Need a new isobutane stove

S

soapboxpreacher

Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Messages
955
Ok, I need to add one more stove to my mix. I have a Jetboil...which I love but is only good for boiling water! I also have a Vargo and Trangia Alcohol Stove which I like but have there limits to for control is not their strong suit. Then I have a Primus Omnifuel which does everything and burns everything but it is big and LOUD! A Esbit...like it but once again for minimalist water boiling backpacking. And finally my newest addition an emberlit. I need a good canister stove that can simmer yet also boil if need be. I looked at the Gigapower but it has a narrow burner and would not work well for frying pans and so on. The Pocket Rocket is not stable for anything big and is also narrow. Superfly looks better and so does the Crux but I know no one that has one. My Jetboil is just not suitable for simmering...at all! I dont care what anyone says! Let me know what you guys think. I am trying to cover all my basis.
 
My Coleman Max Micro is a low end stove from the big box store. But it does have great burner control. I can boil water rapidly, fry on high settings, simmer and keep foods warm on the lowest setting. And it allows me to bake at fairly precise temps with my Bemco oven. The only real drawback that I can think of is that it is cannister mounted and i have to be careful not to overheat it when using it with the oven. I put a foil stove burner pan between the burner and cannister as a heat deflector and raise the oven up on legs. Quite a bit less than $50 and the cannisters are widely available. I cannot tell you about the noise level as i am deaf.

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I have a Primus ETA Power EF stove and it's fantastic. Super stable and the included 2.1ltr pot and fry-pan 'lid' work great. I'm not nuts about the Piezo ignition, but it *always* works (and i have several ways to light the stove if it ever failed!).

Here's a link:
http://www.backcountry.com/primus-etapower-ef-w-2.1l-pot-fry-pan-lid-and-storage

It's a great set (and i have a Pocket Rocket and Brunton as well to compare against - the Primus is hands down way ahead in *all* categories...).
 
Thanks guys! I like that coleman for what it is! 28 bucks at wallyworld! 4 mins to a boil not bad. Looks like it has a wider without being too narrow or too wide burner. 7oz so it isnt too bad.
 
I've had it for a while and have had no problems with it. No pliezo igniter, but those invariably break anyway. The stove, cannister and utensils fit in my billy can for easy carry. The supports form a 4" triangle. And other brands do sell snap on supports for the cannisters that widen the base. But I've never had a problem with it tipping. A really wide skillet like a 8" cast iron demands careful placement. The burner is about 2 1/8" across.
 
I have that Primus Classic Trail, a Snow Peak Giga, and an MSR Windpro.

Classic Trail - very wide burner, with pretty good flame control. The best choice of the three for really big skillets. I have cooked rice with it, too, and it does fairly well at low levels. However, with the huge burner head, you have to have a minimum flame level to keep it going and it won't turn down quite as far as the other two.

Gigapower - Great micro stove, and does surprisingly well for simmering. I have been on backpacking trips with a friend who used one to make pancakes and it did the job well. I didn't think it would be good for something like that because the burner is narrow, but the flame is spread well, and not focused like the Pocket Rocket. Not the best choice for really large skillets, but for 8" or smaller it works very well. It turns way down, too.

Windpro - My favorite of the three for real cooking. Wide head for good flame distribution, and turns down to a light simmer. Has the added benefit of being freestanding and is a lot more stable. I have dumped over pots on canister-mounted stoves, and I don't worry about it with the Windpro. I can stir and scoop with abandon. With the canister inverted it is a true winter stove, too. I couple mine with a Jetboil GCS pot and get efficiency to match the regular Jetboil setup. For two people heating water for breakfast and dinner, with some occasional simmering, I usually get six full days out of one 8-oz canister.

PM me your email address, and I can send short video clips of the giga and windpro (at full power) so you can see how the flame behaves on them.
 
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I was originally interested in the giga but past on it because of the narrow burner. It is so compact and the pot stand is very good. That is good to hear it does good and spreads a wider flame. Windpro 2 is very nice however very expensive and big. It replaced the simmer light and is quite awesome at everything. Classic trail is so cheap yet built very well for what it does it is hard to pass up.
 
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