Philmont 2018 – MSR WindPro II or Optimus Vega

[AT Grimaldi]

I am trying to put together a Philmont trip for 2018 for my son’s Boy Scout Troop.  We just had two crew come back from Philmont and I am trying to capitalize on the buzz created upon their return to the troop.

In the spirit that buying the right solution the first time is better than upgrading later, I am looking at buying a stove for both Philmont and winter camping.  This would be for a personal purchase although offered to the troop for use during both winter campouts and Philmont.

I have come to these two stoves for the following reasons:

1.  The scouts are familiar with canister-type stoves already.
2. Both these stoves can hold larger pots required for both Philmont and melting snow in the winter.
3. Both these stoves are comparable.
4. Both these stoves can use the canisters inverted for winter use.
5. Both these stoves have been recommended by scouts coming back from Philmont.

It appears as though the Optimus stove is just a hair lighter than the MSR.  Any opinions on either?  One thing I like about the Optiums is the legs to invert the cansiter are integrated to the fuel line head and not a separate piece which could get lost by the scouts as in the MSR stove.

Any experience or feedback here?

– ATG

[Ryan Jordan]

Our Venturing Crew has used the MSR WindPro II for several years and it’s proven to be extremely reliable, durable, and simple. We’ve never lost the little canister inversion support thingies.

I don’t have experience with the Optimus.

[Jamie Barnes]

Ryan – we are sending two crews out at the end of June 2017. We had an all adult crew do an autumn adventure for five days during the first part of September. We had two Optimus Vega stoves. They worked great. We used a bit different cooking system than Philmont does. We used two four qt pots and two six qt pots. They stack inside each other and seem to take up less space than one 8 qt pot and one 6 qt pot for a full crew. Maybe perception but seemed better. :-) The pots were stable on the Vega and had no issues with the altitude. We plan on taking a spare canister, maybe two, per stove just to make sure we don’t run out between resupply spots. Some of that decision will depend on the trek the scout pick and where/quantity of resupply opportunities we have. I give the Vega 5 stars from our experience at Philmont.

Hope this helps.

Jamie.

[AT Grimaldi]

Update.

So I just pulled the trigger on a Optimus Vega.  I have a Philmont training hike in a few weeks and will report back how it performs.  I am pretty optimistic.

– ATG

[Stephen M]

The Vega is a great Stove, I use it year round for group trips. It has worked flawlessly from 80f to -25f.

[AT Grimaldi]

Stephen – that is great to hear.  That certainly will cover any conditions in my use case scenario.

– ATG

[TAG in AZ]

Our crew (715-C) is going to use the Kovea Spider.  Very similar to both the stoves discussed here, but a bit less expensive.  Only ~$43 delivered if you get in on the Massdrop (non-affiliate link: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/kovea-spider-remote-canister-stove).

 

[Rich Bowman]

We’ve had good experience with the MSR WindPro II.  We carry two per crew.  Some meals we use both stoves, sometimes just one.  I’ve also had good experience with MSR customer support.  We lost the top nut that holds the whole thing together (a side effect of a youth-led program) from one stove, called MSR and they provide a replacement quickly and for free.

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