When out solo/since going UL (my current MO) I usually cook with Esbit tabs, but I've been thinking about switching back to using a cannister stove, maybe purchasing the Exponent F1 or a Gigapower Ti. Either one would cut over five ounces off the weight of my current cannister stove, an old 9 ounce Coleman. I just found myself about to buy the Gigapower when…well, I couldn't replace it.
Although it's heavy, a bit rusted, and nearly 15 years old, I've been too many places with the Coleman. It was with me on some of my first "backpacking" trips…drunken teenage retreats, sleeping bags under one arm, our backpacks full of food and beer, eating chili straight from the can. That stove later saved myself and six others on a climbing trip when both a Whisperlite and XGK clogged and failed. I've cooked with it in deserts and on remote Big Sur beaches during my honeymoon. It's been from So. Cal to Canada and all over the Southwest. Most recently, it's fed my children on their first backpacking trips with me and cooked tea for five while climbing in Joshua Tree last week. And it's still going like a champ.
Trade this history for 5 ounces? I just can't do it.
Anything from way-back-when that all of you are still using?
