Remote canister gas stove – Fire Maple FMS-117T or Kovea Spider, or?

[scree ride]

I bought my Kovea after reading HJ's blog. While I have no way to compare it to the Fire Maple, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one and I won't hesitate to recommend it. It's small and light and folds out big.
I have no regrets. I don't look longingly at other stoves and think "what if". Off Ebay, shipped from Korea, it arrived very quickly. I did have to sign for it. Incendiary device coming from a foreign country, I guess they're cautious. Somebody here was selling them under "Gear Deals". Same price, good reputation and all. Had I known, I would have bought it from them just to keep it local so to speak. Either way you won't be disappointed.
While the Fire Maple is lighter, in reviews, it had some issues. Overall, I believe, South Korean standards of manufacture are much higher than Chinese.
http://blog.hillmap.com/2013/01/fire-maple-fms-118-sputters-in-cold-vs.html
That said, I see the FM on Ebay for $55, making it much more competitive. I know the Spider works though. Works the way it was planned to work with no modifications. It was thought out and I have no concerns with it's durability. You won't be disappointed

[Dondo .]

Will definitely go for the spider if I decide I need to be able to invert the canister. Still a bit unsure at what temp this becomes an issue. I dont go out in the snow but temps of 30f are definitely possible on occasion. Could I work round this by keeping the canister warm at night or is a stove with a pre heat tube the way to go? Thanks

In that case, you'll be fine with the Fire Maple. I've used the rebranded Olicamp Xcelerator down to the high 20s so far. A warm up inside my puffy vest was all the canister needed, but I was ready with some of the other tricks mentioned in this thread if necessary.

Mine weighs 3.4 oz., which is about as heavy a stove as I'd care to carry for three-season conditions.

[Jerry Adams]

"Still a bit unsure at what temp this becomes an issue."

Same here, I use upright canister in upper 20s F.

One thing confusing is, they put in a little propane which works at much lower temp.

So if you use a fairly full canister, it will work for a while at 20 F, but it will be mostly propane that's being vaporized. Then the canister will be just isobutane and only work at upper 20s F.

If you have a mostly empty canister, upper 20s F,

[HeathP]

I bought the Kovea spider on Amazon for $53 with free shipping. It folds up really small and I quite like it. I'm using it with a 1.3 liter titanium evernew pot. From what I have been uncovering on the web is that Kovea builds stoves for MSR and Snow peak. The build quality is equal to these companies stoves.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Heath

You should perhaps read Stove Developments to get more of the story.

Cheers

[Author]

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