I'm looking into the MSR and Jetboil right now but I'm looking for advice on stoves for the AT.
I'm looking into the MSR and Jetboil right now but I'm looking for advice on stoves for the AT.
I've used them all.
I like the Pocket Rocket best.
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
I use the MSR pocket rocket for almost all my trips and love it. I can boil water in around 2 minutes and the BTU output is surprisingly strong. You can also adjust the output for more fine tuned cooking. The stove attachment is fairly light and compact (around 3 oz) but the fuel canisters can get heavy. I also found it helps to use a stand (1.3 oz) as the setup can be top heavy. Lost a meal because of that once... I will most likely be bringing my alcohol stove on longer distance hikes as they are super simple, light and you can find the fuel almost anywhere.
I like alcohol best because its quiet.
I dont mind a ul cannister stove setup though. The way i use it its very efficient.
Some love jetboil for its predictable efficiency and speed.
Its really just preference and depends on cooking style.
The little brs3000t is a good cannister stove for $13 from gearbest, and weighs 0.9 oz.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 09-08-2015 at 00:58.
pocket rocket
I'm an old guy, so take this with a grain of salt. Svea123.
I see a LOT of Jetboils on the trail. Also a lot of alcohol stoves. I've owned at least six different canister stoves, and the Jetboil is the most fuel efficient, which is useful if you can't resupply canisters very often. It's also the fastest, though you are pretty much locked in to their integrated pot if you want the most efficiency.
Alcohol is much easier to find at small gas stations and supermarkets on the AT. One always knows how much alcohol one has left, while with a canister one often needs to carry a second one "just in case".
These days I am lazy and almost always bring the Jetboil.
Personally I use a DIY alcohol stove, but my opinion is that all the canister stoves are the same and you can not go wrong with any of them.
If you are considering a Pocket Rocket, then take a moment to look into the BRS 3000T --
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301638937494...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Small titanium stove that weighs just 0.9 oz, and at $16 I think Iit is the best all around stove right now for weight, performance and cost.
I bought one for a kid I've been mentoring and coupled the BRS stove with a Lite My Fire spork, and this cook set -- http://www.ebay.com/itm/151489824113...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT -- for a kit that came in at about $31 & change.
igne et ferrum est potentas
"In the beginning, all America was Virginia." -William Byrd
Yes, the pocket rocket can fit nicely in a pot.
If you are looking into the BRS300T, SectionHiker has a review on the same stove by a different name.
I find I end up using my jetboil more than any other stove just because it is so easy and fast.
I use a non-jetboil canister stove when I want to also use my pot for cooking over a fire. So then, I take a flat bottom which the jetboil doesn't work well with.
Being from the left coast, I have not yet backpacked the AT, but, I have read on many occasions that finding canisters is really never a problem along the AT.
If I am going ultralight, I take one of my home-made alcohol stoves, which also work fine, but have a much higher fiddle factor than the jetboil and are not legal in some high-fire danger areas.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
And a stove similar to the Fire Maple Mini --
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPESB0U?psc=1
igne et ferrum est potentas
"In the beginning, all America was Virginia." -William Byrd
I'm the odd one out - I like the Toaks Wood Stove. Works great and I don't want to have to buy, carry, or run out of fuel.
igne et ferrum est potentas
"In the beginning, all America was Virginia." -William Byrd
I prefer the SnowPeak Giga over the MSR canister stoves.
Lately been using a Fancy Feast alcy stove I bought from Zelph.
Lighter and quiet.
I've been using the BRS this past summer. It is strictly for boil and cook meals with a small pot, but for less than $20 it works well enough. It is not as versatile as something like the Pocket Rocket, but it fits a niche well (In my case, alcohol stove replacement for the times I want a hot meal in the increasingly dry west and with open flame bans...)
http://www.pmags.com/alcohol-stove-a...rnet-brs-3000t
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://pmags.com
Twitter: @pmagsco
Facebook: pmagsblog
The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
If I had to recommend one for someone else, it would be a jetboil. If I could choose one for myself, it would be an eCHS. The first one is easy and reliable. The second one is a PITA to build correctly, but is the most efficient and functional alcohol stove I have ever seen. Few have one. Few are willing to devote a ton of time perfecting the built. Only obsessed tinkers are. That is me. Obsessed and I love to tinker.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln
I used Zelph's Fancee Feast alcohol stove on my AT hike. Worked fine. Alcohol stoves are quite common on the AT. Fuel is easy to find. But, they are not as fast to boil water as canister stoves (I only saw one white gas stove on the AT & a couple of guys who cooked exclusively on wood fires).
I own tons of different stoves. All will work. Some are lighter than others. Some are more efficient than others. My current favorite - lightweight & efficient - is the Soto Windmaster stove (2.8 oz w/ case). The burner head is concave in shape. There is a raised rim around the burner head that shields the flame from the wind. The pot support is a separate item that is place on & then off of the burner head. Really simple to do. There is a guy on YouTube - Hiking Jim (Adventures in Stoving) that has a nice video on the Windmaster stove.
Good luck in your decision. When in doubt, buy several & see which one you like the best. [One gearhead trying to lead another down path of gear-geekdom. ]
2013 AT Thru-hike: 3/21 to 8/19
Schedule: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...t1M/edit#gid=0
I used to hate jetboils because they only boiled water...what if you wanted to cook soup or you weren't eating a dehydrated meal. Then they came out with the minimo. I love it. It works great and i've never had any issues.
Before the minimo, i used the pocket rocket. Loved it. Only downside is you have to get extra pots and pans or whatever while the jetboil is a complete system.
Sorta boils (get it) down to personal preference. Both work great and are lightweight.
See if you can rent them or borrow them from someone for a few overnights before you buy em.
I have been pairing the eCHS stove with an Olicamp XTS pot and a combo wind screen/pot stsnd. This pot has heat exchangers like a Jet boil so I have the option of using it with a canister stove without having to buy a whole new system. It's not UL but I like the versitility.