MSR cooking stove - which fuel?

Mutley · Jul 18, 2007

Gas stove

I bought a Coleman Alpine Stove. It may be a gas cartridge type stove but the cost of the fuel isn't really that important if all you are going to do is make a few cups of tea and a bacon sarnie. The advantage over most other gas stoves is that the burner isn't on top of the cartridge so it's a lot more stable. It also has a wind deflector as standard, comes in a self contained bag that also fits the smaller gas cartridge.

It cost about £30 and does me just fine for occasional use. You can buy a lot of gas for the difference between that and a petrol stove. Space wise you still have to carry a bottle for a petrol stove and mine won't leak! It boils a pint of water faster than my kettle at home and doesn't get all sooty. :thumb2

http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Coleman-Alpine-CPS-Stove.html

(RIP) Bobble · Jul 18, 2007

squid said:
Thats interesting to know as they only state white gas on the blurb. You've not had any problem with blockages then?

Non at all, it's worked perfectly. I do carry a maintanance kit with me, but I've never needed it.

Just noticed your not too far from me. If your ever in the area and want to see one working (alarming when you first use it.. petrol / spark

) let me know :thumb2

squid · Jul 18, 2007

MikeP said:
I'm with Tim.

If you are not going to use it much, why bother with expensive kit, just get along to your nearest army surplus and buy some mess tins and a hexy cooker.

A few quid at most.

http://www.farsm.com/hexaminecookers.php

It's not that the cost is going to kill me it's more a case of not feeling like your forking out when trying to live simply.

As the saying goes, buy cheap buy twice. A good stove will last and the better it operates the more it will get used.

I like a brew first thing of a morning so wish to be able to poke my head out of the tent door and get going with minium fuss and not getting smoked out.

I'd just go for the dragonfly stove but if I get a lighter one I could possibly use it when mountain biking too. Hence the attration and ease of a pocket rocket/titainium kettle -light/simple/neat - downside been buying gas cans.

I have a paraffin tilly stove which has served my family for many many years but it is too big and a little messy for bike use.

(RIP) Bobble · Jul 18, 2007

Doh

I made a mistake

said I'd got a Simmerlite.. I haven't, just looked and it's a Dragonfly, very sorry about that. I remember that when I was looking to buy one, I wanted one that could be used to simmer, thought I bought the Simmerlite, then remembered that I found out you could simmer with the Dragonfly... hence the Multi-fuel. Soz again

Bairn · Jul 18, 2007

Be careful with the hexy block option, they do give off toxic fumes - have known folk use the to make toast with and subsequent headache and poorly tum did nothing to improve their day.

Had an MSR shakerjet, heavy duty high altitude thing. great bit of kit, just be careful to keep an eye on the bottle seals, they do perish over time and a bit of coleman Fuel vapour can ignite and provide oodles of entertainment for bystanders as it self ignites!

Does look scary when first fire up if not used to it - SWMBO has banned the MSR now as the pyrotechnics don't impress her as much as me and now use simple camping gaz`stove for the brews.

shready · Jul 18, 2007

Bairn said:
Does look scary when first fire up if not used to it - SWMBO has banned the MSR now as the pyrotechnics don't impress her as much as me and now use simple camping gaz`stove for the brews.

I only bought my MSR Whisperlite International recently, it is a bit scary when you light it up for the first time.

Putting a flame to petrol is not what you normally do, plus, in the instruction book it says when first lit a soccer ball size flame is normal

Once you get used to it though it is a brilliant bit of kit.

andyclift · Jul 18, 2007

Be careful with the hexy block option, they do give off toxic fumes - have known folk use the to make toast with and subsequent headache and poorly tum did nothing to improve their day

I work for a military youth organization and hexy stoves have been banned due to the toxic problem. Also although they are cheap to buy they can be very expensive to run unless you have a source of blocks (military?) and are a bit of a pain for anyhthing other than a brew up.

As a mountain leader I have used most stove types including paraffin, gas, hexy, meths and petrol. For safe easy use the Trangia meths stove takes some beating but my preference is my 10 year old Whisperlite. Its been used for bike touring and backpacking in temperatures down to minus 12c and ALWAYS runs on bog standard unleaded fuel. 100% reliable. It gets a bit sooty but with unleaded at 95p per litre and easy to get compared with Coleman fuel (white petrol) at £3.50 per litre and hard to get, its a no brainer for me.

I have tried other petrol stoves but have found the MSR the best.

Wouldn't suggest them for the faint hearted and won't let my youth teams use them due to the flare up on lighting. Definately not recommended for inside tent use!!

squid · Jul 18, 2007

Well made my choice now..

After having a look at stoves in the local shop I decided I didn't really need the bulk and faffing of a liquid fuel stove. Especially as the cheap charlie gas cans in there were priced between 1 and 3 pounds.

I also like the idea of being able to boil the water for a brew just outside the tent as opposed to fireball distance away!

I have gone for a MSR windpro gravity fed one. Sold on the better wind performance, stability and fact the can be swapped or shaken in the middle of cooking.

Ordered from US with free shipping for £39 instead of £65 over here.

squid · Jul 18, 2007

Mutley1150 said:
I bought a Coleman Alpine Stove. It may be a gas cartridge type stove but the cost of the fuel isn't really that important if all you are going to do is make a few cups of tea and a bacon sarnie. The advantage over most other gas stoves is that the burner isn't on top of the cartridge so it's a lot more stable. It also has a wind deflector as standard, comes in a self contained bag that also fits the smaller gas cartridge.

It cost about £30 and does me just fine for occasional use. You can buy a lot of gas for the difference between that and a petrol stove. Space wise you still have to carry a bottle for a petrol stove and mine won't leak! It boils a pint of water faster than my kettle at home and doesn't get all sooty.

http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Coleman-Alpine-CPS-Stove.html

Thanks for the pointer, they were sold out but it did get me thinking.

squid · Jul 27, 2007

Well, my MSR whisperlite and panset arrived the other day from USA - no duties

Just tried it with about 2 cups worth of water - flippin heck, that boiled in lightening speed and I only had it on half throttle.

Sunn gas cans, only £2.50 for a medium size.

Packs very small and light - looking like a good buy

MSR cooking stove - which fuel?

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