Cheap Utralight backpacking stove

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supertac916

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Sep 6, 2014
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I was looking on Amazon and ran across this little ultralight backpacking stove. Yes, it's made and shipped from China, but figured I'd try it out for $6. I got it yesterday and hooked it up to my jetboil fuel canister. It actually works pretty well and is very light and easily packable. Is it like my Jetboi? No, but for a backup or something to take on dayhike's in a small pack it works.
 
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There are many inexpensive lightweight stove heads like this on the market
I would go with a more known manufacturer
 
on my screen it says, "Estimated Delivery Date: April 17 - 22 when you choose Expedited at checkout.".......so that tells me they have a US distributor.

Hey...for 6 bux, why not? That device uses the mixed fuel cylinders though...make sure you get the correct fuel and TRY IT before needing it.

Boil up 1 liter of water and time it. Run the cylinder dry on a "medium" setting [if there is one] and all of your testing [on video] might make a good YouTube review as well :)

EDIT: This one is about a buck more and ships a little faster:

<link removed>
 
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druid189 said:
on my screen it says, "Estimated Delivery Date: April 17 - 22 when you choose Expedited at checkout.".......so that tells me they have a US distributor.

Hey...for 6 bux, why not? That device uses the mixed fuel cylinders though...make sure you get the correct fuel and TRY IT before needing it.

Boil up 1 liter of water and time it. Run the cylinder dry on a "medium" setting [if there is one] and all of your testing [on video] might make a good YouTube review as well :)

EDIT: This one is about a buck more and ships a little faster:

<link removed>
Click to expand...


Good idea, I only tested it with a Jetboil fuel canister and it worked well. Sad thing is it actually started up better than my Jetboil. I will give it a test and review and post it. Like you said for $6 it's tough to beat. The Etekcity looks exactly the same including the cheap factory case. I'll pick one up to compare;)
 
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I have two of these cheap little stoves. I use one of them quite frequently. They both work great, though. No problems. The reason I have two is that during the cold months, I keep one in each car.
 
I have owned the Coleman Peak1 Micro stove for years and have never had a hint of a problem with it. I suspect that it is made in Asia as well, but I know that it is easily replaced at any one of the Omni-present big box stores that cover the country. Cost is a bit more, about $20. But you can spend that easily taking the wife and kids to McD's for happy meals once. I don't think I would replace it with a no-name for the cost savings. And it is substantially cheaper than the more popular name brand stoves without sacrificing warranties, features or durability. With any of them, cheap or expensive, adjustability of the flame is an important consideration for me. A stove that only works in flamethrower mode is only good for water boiling. A stove with near infinite flame adjustment is much more versatile for a variety of cooking applications.

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I have a cheap Chinese stove. I don't remember if I got it at Amazon or Ebay. The flame is adjustable. It's smaller and lighter than the Coleman Max, but I've only used it a couple times so don't know how long it'll last. It folds up to fit in a little plastic box that gives it some protection from getting crushed in the pack.

Mine has piezoelectric spark ignition. I don't have a lot of faith in that holding up because I've had such bad luck with piezoelectric butane lighters, but it's convenient while it lasts.
 
To the best of my understanding there are two main stove makers in asia that have branched out from being OEM makers and are now really pushing their own product. One is firemaple, the other is Kovea. Kovea is pretty well known in SE asia and new zealand, and had made stoves for MSR and possibly Primus, and firemaple used to make un-branded knock-off stoves, but have started their own marquee as it were. I'm sure there are other cheapy stove makers around, and in a lot of cases you are either paying for name, or hopefully reliability. But at the end of the day, a butane stove is pretty simple little beast, as long as the valve doesn't leak and the threads are good, it should work for a long time.
 
When you say "cheap" and "ultralight", I tend to think of alcohol stoves. The famous cat stove http://www.supercatstove.com/ (get the instructions and template from here) is dead simple to make, but of course you need to carry some liquid fuel (denatured alcohol) and a wind screen. It will probably still weigh less than a gas burner + cylinder.
 
Daniel L said:
When you say "cheap" and "ultralight", I tend to think of alcohol stoves. The famous cat stove http://www.supercatstove.com/ (get the instructions and template from here) is dead simple to make, but of course you need to carry some liquid fuel (denatured alcohol) and a wind screen. It will probably still weigh less than a gas burner + cylinder.
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But BTU output is very low. So it has limited applications even if it is a fun experimental project.
 
Codger_64 said:
But BTU output is very low. So it has limited applications even if it is a fun experimental project.
Click to expand...

Yep - alcohol stoves have limitations for sure. But if all you want to do is boil small amounts (1 to 2 cups) in moderate conditions, they are hard to beat from a weight/cost perspective. And highly reliable with generally zero moving parts.

It will take 6-8 mins to boil your water with an alcohol stove, versus say 3-4 minutes with a gas stove... 4 for minutes to enjoy the fresh air and peace and quiet!

I wouldn't recommend an alcohol stove for melting snow in winter, but for solo trips in moderate weather / altitudes, they're hard to beat.
 
being able to turn a beer can into a stove is a cool skill to have. and worst case, if I needed to, I could use the last of the alcohol in the stove, and use it to start a fire above it without it costing me anything.
 
I actually picked up the similar one that shipped from amazon for about 10 bucks and didn't have the built in igniter on it, works great and less parts to break over time, so far they seem to be a great cheap starter stove, or for those who cant afford an MSR
 
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