Episode 11 | Upright Canister Stove Reviews
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Summary
This episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast features highlights from our recent round of canister stove reviews.
Canister stoves are notoriously difficult to compare accurately. Variations in testing conditions and methodology make any head-to-head comparisons suspect at best, especially when using manufacturer generated data. That’s why we developed StoveBench and spent hundreds of hours applying the methodology to virtually every sub-four ounce upright canister stove on the market.
The result is a 15,000 word gear guide chock full of graphs, charts, raw data, and our purchase recommendations for a variety of needs. In this podcast Ryan and Andrew use both StoveBench and the Upright Canister Stove Gear Guide as a springboard for their conversation.
Ryan and Andrew get things rolling by recommending that you listen to the StoveBench episode of the BPL Pod, read the StoveBench article on the website, or (preferably) both.
After that they spend some time laying the groundwork for stove comparisons: how they define the category, how they judge stove performance, and how they went about testing those performance considerations.
The last half of the pod is a convo covering a few of the stoves that stood out in the gear guide (good and bad!). As the episode unfolds, Ryan shares his thoughts on how design features affect performance, and Andrew gets into cost considerations. The guys wrap the episode with the champs: the two stoves that stood out in nearly every test. Spoiler alert: they aren’t the lightest.
Outline
Intro
- Intro to episode
- Recommend that listeners go check out the StoveBench Podcast and article
- What is an upright canister stove canister (how do we define the category)?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages to using an upright canister stove?
The Tests
We put the stoves through their paces. Not all of them survived unscathed.
- Control Test
- High Volume Test
- Wind Test
- Cold Test
- Stress Test
- Stability Test
- Compatibility Test
- Noise Test
- Ignitor Test
- Simmering
The Judging
All our stoves were special, but one one of them had to get the rose!
- Cost – %5
- Weight – 10%
- StoveBench Score – 50%
- Ignitor Durability – 5%
- Pot Stability – 10%
- Compactability – Â 10%
- Noise – 5%
- Simmering Grade – 5%
The Stoves
What stood out? We break it down for you (and discuss design considerations along the way). Â For an entirely comprehensive look at the upright canister stove market, check out the gear guide.
- The BRS-3000t
- The FMS-116T
- The Snow Peak LiteMax
- The Snow Peak GigaPower 2.0
- The Kovea Supalite Titanium
- The Kovea Titanium
- The PocketRocket 2
- The Soto Amicus
- The Soto Windmaster 4Flex
- The PocketRocket Deluxe
Feedback, Questions, Tips?
Credits
- Backpacking Light – Executive Producer
- Ryan Jordan – Director and Host
- Andrew Marshall – Producer, Host, and Editor
- Look for Me in the Mountains – Music
- Written by: Chris Cunningham and Ryan Jordan
- Performed by: Chris Cunningham (acoustic guitar, lead and harmony vocals, harmonica), Chad Langford (upright bass), and Tom Murphy (mandolin).
- Produced by: Basecamp Studios in Bozeman, Montana
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Contact
You can contact us at podcast@backpackinglight.com, or follow us on social media –
- Backpacking Light – Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
- Andrew Marshall – Instagram | Twitter | WWW
- Ryan Jordan – Instagram | Twitter | WWW
Disclosure
- We do not accept money or in-kind compensation for guaranteed media coverage: Backpacking Light does not accept compensation or donated product in exchange for guaranteed media placement or product review coverage.
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Discussion
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Companion forum thread to: Episode 11 | Upright Canister Stove Reviews
This episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast features highlights from our recent round of canister stove reviews.
Thanks, Guys!
Regulated stoves are great for >32F temps. Gas flow rates, where evap cooling often cools the can further (unless you use the higher percentage propane mixes) and sometimes drives the pressure down faster than the regulator can maintain full flame. Ice on the outside of the can will usually indicate falling pressure. The old Soto add in ice water is a bit misleading. Any liquid water, with or without ice in it, will let the can produce OK pressure. To me, regulators are simply added complexity (unrepairable in the field) and weight (though, mostly I agree that the half to quarter ounce weight difference is not very important.)
Too bad the BRS-3000 is such low quality. While I never bought one, I appreciate the unreliability report. Over 50% support structure failure (4 out of 7) is simply unacceptable. Nice to know. As you said, a failure in the field could be dangerous. To me, this is enough to fail the stove let alone put it at the top of the list. .
I’ve owned a Brunton Crux for many years and it has always performed well. I bought it because it had the widest burner and I wanted to avoid hot spots. That it folds is also nice for storing it.
I asked to see photos of the melted 4 out of 7…..never got to see any. No photos, never happened ;)
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