View Full Version : Coleman Apex II Dual-Fuel Exponent Stove
workboot
08-30-2005, 15:44
I`m planning a hike on a major budget and Campmor has this for $59.95 including the fuel bottle and was wondering if any of you fine folks have any experience with this stove.All comments/replies are appreciated.
workboot
i would make a alcohol stove or use a jet boil,single burner simplicity,or even a pocket rocket:cool: neo
http://www.jetboil.com/Products/Features
http://www.msrcorp.com/stoves/pocket_rocket.asp
http://www.brasslite.com/OrderForms/turbo1Order.html
Cedar Tree
08-30-2005, 16:32
I have this Coleman stove, and I like it pretty well. But, I don't hike with it. It has been retired to car camping. The alcohol stoves available now are much cheaper, and lighter. Take a look at brasslite.com.
CT
icemanat95
08-30-2005, 16:38
A lot depends upon what you need your backpacking stove to do. I have an Apex 1 which I cooked on every night from Georgia to Gorham NH where it got retired when I couldn't get a replacement for the main bottle o-ring fast enough to move on down the trail. It was a good stove. It boiled fast simmered like a dream and that adjustable leg made getting a stable set up possible on some pretty hair ground. It is more delicate than a Whisperlite though and it is bulky and far heavier than an alcohol stove. It also needs a supplemental windscreen (like the foil MSR windscreen).
I have a couple alcohol stoves, a Whisperlite International and the Apex. Each excels in a certain area, and all still get used.
workboot
08-30-2005, 16:57
Thanks for all the quick responses.I`ve got a few homemade alcohol stoves and they work OK, but I`ll probably be doing a little more cooking than they are capable of.This is gonna be a on the cheap hike with lottsa noodles,just add water mashed taters, ramen, rice , stuffing and oatmeal.
And icemanat95 thank you for especially for the firsthand review, its just what i was looking for.If i do decide on this stove I`ll be sure to purchase a repair kit and pick up some extra o-rings as well before starting my hike.
hikerjohnd
08-30-2005, 20:00
I just gave my Apex II to a friend who is beginning to backpack. It is a great starter stove - very reliable and pretty much indestructible. You can cook anything on it - I liked mine better than my stove in my kitchen. But – the whole thing weighs over a pound, before fuel. It is also pretty big and does not fold up. I do not believe the weight/size issue makes this an ideal backpacking stove. Now, I’m not a major UL person, but there are stove options out there that will be just as effective for the same price. It is an excellent stove – I used mine for years (about 10 years before I passed it along) – but you can do better for carrying 2000 miles.
boarstone
05-06-2008, 19:14
After searching for buying info on this stove, I can get all kinds of generator parts, just not the stove itself. I now find it is unavailable:(...I have Web searched until my fingers are raw...same result..non to be found...
One site says it's not being made anymore, I can't even get an e-mail response from Coleman on the subject...?:confused:
Anyone have any updated info on availability? Is Coleman coming out with a newer version? Is there a compatible stove? I want multi-fuel/coleman fuel type use stove using a fuel bottle/hose. Have looked at the MSR but the simmer issue seems to keep me away and the roaring sound...suggestions? My use...if I ever get to do it...a week on trail, I want comfort not light..thanks in advance
Doughnut
05-06-2008, 20:01
I bought one in the early 90's and carried it all over the world, using aviation fuel to cook coffee. great stove for the purpose, however, like so many others have reported, alcy stoves are lighter, cheaper, easier to get fuel and have no moving parts to fail.
I still use mine for weekend trips and such, not for long hikes.
DoughNut
4eyedbuzzard
05-06-2008, 20:35
After searching for buying info on this stove, I can get all kinds of generator parts, just not the stove itself. I now find it is unavailable:(...I have Web searched until my fingers are raw...same result..non to be found...
One site says it's not being made anymore, I can't even get an e-mail response from Coleman on the subject...?:confused:
Anyone have any updated info on availability? Is Coleman coming out with a newer version? Is there a compatible stove? I want multi-fuel/coleman fuel type use stove using a fuel bottle/hose. Have looked at the MSR but the simmer issue seems to keep me away and the roaring sound...suggestions? My use...if I ever get to do it...a week on trail, I want comfort not light..thanks in advance
Is this what you are looking for? http://www.google.com/products?q=Coleman+Apex+II+stove&hl=en&show=dd&scoring=r
I have one and it works well. Simmers better then any white gas stove I have ever seen. It may be more weight then many here would want to carry, but if you have to bring something to a boil and then simmer this is the stove to use. It came with a small spare parts kit, (O rings, springs, spare handle, and a check valve) It has never needed any parts nor has it ever had any problem in the 4-years I have had it.
boarstone
05-07-2008, 07:48
Is this what you are looking for? http://www.google.com/products?q=Coleman+Apex+II+stove&hl=en&show=dd&scoring=r
Thanks!:)
I think I have one of these stoves, I have since moved away from using it (alchohol stove works for me). If your interested in buying it, let me know, it has been used a few times, but not a lot. Guarentee you I can beat the price your going to pay, and I will throw in an extra fuel bottle or so.
Send me a PM and we can negotiate.
workboot
05-07-2008, 20:23
Wow I posted this in 2005. Seems like ages ago.....
boarstone
05-09-2008, 19:15
....Just heard back from Coleman...the coleman exponent stove has been discontinued.....:confused::eek:
Boy i glade i got two one that i use and a new in box:banana
boarstone
05-10-2008, 06:42
....Just heard back from Coleman...the coleman exponent stove has been discontinued.....:confused::eek:
Coleman replaced it with the fyrestorm Ti stove..they fancied it up to accept canisters as well:rolleyes:...like they didn't already have enough. Canisters are so hard to dispose of and you have to carry'em out...weather it's 1 mile or a 100.:(
Too heavy
Too expensive
Too many parts
I looked at one of these back in the 1980s (when they were only white gas burners).
Then I bought a Whisperlite. It's lighter, field maintainable without a bunch of parts, and reliable as a rock when kept clean.
I only use it in the winter now. I use Esbit tabs for short solo hikes and a cannister stove for longer hikes or cooler weather.
Wow! Posted in 2005! I didn't read the date. Same still applies.
4eyedbuzzard
05-10-2008, 10:18
....Just heard back from Coleman...the coleman exponent stove has been discontinued.....:confused::eek:
You can still buy the remaining unsold stock from stores and a parts kit though if it's really what you want. Better bet would be buy a used one (plug for unl1988) and a repair parts kit and you'll be all set. I've never actually worn out a stove. Just sold one(old Optimus 8R) that was almost 40 years old and it still works fine.
Cannister is my preference these days for convenience/ease of operation, but alcohol certainly is a good option as well.
Too heavy
Too expensive
Too many parts
I looked at one of these back in the 1980s (when they were only white gas burners).
Then I bought a Whisperlite. It's lighter, field maintainable without a bunch of parts, and reliable as a rock when kept clean.
I only use it in the winter now. I use Esbit tabs for short solo hikes and a cannister stove for longer hikes or cooler weather.
In 4 + years I have done nothing with the Coleman stove other then put gasoline in it and cook, no problems at all. I had a Whisperlite and it clogged up several times in the 2-months I had it, till I could find some sucker to buy it for $10.00. It was a very problematic piece of junk. Everyone always mentions how easy it is to take apart and clean an MSR stove, why would they know this and mention it? Answer is that they have to do it to keep the stove working. I have no idea how the Apex or my Svea comes apart, because it’s not needed to know this to use the stoves. They work every time without a problem.
Also people with MSR stoves (in on-line reviews) say it’s important to have a field repair kit with you, there is only one reason for them to say this is that they needed to field repair the stove to cook with it.