The Kovea Spider (KB-1109) Remote Canister Stove

That optimus looks really neat! I love my Windpro II but it is a tad heavy at 180g for the stove alone. If the 6.3oz listed is the weight + the shield that would be amazing! The kovea looks nice but I prefer stoves with wider burn heads as I am usually cooking for 2-3 with a larger pot.

The weight listed for the Vega is for the stove alone. The Vega weighs 6.3oz/179g; the Windpro II weighs 6.6oz/187g; and the Spider weighs 5.9oz/168g.

Because of the angle of the flame, the Spider is a better cooking stove than one might normally associate with such a small burner head, but I understand that there will be those who prefer a larger burner head.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving

Based upon Hikin' Jim's detailed review of the Kovea Spider on his stoving blog, I decided to order one. My Spider arrived on Thursday from Hong Kong (ordered off of Ebay) which was just in time for the Arctic Blast that arrived in North Texas on Friday. Set a canister of Coleman blended fuel outside and it got down to about 20 degrees overnight. I was able to light the Spider right up (canister upright – normal position) and it boiled (rolling) 16 ounces of 50 degree water in 4min/45secs inside of a GSI T-Pot. The canister used 8 grams of fuel during the test. The air temperature was 23 degrees at that time and the stove and canister had been outside for > 12 hours.

Once the test was completed I inverted the fuel canister and the stove functioned fine, however there was just a semblance of "sputtering" (very, very minor) that did not seem to affect the flame or usage of the Spider – no flaring or flame differential noticed. The only way that I could tell was by auditory means and by switching the cannister from right side up to an inverted position. Ever time that I would invert the canister I would notice the difference. Again, not an operational issue.

While I was outside testing the Spider I decided to go ahead and do the same test with my White Box alcohol stove. Same conditions, container, amount of water, etc. as above – 5min/10secs to a rolling boil AFTER I set the T-pot on the stove which was in full bloom.

Bottom line: I really like the Spider – it provides me with a stove that I can invert a fuel canister if need be, and it also allows me to use a windscreen totally around the stove and pot. I've been using a Snow Peak GigaPower stove (love it!) but never had the ability to fully enclose the stove and pot with a windscreen like I can with the Spider.

I can see using the GigaPower for a 3-season stove and the Spider for cold or freezing temps when I might need to invert a fuel canister. Hope this helps!