New Stove Setup

I love canister stoves, and am considering buying this one. Take a look.

http://www.moontrail.com/monatauk-gnat.php

That's one of my choices. Was given a good review by Ryan. I like the looks and the lightweight.

I have one of the lightest canister stoves – the Vargo Jet-Ti – but I prefer the .7 oz. heavier Brunton Flex. The Flex has a wider burner for more even heating (esp. if you use titanium pots).

The Flex is made by Primus for Brunton and it's identical to the Primus Crux except that it has 4 pot supports instead of 3. Both stove's burners fold for better storage and both are excellent Swedish quality.

Eric, thanks. I'll take a look at it. What pot would you pair with this stove? And yes, a Ti pot is essential. I just want the lightest weight stove/pot setup to heat 2 cups of water for FB meals only. And the pot needs to hold 18-20 oz. of water.

I have the giga ti- evidently not made anymore, not sure how much weight was saved w/ the ti, but it's a very efficient stove, light and packs small

I use a snow peak 600 mug for solo use, doesn't have a lid, but you can make one with aluminum foil (or purchase a ti lid from 4dogs which I did)

the MSR Titan kettle gets good reviews, a little bigger than what you need, but would also work for two people

Mike, is that the same configuration as the Snow Peak GST-100 that Roger likes so much? -I was looking for a pot with a lid so it'l be efficient and don't really want to have to order one seperately. The Trek 700 comes with one, but is a bit larger than I need. Man, I wish this site had spell check.

I have and like this stove:
http://www.rei.com/product/785338

But, I'm a recent Jetboil convert too. Just so quick,clean,and convenient.

I have a Primus Micron Ti 2.5 which weighs just over 2 oz, packs up tiny, and has a small removable piezo. Primus is a great company- they sent this as a replacement for my way-old Alpine Titanium just because I melted the adjustor (my fault) and they didn't have replacement parts. Didn't say anything about being an editor here at BPL. Great stove, great company.

That said, I wouldn't do canister stoves at all. I own 3 canisters, 2 liquid fuel, 4 esbit stoves, and at least 12 alcohol stoves and except for winter trips I always carry my Trail Designs Caldera Keg system. About 5 ounces for the stove, windscreen, pot, fuel bottle, and two mugs. Brilliant, efficient design. Fuel is cheap with minimal waste and it boils water in about 5 minutes. Sure, I can boil faster with my canister stove but the extra couple of minutes is very minimal.

I used to have a Jetboil. It's a cool design and efficient but you have to use it for weeks before you save enough fuel to make up for the extra weight in the system. That makes a non-system canister a smarter choice, at least from a weight perspective. But with the Caldera Cone, I get a similar smart system at far less weight and without having to carry heavy, bulky, wasteful canisters.

My 2 cents. Best of luck!

I've got a Coleman F1, and so far so good. Although I haven't gotten it out in the field much yet. I just picked up a backcountry.com 700ml pot on sale. They are a great deal right now with the current sale. I know it's a little bigger than you wanted at 700ml, but it's less expensive than the Snow Peak 600 will hold your stove and small canister and comes with a lid. And even better for $3 extra you can get a titanium spork with it.

http://www.backcountry.com/backcountry-titanium-pot-w-lid-700ml

I have had both the LiteMax and GST-100 and only can recommend the latter. The LiteMax performed miserably for me in the field, which could be a fluke. I have used the GST-100 perhaps 25 times and it has been very reliable and efficient, with good adjustment.

I also concur with Doug, though, and would highly recommend especially the Trail Designs Ti-tri system with whichever pot you land on.

Consider either the 600 or 900 ml Evernew non-nonstick Ti pots.

Thank you all for your recommendations. I had decided not to pursue the cone-style or alternative fuel stoves. But since you succinctly recommended one Doug, I'll have one more look. Don't like the thought of carrying alcohol in a little bottle. The thought of spills and mess don't sit well with me either. Anyway, I will have another look. If there's one better or best source for this information, maybe you could post that for me. I enjoy research, but am getting a bit overwhelmed with the amount of available info.

I just want to carry the lightest pot that'll boil two cups. And a stove that'll boil it. I'll probably over night no more than three trips this coming season (if I'm lucky), so this cooking setup will not get a huge amount of use. That's why I was going in the cannister direction. No learning curve and no messy fuel. But I'll take another look. Thanks all and keep the ideas coming. Hoping for some consensus here!

That is not one of the good ones. I would avoid it. It goes through about the same amount of fuel as a old SVEA, but theeooretically, should be much better. I gave one away. Just too inefficient.

I have heard good things about a SOTO on low, though.

2 cents worth…ain't worth more…

Last year I went to REI and purchased a Soto stove. I found a pot- enough for a hot meal and drink, there that would allow a small canister to fit inside with the stove. I have started to use Star Bucks cups for coffee and tea that also will fit inside the pot but not with the canister, oh well. I have 10-20 days with the Soto and like it.

I used an F1 for years, fairly happy with it.

It had one problem – occasionally I didn't screw the stove hard enough onto the canister, fuel would subtley leak around the side which I didn't notice, I'de use the stove for a little while, then there'de be a huge flameup, then I'de blow it out and turn it off, then screw it tighter, then back to normal.

The first time this happened I freaked out a little, then it became routine. Maybe it was my fault for not tightening it. Maybe it was a design flaw. There were a couple plastic pieces that were slightly melted, but just cosmetic.

After using it for years, more than 100 nights, it developed a second problem. If it was really cold, and I left the stove on the canister overnight, in the morning it was empty. After the first time, I was really careful about tightening it, but it happened again, a couple times.

Then I got a MSR pocket rocket. Used it for maybe 20 nights. So far so good.

Based on this experience and several articles here

I think any canister stove that weighs about 3 ounces is just as good

The Soto is good, but it has this regulator that maintains flow if you put the canister in a bucket of ice water (if you've seen their video : ). I don't plan on putting my stove in ice water so this doesn't seem useful. This technology is so new that I worry that it may not be reliable.

There's a stove that's closer to 2 ounces, but 1 ounce isn't that important and it's new so it might not be reliable.

The MSR pocket rocket has been around for years. One of the more popular stoves. I just bought one recently and it worked fine so maybe they haven't recently cheapened their manufacturing process to make more money. I think this is the best one to get.

Hi Warren,

No worries- you should go with what you're comfortable with. Just a few points that might be helpful:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/orsm09_caldera_keg_h.html

http://www.antigravitygear.com/trail-designs-caldera-keg-f.html

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/2008_bpl_staff_picks

The included fuel bottle with the Caldera Cone system is very easy to use- I've never spilled a drop of fuel with it. And you only have to bring what you need on a trip, rather than carrying full or half-empty canisters. It evaporates quickly if spilled, but the flip top bottle makes this a non-issue, in my experience. In fact, my 3 year old son has filled the stove several times (with close supervision) when we've been backpacking.

Denatured alcohol is available at any hardware store and is very cheap. From this perspective, it's less alternative than canisters. It'll easily boil 2 cups and I have a larger cone for a family size pot.

FYI- I've had a Brunton stove, Coleman F1, 2 Primus stoves, and a Pocket Rocket. The variance in performance has been very minimal. All have been great- from my experience you can't hardly go wrong.

Have fun with your pick!
Doug

Another vote for the Soto. Thanks Michael. And Carl likes it too.

Shane, thanks. This stove (Coleman F1) was highly rated in a BPL stove shoot out and was conducted by Roger if I recall correctly. I don't like the plastic, but it does not seem to be a problem. Jerry A likes it but James M doesn't. Still more yes votes for this one than any other stove so far.

Doug, as with all your post's I've read, you are succinct and easily understood. I appreciate your comments (as I do all the others above), but thanks for going out of your way to post some links on the alcohol stove. They will be used here shortly to do some learning. I like that! And I also appreciate your sharing with me about your personal experience with canister stoves as well.

And to those who are catching up, I've used the Pocket Rocket (ease of use and pretty quick) and a Jetboil. Jetboil is a cool all-in-one dealeo, but it is heavy. If you put a couple of the lighter stoves/pots together, those combos with a canister will be lighter than a Jetboil without a canister. And take up less room in your pack. So for something that I’ll use once a day, I want ease of use, packability, and very light weight. So its off I go to learn about alcohol stoves.

I've had no problems with the F1 Ultralight, and have used a pocket rocket, like Doug said they perform very much alike.

However, the F1 comes in two pieces and is very very packable with it's fabric case. I prefer the two piece construction. I can pack a large canister, stove, folding ti-spork, 3 little bottles of condiments, brommers soap, and a sponge in a Snowpeak 900 pot, which is big enough for a meal and hot drinks for two people. I made a cozy out of reflectix to hold the pot, prevent rattle and make cooking/rehydrating far more efficient. It's about the size of the pot.

Though the Caldera Keg system has me extremely intrigued. I think it's a fair price, just not sure if I "need" to buy spend $60 to replace something that already works.

Even though the F1 is a flamethrower, the windproof nature of the Caldera and having to judge the fuel left in a canister (which is a major pain) makes it very very appealing for solo or freezer bag cooking (which I'm going to try because washing dishes is a real pain as well).

Off topic, but do yourself a favor (if you don't have one already) and buy yourself a $45 Nesco dehydrator off Amazon. Super easy.

For those that have both, how much of a weight savings do you figure a Caldera keg would be over a full canister stove with 4 days of fuel? Ball park.

GST-100 continues to be my favorite canister stove, although I will be trying out a Soto this spring.

Not sure which is better (or if one is better than the other), the Caldera Keg-F or Caldera Keg-H? This will be used by one person or two at the most. Eating MH meals or Ramen noodles, which both require 2 cups heated water.

Looks like the Caldera Keg-F can do 2 cups of water and the Caldera Keg-H only 1.5 cups.

What size freezer bag fits in the cone caddy?

Why does the Caldera Keg-F have a two-piece caddy (seems like a better storage system too) and the Caldera Keg-H have only what appears to be the lower half?

How does one safely pour the really hot water from the cone into a freezer bag?

How much fuel does it require to bring near a boil for 2 cups of water?

Finally, I guess you pour the appropriate amount of alcohol in the measuring cup, then into the stove. Cup dries out on its own and so now mess?

BTW, I’m really excited about this option. Very lightweight and compact taking little pack space. And you don't need a seperate pot. Brilliant. Doug, this does look like a serious option to a canister stove.

Look Here to see how to deal with fuel.

I use a Keg-H. It is more robust.
When alone, I eat out of the Keg.
So I pour food into hot water, not vice-versa.
I have bonded silicone to the lip to serve as a pot-grip, for pick it up, and to keep from burning my lips on hot coffee.

I use a Reflectix cozy on top as a lid while I heat water, and then on the bottom as a “pot holder” while I eat.

Thanks Greg. The H model is the tougher option. When you need two cups of water out of the H, does it heat it up OK? Thanks for being gentle. I have no experience with alcohol stoves but they do look interesting for sure. -I need to pour the water in the bag cause I don't want to do any clean up. Just pack the empty bag out. Is there a way to pour the water short of an oven mitten?! The reflectix cozy you mention, is that the one that comes with the kit? And, finally, I'll check out your link. Cheers.

>When you need two cups of water out of the H, does it heat it up OK?

It takes about 15 minutes. I start water, then set up camp. Once you lear the drill, you can plan ahead, and have zero "down time" waiting for water.

>I need to pour the water in the bag cause I don't want to do any clean up.

I suggest a MSR pot grip. Some just use a kerchief. The Keg-H comes with a Reflectix cozy. Lift the Keg, set it in the cozy, and then pour.