Kovea Spider Stove

The Spider is a bit heavy, but it is 'OK'.

Cheers

Are there lighter remote canister stoves capable of safe inverted operation? I've been eying a spider as a winter option that isn't white gas….

Not sure if its any lighter but I got on very well this winter with an Optimus Vega remote canister stove.

Rumor has it that Roger makes a pretty nice stove :)
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/caffin-evolution-of-winter-stove-part-3.html

Isn't the depth of that article amazing?

Roger and several others on this forum have knowledge (not just stoves… tents, etc. too), well beyond the layman's level (Also read "well beyond my level"). It's great that they are willing to spend the time that they do sharing with the rest of us.

At some point in my backpacking journey, I decided not to go quite that far "down that road". I'm not seeking the ultimate homemade rig or looking to build my own. It's just not my thing.

I get a lot of enjoyment from trying new things too. Finding something that meets my needs well or fills a gap in my kit is my gear nerd nirvana. If it lightens my pack too… BONUS! Sometimes, I go with something a bit heavier, or less perfect, just because it feels "right" or "comfortable" or "more dependable" to me when I use it. I'm not really a very good lightweight role model, I guess.

I do, however, pay attention when these gurus impart their wisdom. I have learned more on BPL in the last few years, than I could have learned on my own in the relatively short remainder of my lifetime. I just don't always dig that deeply into the numbers like they do and I rarely spend my time tinkering and/or carrying numbers out three places past the decimal point. I do that for a living and love that I don't have to do it in my off-time.

Probably a good thing I don't tinker with devices that involve fuel and fire anyway. I'll leave that to people less likely to turn themselves into a pile of ash.

JJ,

Hikin' Jim took a look at the Spider last year and liked it a lot. It is more widely available now than when he posted his review:

http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-kovea-spider-kb-1109-remote.html

Plus there are comments on it here at BPL.

I got one based on my needs and Jim's review. I've been happy with it and the build quality seems quite high. However I am not super into the details of stoving. A lot of times I just go with cold foods.

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

Heya Hamish:

Thanks for the link to Hikin' Jim's Blog. I'm amazed that I haven't run into it before.

There are some other interesting articles on there that should keep me busy for a few night's worth of reading too.

His review reads a bit "fanboyish" to me. But, after reading a few of his other pieces, I am of the opinion that he has played with more than a few stoves and has a decent body of experience for comparison. I'll stay optimistic and do a little cooking on it myself this season to see what's what.

Sorry to derail here, but has anyone seen or purchased the Kovea Camp 5? It appears to be even more compact than the Spider. It's also about 14g lighter. Just curious about the flame pattern and how small it actually folds up. Looks to be about the same price as the spider on eBay.

Check out:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=58651

AND

http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2012/01/kovea-camp-5-remote-canister-stove.html

Thanks JJ, I should have checked to see if Jim had reviewed it. It looks like my fears were well founded. That burner head shoots straight up, talk about hot spots! It also looks like that extra compactness leads to a stove that is significantly less stable. Oh well, looks like my aging primus will probably get replaced with a Spider someday.

I looked at it too. The spider seems to be the one that gets the highest overall marks of the Kovea lineup. I find that I often go with gear items that don't compromise too much to knock off that last couple of ounces. My take on the Spider is that it might be one of those items.

I'll post some comments, after I try it out next month. It will probably be mid-August before we get back and I have time to post on it though.

I'm not a stove guru like some. But, I know it when I find something that just plain hits a homerun in the field and, sometimes, the "average guy's user report" hits home for the "average guy that's looking".

I bought one last year and it's been my primary stove for the last 10 months and I have zero complaints about it. It's light, compact, the flame is easily adjustable and works in the cold without any problems. I love it.

Heath. Thanks for the feedback. I just unboxed mine a couple of days ago and it looks solid. I'm going to play with it in the back yard this weekend and see what it can do.

Have you tried yours with the canister inverted yet? Melted any snow with it? That was a big feature for me. I want to use it for my new winter stove. So, I won't have to lug my MSR Dragonfly along anymore in the snow.

The other thing I'm hoping for is that it will run well at low flame for doing some actual cooking out there in the backcountry.

The Kovea Spider has excellent flame control. It is extremely versatile: you can easily simmer fry and dry bake using it. I haven't tried it inverted in cold weather yet.

JJ,
I have used mine in the desert in the Spring, Summer and Winter, in Glacier National park in the fall at 5,000ft, I used it in Rocky Mountain National Park at 12,000ft in March and I've used it a few times in the mountains in Arizona during the fall and winter at 9,500 and 11,500ft. It works like a champ. I used it inverted in the winter and it worked quite well. It took a minute for the flame to burn efficiently as the heat tube/pipe was warming up but after that it was flawless. I used it Memorial weekend to cook on. I've made pancakes, eggs, burritos, etc.. on it and it has excellent flame control. I haven't hiked anywhere where there isn't flowing water available so I can't tell you about melting snow but I am sure it'll tackle it with ease. I use mine with a 1.3L Evernew titanium pot and a MSR pan. I also use a windscreen that I bought from Trail designs with it which I think is a necessity for this type of stove. I keep the stove, windscreen a mini bic and fuel canister all in the 1.3L pot. It's a nice setup.

It looks like I might have chosen the right stove. I'm just going to rob the MSR Windscreen out of my Dragonfly kit for it I think.

I took my old Radius 43 with the roarer burner out snow camping this winter, amazed at how nicely it simmered, with that silent roar thing going on. Super cool stove too. Not light.
Duane

I recently saw a full-page ad in a Backpacking magazine featuring the Kovea Spider stove. In the ad it showed a gas canister sitting inverted on a plastic tripod. I've never run across or seen one of these tripods so perhaps it's something that has just come out. With winter getting here it sure would be nice to pick up one of those up so as to keep the canister out of the snow. Does anyone know where they can be purchased? Here is a copy of the ad and you can see the tripod in it: Thanks in advance for your help with this.

I saw that too and that it is not included with the stove. To bad. Google has yielded no results either,

Someone is making them and we just have to find out who it is and how we can get one. Hopefully, with all the resources of the BPL community we can get an answer. Maybe a 3D Printer could make them?

Maybe Jon at Flatcat might know? He doesn't have the stand available for sale, but he's one of the few US retailers for this stove I know of.

Does anyone know for sure that the stand actually exists? Perhaps it is just an artist's rendering of an future product? Or just a rendering to make it look cool with no plans for a future product? Billy

I just sent him an email asking if he knows anything about it. I'll let you know what he says.