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300winmag
01-07-2010, 03:06
I now have three canister stoves:

>MSR Windpro Car Camping only)
>Vargo Jet-Ti (nice & light)
>Brunton Flex (Best burner & wide flame ring)

I've gravitated to the Flex for cooking even at 1.7 oz.more than the Jet-Ti B/C of its wider, more even heat.

Anybody else like the Flex?:confused:

srestrepo
01-07-2010, 19:20
i also was lookin for something nice and broad, i was using a pocket rocket. that thing might as well be a spot welder. anyway, i just ordered a optimus crux lite with the folding head... how do you feel about that vargo jet-ti? that brunton flex looks really nice too!

bullseye
01-07-2010, 19:22
The Vargo Jet-ti is a great little stove, but has been discontinued. Find 'em while you can.

nox
01-07-2010, 19:37
300- have you tried out the windpro in cold weather? I was wondering what temp it can run at since the canister can be used upside down. My pocket rocket it almost worthless at 20' and completely shuts off at 15'. Is the windpro much better?

white_russian
01-07-2010, 19:41
300- have you tried out the windpro in cold weather? I was wondering what temp it can run at since the canister can be used upside down. My pocket rocket it almost worthless at 20' and completely shuts off at 15'. Is the windpro much better?
I was just playing with my Snow Peak Lite Max and Windpro earlier in the week. It was 14 degrees that morning. The Lite Max sputtered and barely worked. The windpro worked fine with the canister upright even.

skinewmexico
01-07-2010, 21:16
How about a Snowpeak Gigapower? Wide flame, tested great in the big BPL test.

srestrepo
01-08-2010, 17:21
i actually just got my optimus crux lite this morning. i really really like it. BUT i dont know how i feel about the folding head part of the stove. it makes it pack down really small but. when there is a large enough pot on top of it it does move side to side a bit and its really disconcerting. other than that i love the flame control and it just plain looks good.

300winmag
01-14-2010, 14:16
Oprimus makes both their Crux and Brunton's flex. The Flex has one more pot stand and a slightly different folding handle. Also it "supposably" (As Joey says in Friends) has a tighter tolerance on the sliding collar used to fold it - according to some posters on other sites - but I doubt this very much. I've very lightly oiled this collar with Castrol synthetic motor oil to withstand

Both have exactly the same burner ring and both weigh almost the same, the Flex being a tiny bit more W/its extra pot support.

I really like the design of both but I got a deal on the Flex so I got it.

If you're using a ti pot it's really great to have a wider flame B/C ti doesn't conduct heat worth a d@mn.

Personally, after discovering this problem with my ti skillet I'll stay with anodized aluminum, like my 1 L. JetBoil pot. The new anodized surfaces are virtually non-stick and have none of Teflon's chemical issues.

Eric

toegem
01-14-2010, 17:14
Snip Snip
when there is a large enough pot on top of it it does move side to side a bit and its really disconcerting.
No worries been using a 1.3 liter titanium pot for the last few years on my Crux sometimes filled to almost the top and have had no problems just make sure it's on a flat surface or staked down.

RollingStone
01-16-2010, 10:24
300- have you tried out the windpro in cold weather? I was wondering what temp it can run at since the canister can be used upside down. My pocket rocket it almost worthless at 20' and completely shuts off at 15'. Is the windpro much better?

Its not the stove, it's your fuel. The fuel needs to be warmed. Crack open a hand warmer, get it hot and then stick under the base of the canister for awhile and you're all set.

tuswm
02-03-2010, 11:42
In the winter I take a ziplock container just large enough to put the canister in, then I put just a few ounces in the pot, warm that up. not too hot just like 75 then put it in the zip lock and put the canister in the warm water.

But when its cold out I usualy just take my white gas stove.

zelph
02-03-2010, 11:47
Canisters are ok but be sure to have a wickatized alcohol stove as a back-up. No cold weather problems with them, light easy in below zero temps. Canisters are ok!!!!

harryfred
02-03-2010, 13:07
Canisters are ok but be sure to have a wickatized alcohol stove as a back-up. No cold weather problems with them, light easy in below zero temps. Canisters are ok!!!!
FWIW Just recently did my first night out in the teens, and my hiking buddy's Pocket Rocket failed. My Pepsi can stove worked fine. I do seem to go through a lot of fuel in cold weather though. The stove cools really quick so when the fire went out you could refill and restart in a matter of seconds.

Snowleopard
02-03-2010, 14:15
Its not the stove, it's your fuel. The fuel needs to be warmed. Crack open a hand warmer, get it hot and then stick under the base of the canister for awhile and you're all set.
This might be too hot. The general advice is you don't want the canister to get hot, you should be able to comfortably touch it. Even cool water will raise the temperature of the canister above the boiling point of the propane/butane.

There's a bit of a catch with canister stoves in the cold. The evaporation of the fuel cools the remaining fuel.

The stoves that have a preheat tube work best in the cold. If they have a remote burner, you can supposedly use the canister upside down to pretty low temps. Then it's actually working as a liquid fuel stove. It has to have a preheat tube to do this.
http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_StovesTech.htm

300winmag
02-05-2010, 16:38
NOX,

Check out Backpacking Light's article on converting the Windpro's canister feed so it can be inverted, thus sending the LIQUID isobutane to the burner. This is the only way to get reliable cold weather operstion of the WindPro. (Ya gotta be a member to access the story - but the fee is well worth it for many reasons.)

The guy that did the conversion is BPL's stove tester and a very scientific guy.

Personally I own an MSR Dragonfly multifuel stove for winter and love its utter reliability in even subzero temperatures.

hal0ofwint3r
03-06-2010, 03:59
i have a windpro. haven't had any problems with it in the cold. works great.

hal0ofwint3r
03-15-2010, 18:50
ok, so i have to windpro stoves. found my first one that i thought i lost on the trail five years ago. anybody interested, i'm going to post a new thread in the gear for sale.