Ultralight Camp Stove

[Aloha]

Many of you have seen this stove.  I've been looking at it for a long while now and decided to get one and see if it meets my needs.   It has gotten some great review and all things considered should prove to be a good inexpensive stove.  I like the Trangia and Esbit stoves as well but I wanted another option. 

Anyone got one of these $6 stoves off Amason or Fleabay? 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I've never seen one of those before

Sent from the astropathic choir.

[Aloha]

I've never seen one of those before

Sent from the astropathic choir.

Based off the MSR Pocket Rocket, same fuel, butane and propane mix but no where near the out put of the pocket rocket.

This one has the piezo ignition with some quirks.     

[zoidberg]

I've got one that is similar and really like it. 

[Aloha]

I've got one that is similar and really like it. 

Thats great to hear.  I've really look all over the net and the reviews are all pretty much the same, stove is great less expensive alternative to the Pocket Rocket.

[Aloha]

Fired the stove up and everything looks good.  I let it run on high and fiddled with the adjustment and found no issues,  it also fired right up with the ignition.  So far so good and all works as the reviews stated.  Pretty happy so far.     

 

[comis]

Aloha, that's a good catch.  I have read many good things about this, and with such low cost, really can't beat the price tag.

When I first read the post title, I thought it will be something about Trangia, which I have recent fascination about.  I now have both the Trangia and Tatonka(a stainless version, slightly bigger), am looking forward to get an Evernew Ti stove to see what's the fuss about. 

By the way, if anyone has a Trangia alcohol stove, I highly recommend the Ti stove cross-stand made by Evernew.  It weights virtually nothing, and can firmly support my 0.5L pot with ease, perfect for ultra light camping/hiking.  For not ultra cold(I use it for 0C, and it's still working fine) and windy usage, alcohol stove is really a great option for solo camping, especially if you are just boiling water to rehydrate freeze dried food.

[Aloha]

I also like Trangia/Esbit alcohol stoves.  I'm not ultralight by any stretch I wanted something that would be powerful enough to cook yet still manageable even with fuel.  I also had looked at it so often and just decided to try it out.  I can't see myself spending the money ( tipping point ) on the MSR one.  The value of this one performance/materials/price/satisfaction made this my pick.

[Aloha]

This little stove was a real champ.  At 5000ft above sea level and in mild wind and light scattered showers this stove performed like a champ.  You will be best served if you provide a wind shield but I had no issues.  This little guy lit every time I needed it to.  Its a great feature the ignition even tho I had a lighter and fire rod on me.  My stanley pot fit atop with no issues and when full (20oz) it was stable and heated IMO fast.  I didnt measure time as thats really not a massive concern to me.  I'm never in a rush to have hot water.

I'll be ordering a couple more for sure and at the price I feel its worth having a few even as a gift idea.   

 

[comis]

You will be best served if you provide a wind shield but I had no issues.
 

Hey, Aloha.  Great to hear this little guy is performing like a star.  You probably know this, but just as a friendly reminder, it's genuinely a good practice not to use traditional wind shield around a gas canister stove, since it may warm up the canister fast without warning and may even cause explosion. 

There is specific wind shield made by various manufacturer for their own stoves, but usually they just circle around the stand area to protect the flame from wind.

[jcs0001]

Looks like an interesting stove.  I find that in our area at least white gas is difficult to come by in smaller towns.  I have a multi fuel nova stove that will operate on kerosene and a few other things if I'm stuck but ended up going with a trangia as it is easy to find some kind of alcohol for it and it works really well.  Have also make a few coke stoves, cat stoves etc. that operate off alcohol.  It's interesting playing around with them and they work well for heating water (mainly).

John.

[Aloha]

@Comis thank you very much for the warning.  I actually was not aware so thank you for posting this important information. 

@JCS the liquid fuel stove are great.  I watched a great comparison video ( I'll try to find it ) showing the various options for use in these type stoves.  I was somewhat surprised to see the results.  I'll follow up on this and find the video I was looking at.


Edit I found it.

[Millhouse]

Typical wind shield for a cannister mounted stove.




I tend to just use my pack to create a wind break.

[Aloha]

Thanks Millhouse that sort of what I was thinking. 

[jcs0001]

Interesting comparison of alcohols - thanks.  I'm using methyl hydrate - it's not the best and one does not want to get it on your skin but it's about all I can find in my area at the moment.  It does burn clean and fairly hot so I put up with it.

John.

[comis]

@Comis thank you very much for the warning.  I actually was not aware so thank you for posting this important information. 

@JCS the liquid fuel stove are great.  I watched a great comparison video ( I'll try to find it ) showing the various options for use in these type stoves.  I was somewhat surprised to see the results.  I'll follow up on this and find the video I was looking at.


Edit I found it.

Aloha,

That's the video I have seen before I did my own test last Nov.

I have tested 91% isopropryl alcohol, yellow heet, crown alcohol stove fuel(from REI), Kleanstrip denatured alcohol(from Ace hardware).

At around 15C, crown fuel and Kleanstrip DA performed similarly, and they are the best for clean burning(all blue flames) with no funny smell.  The 91% Isopropryl was a terrible fuel(almost all yellow flame), it gave a strong chemical smell 1-2 feet away(probably a bad sign for all the additives that's not good for burning), leaves residue, and it didn't even have the same heat output as the other two.

I have repeated the test at around 0C(freezing temp), with both yellow heet and the Crown alcohol fuel.  Crown did slightly better than the yellow heet(a little yellow flame), but both output are somewhat similar.  The boiling time is much longer due to water is cooler and colder surrounding.  It takes around 1.5+ times longer to bring the same amount of water to boil.

[Aloha]

Thanks for the info Comis, I have not seen 91 percent Iso Alcohol and was really curious about the standard Iso as it is far less expensive vs the others and readily available.

My little stove has performed terrific and the piezo ignition has also performed flawless so far.  I was back hiking in the mountains mid 30's F and windy condition.  The stove lit fine but the wind definitely effected the output on medium.  The flame blew about and seemed to struggle and not remain "focused".  I cranked it up and the stove was good but a wind block/screen would benefit this set up.  I don't know how strong the winds were but lets say the trees were sure being rustled. 

I'm still very happy withthis little stove and have a few in my cart.