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Squeamish
05-11-2008, 16:30
I am finalizing my gear for the AT this summer. I was wondering what you guys (and gals) think is the best canister stove avaliable? I am not sure about the jetboil but its effiency is off the chart! Any suggestions...

:banana:banana:banana

rcli4
05-11-2008, 16:38
I use the pocket rocket

Clyde

sheepdog
05-11-2008, 16:40
If you just want to boil water. The jet boil is a great stove. It also packs well and it is fast.

saimyoji
05-11-2008, 16:45
1. :welcome to WB

2. Learn to use the search functions. Questions like this have been addressed countless times before and much info exists on the merits of nearly every type/piece of gear.

3. The type of stove that is BEST will be the one that is BEST for YOU. What do you want to do with it? Cook large complex meals? Boil water for freezer bag (freeze dried) meals? Fast boil time? Light weight? Works well in winter as well? Lots of things to consider.

4. I use the SnowPeak GigaPower and love it.

sofaking
05-11-2008, 19:48
my primus multi-fuel is the best stove and can beat up your stove.

sheepdog
05-11-2008, 20:59
my primus multi-fuel is the best stove and can beat up your stove.
Nuhh ahhhhh:D

Freeze
05-11-2008, 21:18
Pepsi can alcohol stove. Worked great for me.
Here's how to build one:

http://wings.interfree.it/html/Pepsi.html

Blissful
05-11-2008, 21:22
Pocket rocket is good but not in wind.

Snowpeak makes the best canisters, IMO. MSR is not that great.

Wise Old Owl
05-11-2008, 21:25
Pocket rocket is good but not in wind.

Snowpeak makes the best canisters, IMO. MSR is not that great.

So take a little tin foil with you! Nobody's stove is good in the wind.

Kerosene
05-11-2008, 21:29
I use the Snow Peak GigaPower-Ti. The new Lite Max (http://www.snowpeak.com/back/stoves/ultralight.html) weighs in at only 1.9 ounces.

However, if I was going to do a thru hike then I'd make the switch to an alcohol stove to simplify canister re-supply and disposal.

take-a-knee
05-11-2008, 21:33
I'd avoid the original Jet Boil, the new one with the inverted/remote cannister looks intriuging.

Summit
05-11-2008, 22:07
I like the JetBoil also and in addition to what sheepdog said, I use the French Press and make my coffee and drink it out of the same cup I boil my dinner water in. No need for any other cookware than a long handle plastic spoon. I've even devised a way to eat my flavored breakfast oatmeal out of the bottom cover (cup) one pack at the time so I can have that and my coffee simultaneously!

The cup with cozy are great if you freezer bag cook, as you can seal the ziplock after stirring and squeegy it down into the JetBoil cup and put the lid on it. Keeps the heat in very nicely. When done cooking, fold the ziplock back over the cup and eat right out of the bag . . . no mess, no fuss, no dishes to wash.

FeO2
05-11-2008, 22:12
Pocket Rocket...

bulldog49
05-11-2008, 22:21
Snow Peak Giga is the best canister stove.

sofaking
05-11-2008, 22:24
pocket pool...

rafe
05-11-2008, 22:26
Not really much difference between one canister "stove" and the next, IMO. They're nothing but nozzles that attach to a canister so you can regulate the gas flow and burn rate. With any of them, you'll probably want an old fashioned aluminum wind screen as the need arises. The wind screen needs to be deployed carefully so as not to overheat the canister itself.

The JetBoil is an integrated system that has its fans and detractors. Yes, it is somewhat more effiicent than the others, partly because of its heat exchanger and partly because it has what you might call an "integrated" wind screen. The downside is that it weighs more than it ought to -- that is, a few ounces more than an equivalent system made of individual components.

Tin Man
05-11-2008, 22:28
Depends on what you are cooking. MSR Pocket Rocket is a Bunsen burner with a tight flame - great for boiling water, but not much else. If you prefer pancakes, omelets, etc., you want something that spreads out the flame. I carry the MSR SuperFly, which only weighs 1.7 ounces more.

sofaking
05-11-2008, 22:30
new can stove: buy six pack in town. drink at campsite. forget cooking dinner and eat the firecracker sausage you bought when you got the beer.

Compass
05-11-2008, 22:35
I like the MICRON. Weighs 3 ounces, burns effeciently, simmers, boils fast, and strikes great. Jet Boil started with a MICRON burner and added stuff to it to make it heavy. The effeciency of the Jet boil pot (group version because I eat a lot) is about 10% over a "grease pot" but for 6 days that will only save an ounce of fuel at best. The pot is 7 ounces heavier.

SweetAss03
05-11-2008, 22:36
Pocket Rocket...is there any thing else? Huh.

Most of them are great. I like my Pocket Rocket.

Tin Man
05-11-2008, 22:36
new can stove: buy six pack in town. drink at campsite. forget cooking dinner and eat the firecracker sausage you bought when you got the beer.

I get a foot-long sub to go with my new can stove beverage.

sofaking
05-11-2008, 22:38
you are a gourmand, sir.

Bob S
05-11-2008, 23:26
Best canister stove? A Svea 123.


It may not be a canister stove, but it does have a tank where the canister would be.
So you can pretend it’s a canister.

Tinker
05-11-2008, 23:41
Backpacking Light (www.backpackinglight.com (http://www.backpackinglight.com)) liked the Coleman F1 cannister stove best of all that they tested, but a stove that they sell (and I own), the Vargo Jet-ti cannister stove was the toughest one in their durability stove. I owned a Pocket Rocket and it was very hot, but the flame was very tight, which tended to scorch food in a frying pan (pancakes or eggs). It's also taller and tippier than my Vargo, and the pot supports are somewhat flimsy (though they're fine for anything a solo hiker would use to cook in).

Tinker
05-11-2008, 23:42
I meant durability test, not durability stove. I'm up too late after too long a day.

Cookerhiker
05-12-2008, 15:31
Backpacking Light (www.backpackinglight.com (http://www.backpackinglight.com)) liked the Coleman F1 cannister stove best of all that they tested, but a stove that they sell (and I own), the Vargo Jet-ti cannister stove was the toughest one in their durability stove. I owned a Pocket Rocket and it was very hot, but the flame was very tight, which tended to scorch food in a frying pan (pancakes or eggs). It's also taller and tippier than my Vargo, and the pot supports are somewhat flimsy (though they're fine for anything a solo hiker would use to cook in).

I've used the Coleman F1 canister for 2 years now and like it. When the fuel is low in cold weather, it's somewhat slower.

Squeamish
05-12-2008, 15:42
Thank you all for your suggestions. I am leaning towards a SP Giga because I will have to boil water for lots of people and we will have multiple pots. i do like the concept of the jetboil but it is not for my situation. I am ordering the SP this weekend!!!

envirodiver
05-12-2008, 15:43
my primus multi-fuel is the best stove and can beat up your stove.

Is not! That's a rocket in my pocket and I'm not glad to see you.

sofaking
05-12-2008, 15:46
Is not! That's a rocket in my pocket and I'm not glad to see you.
is too! i had a wocket in my pocket once...but i digress.

envirodiver
05-12-2008, 15:47
is too! i had a wocket in my pocket once...but i digress.

Yeah yeah yeah...shakin the bush boss

sofaking
05-12-2008, 15:48
get your head right...

envirodiver
05-12-2008, 15:50
get your head right...

What we have here is a failure to communicate

sofaking
05-12-2008, 15:50
naw, i think we got it...

mcstick
05-12-2008, 15:56
Thank you all for your suggestions. I am leaning towards a SP Giga because I will have to boil water for lots of people and we will have multiple pots. i do like the concept of the jetboil but it is not for my situation. I am ordering the SP this weekend!!!
Good move. Spend the extra few bucks and get the one that has the self-ignitor on it.

take-a-knee
05-12-2008, 16:25
Thank you all for your suggestions. I am leaning towards a SP Giga because I will have to boil water for lots of people and we will have multiple pots. i do like the concept of the jetboil but it is not for my situation. I am ordering the SP this weekend!!!

A Giga or a Pocket Rocket is not the best choice for several people. They are inherently unstable with anything larger than a one liter pot. Something like an MSR Windpro would be a better choice. Like it's name implies, it doesn't have problems in the wind like the top mounted cannister stoves all suffer from (even the Jetboil from what many here have posted and the BL reviews stated).

sheepdog
05-12-2008, 16:48
It is a bit heavy, and pricey but the MSR Reactor can boil a lot of water fast. If you need water for groups it could be the solution. It is also the most wind resistant, bad weather canister stove I own.

Squeamish
05-12-2008, 17:43
Gotcha MCStick. I will have a giga in my pocket and it will own your stoves.

sofaking
05-12-2008, 17:51
Gotcha MCStick. I will have a giga in my pocket and it will own your stoves.
this kid is awesome, a quick study...