on REI). With a regular pot with no windscreen and it’s around 3 oz (about the same as the pocketrocket), or bring the whole kit – screen and pot with heat exchanger for maximum boil speed.

> I've been eyeing the Primus EtaExpress
Ahhh… APPALLING emission of CO when used with the EtaExpress pot! WORSE than the Reactor. Yes, review coming.