Title says it all. I used tuna can alcohol stoves for years and in the last 4-5 switched to jetboil. Currently building a wood stove/alcohol fueled stove for kicks. What about the rest of you experienced Backcountry hunters?

Jetboil here.

I have a wood stove for my tipi that is made from a 10 inch piece of stove pipe. The !egs and 4" stove pipe fit inside. My bag, tipi, and stove weigh 13lbs. I pack in on horses, but still go pretty light. I have hunted for 5 straight days in a lot of snow and rain, three different times. It warms you up, dries you out, and keeps you hunting.

Well, my EdT Ti stove is great in my SO BCS tent. Even in the coldest, nastiest weather i have a toasty tent to sleep in. As for cooking, I’ve been happy with my Jetboil. Like to try an MSR though.

cooking?


heating?

I've been using the same MSR Whisperlite since 1996 without issue. Found an MSR Dragonfly in Cabelas bargain cave last year for a steal and broke it in last season. It simmers a lot better than the whisperlite.

Ah, the Optimus 8R (or is that the Russian version?). I have a Svea 123 which works exactly the same way but in a different design. They're a little harder to light than the cannister stoves and a bit heavier but they're as reliable as any stoves made. They're impervious to high altitudes, too. I think the Svea is still being made but not the Optimus.

A friend has the Jetboil system and while I like the simplicity of the system, those little fuel cannisters are NOT cheap. I use an MSR liquid fuel stove as it's much cheaper.

I should have specified in the beginning, I am asking about Cook stoves. The hunt I will be doing this fall, Lord willing, will be backcountry cold camping .lots of time to prepare and try out new gear before then

MM

I am in the MSR Whisperlite camp. A little cleaning and maintenance now and then between trips and no issues. I see lots of accolades about the canister stoves, but am ignorant about how well they work, gauging fuel consumption, reliability etc. Can someone enlighten us on that? Thanks

For cold weather and high altitude, liquid fuel stoves would be more reliable. Butane can be a problem under some conditions. Liquid stoves really limit your options. Optimus makes some really good ones but they aren't cheap. They make the Svea 123 that I showed above. They also make one called the Hiker Plus but be ready to pay over $200 for one. It's very similar to discontinued 8R that Huntsman posted. They make a smaller, cheaper one called the Nova but I've never seen one.
MSR also makes a well known liquid fuel stove.

I use a number of stoves including esbit, alcohol, canister and liquid fueled and I own but never really took to the jet boil.

For a walk in hunt where weather can be cold and at some altitude over a couple of days in length, I would go with a liquid fueled stove.

My personal favorite is a LAAF gear modified wisperlite international with the shaker jet, though any of the quality liquid fueled stoves will do well. The liquid field stove will work well despite cold and altitude, Its easy to track fuel use and quantity remaining and a well wind-screened liquid fuel stove is about as weight efficient as any for a longer trip. If melting snow is in the mix, the pot size flexibility of a liquid stove is useful.

The key to liking a liquid stove is clearly understanding how they work and how they clog, and being able to do the maintenance easily. Cleaning a jet or generator tube or repairing a pump are all easy, none takes more than a minute, but you don't really want to figure it out at 8pm in the dark when you are tired and hungry.

Canister stoves are simple and there ways to make them work in the cold, some of the methods are just a PITA and others are borderline dangerous, for shorter trips where temps are reasonable ( say above 25F) and you don't need to constantly judge how much fuel your using and have remaining canisters are a great choice..

For summer backpacking, I use an Optimus Crux, butane stove. That and a Halulite pot is the lightest arrangement that I can find. I haven't been able to convince myself that the extra weight of a Jetboil is worth it. Lots of people disagree. I have several other butane stoves but the Crux is my favorite because it's so lightweight and compact. Butane doesn't work very well when it's cold. The MSR Pocket Rocket is real popular.

I use an MSR Whisperlite International with shaker jet, for winter camping. It burns white gas and that works fine at cold temps. The Whisperlite doesn't simmer very well but it's perfect for melting snow and boiling water. noKnees is right that you should know how to operate them. Buy your Whisperlite at a mountaineering store and ask the store people to show you how to prime the stove. They use to have problems with the jets clogging, but the shaker jets seem to have solved that problem. I also own an MSR Dragonfly, which does simmer great. So If I expect to be frying fish or simmering a casserole, I use the Dragonfly. Another white gas stove that I own is an MSR XGK, which is built like a tank and is the favorite for Mount Everest expeditions because it can burn a variety of fuels including Kerosene.

I use propane appliances for car camping because they are so simple and convenient. When car camping, I'm not concerned about weight and bulk.

I also own a little alcohol burner made by Safesport. It takes a while to get going and it uses a lot of fuel, but It's absolutely silent. So if I want a hot cup of coffee while sitting in a blind, I use that stove. BTW don't use rubbing alcohol. It leaves a black soot residue on your pots. Use denatured alcohol. It burns clean and hotter so you use less fuel. But it's expensive. Like $15/gallon.

I also own a folding Sterno stove. The stove is cheap but the fuel cubes are expensive and heavy. It takes a real long time to boil water and and they leave a soot residue on my pots. I don't consider it a real competitor for the other types of stoves that I own.

KC

Alcohol might cost $15/gal but that's really cheap compared to butane canisters. A gallon cooks a lot of meals. The butane gas is cheap. Like printer ink, it's the containers that you're paying for.

For priming an Optimus, I carry a small bottle of lighter fluid. Just squirt a teaspoon down the stem into the bowl. It's a lot easier and faster than screwing with other methods. An eyedropper is also supposed to work well but I've never tried it.

There’s an attachment to run propane cylinders on your jet boils. And you can refill those.

Rocky:

I also own a SVEA 123 and I think they are about the most elegant stoves on the market. A friend owns an Optimus 8R like the stove that you picture in your post. Both stoves are auto-generators, which means that the heat from the flame warms the fuel to make it atomize properly. I've had problems when cold wind or snow keep the fuel tank from warming. I bought an aftermarket pump that screws into the fuel tank filler cap. Seems to help getting the stove started and in initial operation but after the pressure is depleted cold temps and wind can diminish function. That type of stove works great for summer backpacking but they are not as small and lightweight or as convenient as a butane canister stove.

KC

I've never done the calculations but I don't doubt that you are correct regarding the cost of denatured alcohol vs butane. I was referring to the cost of denatured alcohol vs rubbing alcohol. I should have clarified that.

I like the idea of using a bottle of lighter fluid for priming. But I don't mess with any of that because I just pump up my Whisperlite and let a little gas leak out into the bowl. Turn off the valve and use that tiny amount of gas for priming. Works fine.

When one of my boy scouts say that they can't afford a stove, I show them how to make an alcohol burner stove out of a Dinty Moore Beef Stew can. I use a cotton ball for a wick and I set it in a pie plate. I put it out by slipping a coffee can over the top of the stove. Probably a lot like a tuna can stove.

Decades ago, I used a Svea 123 a lot and found it to be a real pita with priming and lighting. The wick would eventually get scorched and need to be replaced. Hopefully, they have improved since then. I eventually switched to an MSR pocket rocket propane stove. The canisters are a little bulky, but so aren't white gas fuel bottles. A large canister lasted 4 days with my wife doing the cooking for three of us; her meals are much more complicated than mine so I think it would be possible to stretch a canister to 5 or 6 days without too much trouble. The stove worked fine at an altitude of 9000 feet and temps to below freezing.

I meant to add that on the same trip, my nephew used a little wood fired cook stove. It folded smaller than a Svea and used very small twigs for fuel. I was extremely surprised how efficient it was and how quickly he could cook his meal. It took longer than the MSR but much less time than I expected. We were in the dry Wyoming mountains so there was no shortage of fuel for him to use. It would not have very useful if conditions were wet.
Wish I could remember the manufacturer, but can't. I'll try to track down the name if anyone is interested.

Jetboil. The cup, heater, lid, sleeve, and a can of fuel are 16 ounces total. By the time you combine the weight of a pot, stove, fuel, etc for some other setup, there's no useful weight savings and a lot of complexity I avoid.

A mini wood stove / twig burner might be an exception but those are not legal to use here in late summer to mid-fall when I'm backpacking and backpack/hunting since it is still fire season. I don't think even the little solid fuel pellet stoves are legal at that time ... it is liquid fuel or compressed gas **only** by law until Dept of Forestry and USFS declare fire season over.

Tom

Does anyone know how much this Coleman dual fuel stove weighs? I can't find any specs. To look at it, it appears kind of heavy. They're supposed to work very well.

Of course you wouldn't want it for backpacking but for llama packing or car camping, I use one of these Coleman propane stoves. It's great for when weight isn't an issue.

Take a look at these. My brother has one that I have used a couple of times. Kind of expensive but worth it imho. It will burn white gas, unleaded gas, kerosene, diesel fuel, butane, propane and propane-butane mixes, even jet fuel. Almost any liquid fuel except alcohol. All with one jet, no need to change for different fuels.
https://www.amazon.com/Optimus-Polaris-Optifuel-Stove/dp/B00U8B9LSI

I bought a Svea 123 in the mid 70's. I used fire ribbon (napalm in a tube) to get it started. I think I still have it stored somewhere.

I've been using a Jetboil for several years.

About butane at high altitudes and cold weather...I've read that some brands of canisters now have about 30% propane in them. That helps mitigate the butane problems. It burns better in the cold and thin air.

Rock Chuck

The Coleman weighs about 2 lbs empty! It's a little heavy compared to backpacking stoves but works like a champ! Mine seems to only have two levels, off and full blast! lol

Cooking stove:
I still have an origional coleman peak(mid 1970s and not model in picture) Heavy but still use when a castor, car or horse is involved.
Minimal safety features and it has a unit of catching itself on fire if not careful priming but great stove. Not fond of newer models I have been around.

That said I have 2 MSR stoves and they get used when weight is a factor. They don't simmer.
Dragonflies are loud!

Alcohol stoves seem better suited for warmer weather.
Never warmed up to the idea of the disposable fuel canisters like jetboil but maybe I should.

SnowPeak Gigapower 2 - Very light and dependable w/piezo. Isobutane canister. Recommend the MSR canisters...better dependable blend at elevation and very cold temps.

D Power - Very light, very cheap, but very good, dependable w/piezo and flexible fuel hose. Isobutane canister,

MSR Whisperlite Universal - Heavier, but much faster boiling ability and higher heat output for larger containers of water or for melting snow. White gas. International version will burn almost ANY liquid fuel.


For isobutane users, recommend you cut out a circle 3/4 - 1" deep circle that fits the bottom of the fuel canister on a piece of foam to act as an insulator and provide more stable platform for the fuel canister, especially on snow.

I can't say I have a favorite. I have a few for different reasons.

This Coleman tank-top propane burner is the first one, kind of outdated, but still works. I used this in the Marines quite a bit. Not much anymore.





I bought a Primus Omni-fuel Ti for all weather performance and fuel options. But it's big/heavy as stoves go. It can handle a big pot though.



The Primus has two valves, you can really dial in the flame,






I've picked up a couple of isobutane stoves along the way too.

The Olicamp Xcelerator is fairly light, has it's own legs and fairly big pot ability.






Then the smallest I have is the Olicamp Kinetic, it's nice and light at 1.7 oz, tank-topper. Fast to set up when you just want to make coffee or some noodles in a cup, or heat some water real fast for a MH or something like that.



They all have their strengths and weaknesses.

We also have a titanium woodstove. The SXL from Seek Outside. Great for heat and cooking if you are going to make a camp.

I have:

Svea 123
Snow Peak Giga Power
Olicamp
MSR Whisperlite International
Gaz Cartridge Stove
Jetboil (4 of them)

No longer have:

MSR XGK
MSR Dragonfly
Hank Roberts Stove
Other Forgettable's

For boiling water only: Jetboil or Olicamp/Pocket Rocket with XTS Pot (works like a Jetboil).

For cooking: The MSR Dragonly, Whisperlite or my 43 year old Svea 123, especially with a Bunsen burner wire mat to disperse heat.

I think the Jetboil is one of the best backpack technologies of the last 15 years.

MSR Windburner
Jetboil Mini-mo

I still have my original Jetboil I bought when they first appeared....still works!

These both work very well. MSR is a manual light. Not a big deal for me. Most auto lights puke after some use, in my experience.

Yeah, the fuel is a little spendy, but everything we do in the hunting world costs money....

For backpacking, I use a JetBoil. My ignitor crapped out early on, so I just keep a Bic in the cup with the fuel.

Not sure about my favorite. My most often used is the MSR WindBurner.

In cold weather I invert the canister on a MSR Wind Pro.

Have also used: MSR Pocket Rocket, Soto ODR1, MSR Whisperlite, several iterations of the JetBoil. I use a Light My Fire striker to start them, love that little thing. My best advice on a stove is make sure you keep track of your boot laces when using the stove to un-freeze them in the morning

Picked this up yesterday to play around this summer on some pack trips with the boys.


https://m.ebay.com/itm/Lightweight-...g-E3P3-/131868475218?txnId=1455202882003

Good reviews and YouTube videos covering it, like I said something to try out.

Jetboil for me. It is just too simple, and it works. I've done multiple 8+ day trips on a single can of fuel. Of course, if you are melting snow for water, you'll really go through some fuel. I trust it enough to "cook" in the tent in if the weather sucks.

I carry one in the snowmachine in the winter and make coffee on the trail. On the boat, for a via, or hot chocolate for the kid. When I was building my shop, the jetboil lived out there and made coffee every day.

The igniter died on my original stove, then it was recalled and I got a stove with a working igniter again. At some point there was an igniter repair kit. I don't know what model I'm using now. The igniter is a multiple attempt thing, but it always works.

I mostly use a Jetboil Sol. Very reliable and the piezoelectric ignition is awesome. Believe it or not, I have run it in -25F conditions and it worked pretty well as long as the gas 'cartridge' was kept warm in my sleeping bag before use.

Additional stoves:

Optimus Vega
MSR Pocket Rocket
MSR Micro Rocket

The Micro Rocket looks promising though I have yet to really put to the test. The Pocket Rocket is just awesome, period.

I've never used the multi fuel stoves, but I am going to Nepal&Tibet in '19 and I might bring one along instead of a cartridge stove.

With straight butane, it's not only temperature that causes problems. Elevation is a factor, too. I don't have a stove that uses them, but these new canisters with 30/70 propane/butane might be the ticket.

Rock Chuck,
The only fuel I have used in my stoves is the MSR ISOPRO all-season fuel blend. That might be why I am able to make that Jetboil work Ok at low temps?

As far as the altitude is concerned I have run the stoves up to about 12,500 feet and they work OK, though not as well as at 5K.

That's a fuel with the propane in it. If I remember my chemistry right, that Iso-butane in it is still butane but it's a different form of it. Kind of like propanol & iso-propanol (rubbing alcohol).

+1

Canister fuel ratios:


Brunton/Kovea: 0% n-butane, 70% isobutane, 30% propane
Coleman: 60% n-butane, 0% isobutane, 40% propane
Primus: 70% n-butane, 10% isobutane, 20% propane
Peak1: 70% n-butane, 0% isobutane, 30% propane
MSR IsoPro: 0% n-butane, 80% isobutane, 20% propane
JetPower (Jetboil): 0% n-butane, 80% isobutane, 20% propane
Snow Peak: 0% n-butane, 65% isobutane, 35% propane

Recommend the MSR or JetPower for cold temps and higher altitudes. Beyond 10,000 ft, liquid fueled stoves such as white gas or kerosene will give best results.

While propane does work very well in cold temps, a heavier canister is usually required for its transport making it less feasible when carried on your back.

I'm with Montana Marine - I do most of my cooking on the wood stove! It serves two purposes - heat and cooking. I use a TiGoat wifi which weighs around 2 pounds, and I often also bring a pocket rocket and small canister of propane for emergencies and quick heated water. On a sheep hunt in the Brooks range I found that after a week or so the 2 pound wood stove ended up 'lighter' than a jet boil and canisters of fuel. And fuel canisters are also bulky. But best of all - on a wood stove you can cooked slow cooked meals like Zatarains red beans and rice. WAY WAY better food and no heavier than Mountain house and other dehydrated meals. And flour tortillas with baby bell cheese on the wood stove make GREAT quesadillas! Also the wood stove boils water remarkably quickly, and I actually kind of like the camp chore of getting wood together at the end of the day. In the Brooks range near Atigun Pass we found excellent wood up to 4400 feet and on Kodiak we never have a problem with finding wood up to about 2000 feet. Patrick

And I'll add that I like the MSR pocket rocket because it is compact. If I just needed a stove to boil water I'd probably bring a reactor or jetboil but those things are sort of bulky. But since I do most of my cooking and water boiling on the wood stove the pocket rocket while slightly inefficient is very compact. Patrick

Canisters that fit my old butane stove are no longer made. It used straight butane and it did give me some problems. In the cold, it wouldn't get hot enough to do anything.

Another vote for the wood stove. I have boiled, fried and baked on my Cylinder stove.
For a canister stove, I like the Soto.
Industry insiders have told me that most all of the canister fuel comes from the same factory in Korea.
I have found difference in the major brands of fuel.

Some more useful information and site for backpacking stoves:

https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-best-brand-of-gas-for-cold.html

For the last 10 or 12 years it's been a pocket rocket, still love the thing enough to have a couple spares , I've also bought each of my 3 kids one.. it does most of what I need. Back in 2007 our family of 5 spent 18 days in Alaska, most of it camping and we managed quite well with one pocket rocket.
Having said that I did pick up a jetboil to try as I found one at a great price.

The downside of the Pocket Rocket isn't the Pocket Rocket per se, it's the use of a conventional pot with it. You burn through more fuel than with a Jetboil. There's a breaking point where the slightly heavier Jetboil is "lighter" because of its miserly fuel consumption. However, if you use a Jetboil-style, heat-exchanger pot with the Pocket Rocket, it becomes a whole different stove.

Here's the one to use:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OJKI2...hy=9021322&hvtargid=pla-318225566106

http://www.olicamp.com/products-pots/xts-pot

Here's a thread I started about it four years ago:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8603507/1

What came to light is you have to use a Pocket-Rocket style burner that shoots straight up (like the Jetboil) to realize lower fuel consumption. Stoves with side flame (like the Snowpeak) realized little or no fuel savings.

That's interesting as well as helpful.

I go away for a while and come back and you goobers are STILL talking about the same things! +1 on Brad's post above. Four years later and I'm still using the Pocket Rocket and loving that Olicamp XTS. In fact, used it just a couple weeks ago on an overnight bikepacking trip.

Funny, I came here looking for the stove information we discussed several years ago, started digging through old threads, gave up and came to this subforum and there it was. That was a good thread 4 years ago that Brad links to above.

You guys carry on...

It's not the weight of the cast iron stove, but the 50lb sack of potatoes shifting that throws me off my stride.

Another thumbs-up for the Olicamp XTS pot.

Primus ETA pot is similar to the XTS, having the heat exchanger. We have a 1.8L ETA pot. Not exactly lightweight compared to some stuff, but not bad if you want a bigger pot.

That little alcohol stove I bought showed up today. Spent $16 including shipping , have to say I’m really impressed with the quality and the burner works great. I’ve spent more and got a lot less.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Lightweight-...868475218?_mwBanner=1&epid=711245563

Also bought this. Tedhorn makes a different version that I’m sure works great but I really like this so far.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Hunting-Backpack-Rifle-Sling-Holder-Fits-all-Backpacks-and-Binocular-Harness/281862259414?hash=item41a04cc2d6:g:Li0AAOSw6dNWTbyz

MM

I hunted with a guy who used an MSR Reactor, I thought it was pretty slick. Surprised no one has mentioned that one.

It's heavy.

This was on a walk-in Alaska sheep hunt. He probably brought it for its heat output and capacity to warm up the tent with two sopping wet hunters inside.

I hear very good things about the Reactor, as well as the Windburner. I just wish they could shave 6oz off the weight and add a piezo ignition feature-the titanium Jetboil has spoiled me.

Hikin Jim (the website Sheriff posted above) did a test of this theory. His results showed that its actually a pretty narrow window where the efficiency makes for a lighter overall load. Basically only works out that way if the efficiency allows you to carry a smaller fuel bottle (bring a 4oz canister instead of needing an 8oz with a pocket rocket style). As soon as you need the 8oz for the jet boil type systems, you're back to carrying extra weight. See below, its a good read.

Jetboil vs Canister Article

Having watched this topic for 30 years or so, state-of-the-art now is Jetboil, then everything else. Most find their upsides better than their downsides. But anyone who thinks they perform at 0 degrees like they do at 50 degrees has an unpleasant physics lesson coming. Is this a deal-killer? No, but it makes a dif. Some may be willing to sleep with a cold-assed fuel cannister in the bag. I am not one, though I have done it. My own go-to stove is a JetBoil. As for the cost of the fuel, by the time one gets in the woods so much has been spent for the entire experience that the actual cost of the canister is meaningless.

Best way is to have two hikers share the load, and not double up on the stove. In AZ, we have to carry so much water, or sacrifice so much distance, strategies like that make a lot of difference. Have never packed in once in AZ where there was drinking water at my end camp that did not come out of my own pack. Not saying it is impossible, but that's how it plays out.

The Reactor is the best stove on the market in my opinion... and that guy you speak of and myself have warmed up by one more than a few times together.

Tanner

If its winter I will likely have my snowtrekker and fourdog titanium stove. That's the best, but for backpacking I love my Bushbuddy wood stove. About five ounces, and slower than most naptha or canister stoves, but faster than any alcohol stove I have tried to get water to boil. I have several whisperlites, (which are pretty bomb proof), but prefer them for boat camping, duck hunting, etc. If I got into canisters I would look pretty hard at the jetboil type stoves. Pretty efficient from what I gather.

Love my bushbuddy though! Never any fuel needed.

Here is a random review of it.

www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Co...tra/Owner%20Review%20by%20Dan%20Feldman/

I heard that when you're in the tent, no extra heat is needed because you have enough internal capacity to blow the flaps open at will.

Going through some of my photos and found this gem... forgot I had it

Best? Silly concept...

SHTF...you're gonna be taking care of quite a few stragglers...Sheepdog.

You couldn't pay me enough to use that thing.... (bush buddy)

LC

I think he probably had a particular application in mind.

You're probably right.

Lots of happy backpacking enthusiasts would apparently disagree.

MM

Massive heat output, being mostly immune to wind affects, and efficiency are what I love most about it.... It is a bit heavier than most options discussed already but it's a weight penalty that I will suffer. This past August I used a single 13oz MSR fuel can for 8 days between a client and myself on a sheep hunt. That was breakfast and dinner for both of us, and some hot drinks mixed in as well... I don't think I could do that with my Pocket Rocket, but maybe somebody will correct me.

And I know all of the tents say on the label you aren't supposed to, but with the vestibule cracked for some air flow, that little stove will warm up cold hunters pretty quickly if you have the extra fuel and a nice flat spot to secure the stove.

Tanner

All I know is, I was impressed by the reactor.

My back is so screwed up I go as light as possible. Been using the redbull can/catfood can for years now with a ti mug. Heat water in the pot, dump it in a zip lock bag with freeze dried meal. Stick it in a beer coozie, let it sit about 15 minutes then eat it from the bag. Only thing to clean is the spoon.

I've cooked in tents for over 40 years... not dead yet.

If you want a real blow torch, try the MSR XGK.

To actually "cook" on, a Kovea Spider is pretty nice. But for whatever reason, my original JetBoil has seen more use than anything. Keeps on ticking....

I heard angels sing when I first bought & used a Jetboil. Inexpensive, trustworthy and fast.

MSR Pocket Rocket 2 with Grandma's grease pot...........oh yeah.

The bag sounds simple. But, I would not eat anything from hot plastic!

A cheap primus something or other. It works, and has so for years.

Some of the nerds on one of the backpacking sites did an in depth write up on it. They looked at all the materials and evaluated the safety of cooking in bags. Their conclusion was the name brand Ziploc Freezer Bags were safe. Other brands had a slightly different composition and weren't safe. It was convincing enough for me. I repackage my MH meals into quart bags to get the right portion size and to save weight and space.

Google freezer bag cooking. Book "Freezer Bag Cooking" by Sarah Svien has great recipes. Save the cost of freeze dried meals. Everything you need is in the grocery store if you are are not concerned about long term storage.

This book is currently available on Amazon for $990.51. FREEZER BAG COOKING

problem of cooking in tents is not asphyxiation but residual food odors that can attract furry visitors. I adhere to the triangle of cooking and eating area, latrine area and sleeping area. Store food 150 yards from tent with two locations for backup.

Soto ODR-1 for me with ti cup for most hunting and I have most stoves.

I have moved to a jetboil Minimoto for last 4 years because you can simmer. This allows you to cook game meat. Its worth it.

I love the cheap china made little stoves in the orange plastic case that hook to canisters. Can be found on ebay for less than $20 bucks to the house.

Agree. While having an MSR, SnowPeak and Optimus 8R, gotta say my little China canister stove is excellent for $13.88 shipped!

X2-normally use a snow peak giga but bought the cheap Chinese one off eBay for $5 (with piezo ignition) and it's been flawless.

I have the Optimus Crux, been very impressed with it so far.

Rock Chuck: Amazon Prime has it for $14. Where in the world did you find that posting? Your Google must be different than mine.

I searched on google for "freezer bag cooking svien" and one of the hits was this amazon link. If I enter the same search directly on Amazon, I get several hits. I do get the $14 one but I also get the $990 one. I sent Amazon an incorrect info notice. Usually when I do that, they'll respond but they haven't this time.

I will sell you my copy at half price - $450. I will pay shipping.

I have a msr pocket rocket. It works well. I had one of the ones that go on the top of propane and used a jetboil of a buddies. The msr is my favorite so far.

msr pocket rocket flat out works... also jetboil gets it done.

MSR Windburner here. About a 1 pound plus fuel. It's compact and real stingy with the fuel because it heats water very fast.

I was in camp a couple of years with some guys that were using a pocket rocket style stove and the time difference between it boiling water and the Windburner boiling water made a lasting impression.

Like the 4-Dog stoves... their 3 versions of Titanium Bushcookers are about all one needs, $105, $75, and one at $35. Light weight, can use just about any type of fuel.


Phil

Don't have the book but I don't get real fancy with cooking. The majority of my hiking is on the App trail and I resupply from grocery stores in trail towns. Instant potatoes and "Knorr pasta sides" combined with Tuna in flexi pouches are pretty much the gold standard for availability. Red chili powder and Mrs. Dash to make things edible. It's not good, not even up to MRE standards, way below Mountain House etc. The noodles are always going to be undercooked and chewy and there's only so many flavors. I repackage the Knorrs into the freezer bags before leaving town. Some people make their own freeze dried meals and mail them ahead for pickup at post offices. It helps to put the freezer bag meal in some sort of insulator while it's preparing, pretty much a hot/cold bag you'd get from a grocery store, a beer coozie, or your sleeping pad if you use a foam pad. Perks of this setup are you don't have to eat where you cook (or sleep) and your stationary cooking time only consists of the time it takes to boil water.

Me, I use a small little canister wood burner. Has a fan in the bottom with one C battery. Cooked a meal for 4 once, one fry pan, tatters, peas, ham. Used about 12-15 pine cones. With the pan on top there's a small opening to put sticks, cones, whatever burns, with the fan on high it's like a mini forge, on low nice steady heat, can't remember the make??? Made a stainless one at work one or two shifts. Its a bit heavier but is more stable. Other wise use the same one Rock Chuk put up, mines older & the Cary tin it fits in is a pot, & the top is a smaller pot !!! 🐾👣🐾👣🐾👣

I’ve had a snow peak gigapower for about twenty years and it gets used the most. Even thaws frozen triggers...

I have been on backpack Elk hunts with a Coleman Peak 1 that I bough at Wal Mart for under $25 and it performed as well as my friends backpacking stove from MRS costing much more. It truly is a lot of bang for the buck.

Sounds like the BRS my wife bought. Pretty much a miniturized Pocket Rocket... I was skeptical but the TINY little sucker works great.

If it's cold I still use the MSR Whisperlite Intl I've had since the late 80's. Just replaced a few O-rings on it... canister stoves can be challenged by cold. I just sleep with the canister in my bag which is fine in normal conditions, but doesn't help on a really cold elk huntin day.

My wife has been coming up with home made backpacking meals that she then wraps in waxed paper bags. I was skeptical at first but it works great and your trash is then burnable. Pretty slick. We rehydrate either in our Minimalist cups or in the above mentioned ziploc bags. Cuts way down on the trash compared to say Mountain House or the like.

All my dinner meals are freezer bag cooking and hot water for my coffee in the morning so I keep my cook system real simple and light..... Toaks 550ml Titanium pot and a BRS2000 stove, my old system is a MSR Pocket Rocket with a Snow Peak titanium 650ml that I used many years and they always performed flawlessly as well.

I kinda cheat when I go out for a couple days back pack`n on a hunt I just take some water and MRE`s that have the heater in them its simple and no fire smell and no mess to clean up.

We can't do that legally here during fire season which generally lasts from some time in June well into October. We can use liquid fuel or compressed gas only. That means it's not useful during our big game seasons. Later, when it would be legal, it becomes very hard to find dry enough fuel.

Jetboil cuz I haven’t had to try anything else. Space, weight, and fuel efficiency are killer if temps aren’t crazy frigid. When they are I keep my fuel canister in a watchcap in the foot of my sleeping bag which works like a charm.

Trangia
MSR

For boiling water for meals in a bag or coffee, MSR WindBurner is better than its Jetboil competitors. Lots of issues with Jetboils, too.

If you like to cook, MSR WindPro is hard to beat. It allows upside down canister placement and is super stable for even very substantial pots. Turns down to almost a flicker and cranks up to blow torch, and adjusts everywhere in between.

For a canister-top, space-saving stove, nothing beats the Soto OD-1RX WindMaster. It is #1 in the wind, #1 at altitude and #1 in cold weather of all these types of stoves. Soto also offers the Amicus, which is very reasonably priced and offers the OD-1RX’s wind performance but foregos the OD-1RX’s micro regulator for improved cold weather performance.

MSR will shortly introduce a new version, the Pocket Rocket Deluxe, that also has the cold-beating micro regulator and wind-beating concave burner technology pioneered by the Soto and will be that stove’s only competition. For now, the Soto OD-1RX WindMaster is the gold standard.

If you must boil lots of snow to make water or need to boil lots of water for many people, nothing beats the MSR Reactor. Hardcore mountaineers and extreme backcountry enthusiasts trust their lives to it.

Right now, I use the Soto OD-1RX WindMaster about 80% of the time. The MSR WindPro gets the rest of the duty sautéing up trout and mushrooms or frying up the bacon and eggs.

SOTO Windmaster will be my next stove, even though I don't have any complaints about my Kovea Supalight

Yeah, one can never have too many stoves...thanks for the heads up.

Jetboil and bushbuddy when I don't care about the hassle or the time factor. Gotta say, that bushbuddy is one slick unit for burning sticks. Takes quite a bit longer to boil water but on extended backpacking trips in the summer it saves weight.

Just need to boil water, no simmering and cooking for me. For a lot of years I used a Sigg Firejet and really liked it until I couldn’t find any basic parts for it anymore. Since then been using MSR Whisperlite with no complaints at all other than having to protect from the wind, same as the Sigg firejet. I just recently bought an MSR Windburner and have used it a couple times and really like how fast, easy, and compact the setup is. Never tried a Jetboil but read as much as I could about it and the Windburner, and the Windburner seems to be preferred by those that have owned both, so that’s the route I went.

Santa is buying me a Pocket Rocket 2 for X-mas. Gonna hand my Snow Peak Lite Max down to my son. Handed Down my SP Giga Power w/piezo to my daughter 5 years ago. I like simple. I don't like extra parts and chit to loose(which I do often) . Plenty of folks really love the Jetboil. I'm rarely above 9000' so I'm pretty excited about the PR 2!

Huh .. I'm a fairly dedicated jetboil fan but this windburner sounds very worth looking into. Good info, thanks!

Tom

There's a reason posts like this have run 70% Jetboil for a number of years now.

The little Amazon specials work great:




Perfect for hot Mac & Cheese on cold windy days elk hunting




CHEERS!

MSR whisperlite.