minimalist stove

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
Oh bummer. Billy, that's the stove I used on my backpack trip. Here are my minor nit-picks. For starters, at 9 ounces, and the size of a big can'o beans, it's quite big and heavy for what it is. I couldn't quite figure out the best way to carry it and a pot as I didn't have their dedicated pot, which I realize now is a must have. My biggest complaint was with the way the sticks are loaded top down in the stove. In my frantic efforts to keep my little fire going, I'd have to remove my pot...which would then immediately cool...plop in some sticks, hope they ignited, then put the pot back on. Meanwhile, my pot was as grungy as a coal miner's nose from all the soot and ash. Then, the fire would struggle due to an uncooperative stick that wouldn't burn. Then I'd have to fish the sucker out and try again. For three nights I farted around with that stove, mostly because of the semi-wet wood available.

Not quite as easy as putting a match to an alcohol burner.
 

86tuning

Adventurer
Nice! It's always good to read about innovative new products. Some will work great for certain applications. The trick is to find one that matches up with what you want to do!

I have a small collection of ultra light backpacking gear, and each and every design has its merits and its pitfalls. For winter camping, its tough to beat the MSR windpro canister stove which works awesome in cold weather.

For summertime multi-day trips I carry a snow peak gigapower and enjoy every minute of using it. Actually it works so well that I almost take it for granted.

For day hikes, I carry a pop can alcohol stove as a just-in-case.

The rest of the designs all work, but aren't for the conditions that I would hike in. That said, there's an esbit tab in my emergency kit.
 

madmax718

Explorer
that was one thing about the reactor I couldn't quite figure out- they made it a standard feed, instead of compatible with the upside down configuration for liquid feed? I have flipped the stove over, and it still ran- so might just be a hose needed?
 

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