So my wife and I have one of those $20 butane camp stoves, that we use for car camping that we love but I am a bit concerned about it's durability on our week long BWCA trip in September. We don't have much experience with it, and just wondering others thoughts on them?

Also, what kind of stoves do others have and like? I have no desire to pack around one of those big 2 burner colmens. Last year we used on outfitter and they gave us a single burner that propane that you mounted right on top of the bottle. We hated that thing because you couldn't adjust the flame on it.

I guess worse comes to worse we can cook on the camp fire which do most of the time.
Thanks guys

I like the MSR Windpro. It has the ease of a canister stove, you can adjust the flame, good stability, and its quiet. Previously, I used the MSR Dragonfly which has many of the same features but is liquid gas and noisier on low flame. The noise was annoying to us. Also, liquid gas stoves are a bit harder to light and that made it more likely that I needed to light them rather than anyone in the group being ready to do it. I like the autonomy of everyone being good to go from day one.

I have a Solo Stove Campfire. I'm also hoping to get a Purcell grill at some point and MAYBE a GSI dutch oven for a change of pace for some destinations.

Optimus Vega stove is what I have as of two years ago and its really nice. It's a remote canister stove so it sits on the ground vs on the fuel can making it more stable like the MSR Windpro. Also has a nice control lever so it's a better simmering stove than most backpacking stoves.

In general I would recommend a remote canister stove for the stability factor. They still pack down very small.

There are so many stove options, I would recommend going to a specialty outdoor retailer and discuss their offerings. If you are in the cities, Midwest Mountaineering would be choice #1 and REI #2 for me.

I personally have a few stoves. My tried and true MSR Whisperer is around 20 years old and has been bomb proof. I now use this for trips with 3+ people.

As of late, on my solo trips I use a Snow Peak Lite Max canister stove. Love it, light and fast as I only need to boil water. I am not a huge fan of the canisters, but this is a great solo stove or for shorter 2 person trips IMO.

Here is a link to some reviews. It may shed some light so you can see what type of stove suits your trip style and your food choices. http://www.cleverhiker.com/best-backpacking-stoves/


John

Pretty darn tough tough to beat the MSR Windpro II if you're only going to have one stove. Quiet, great simmer control if you're actually cooking instead of just boiling water, the wind screens and ditty bag are included, and lastly, the hose attachement swivels and you're given a little canister stand to flip the fuel canisters so you can use up every drop of fuel. I don't think I'd ever go back to using a liquid fuel stove where you're spilling it and getting it on your hands and gear.

If you find yourself needing to buy a bunch of equipment, here is a spot to save some money. The Primus Classic Trail Stove is about as affordable as camp stoves come but in this case it does not mean ineffective, unreliable or flimsy. This is a tried and true canister stove that simmers down quite well and also goes up to "rocket". Bulletproof design and a wider flame pattern than most backpacking type stoves that can help eliminate hot spots in the pan. I have used mine quite a lot and never been disappointed at all. In fact my buddy and I each bought one a few years ago before a trip and brought a non stick griddle with. Just found a flat spot for both stoves and set the griddle across both of them. Worked like a charm for bacon and eggs, pancakes and fish.

You can pay much more for a fancy stove if you want. This one works very well. Amazon price is $16 and change, also sold at Wal mart, REI and Cabelas.

Read the reviews:)

Primus Classic Trail Stove

We use the Biolite stove.

Here is my review on it.

Biolite Stove Review

A stove was the first piece of equipment my wife and I bought. About 15 years ago we got a MSR Whisperlite and I've never had anything go wrong. The only maintenance I've ever had to do is pull the fuel line off and blow it out when a small piece of debris would get stuck in it. If I had any complaint is that it does seem to have 2 settings, hot and hotter. It helps to open the wind screen up a little or place a piece of tin foil over under the pot your using to keep things from getting too hot.

Picking a stove is like picking a canoe or a wife. No one can give you the best advice, the decision is yours based on your personal situation. For me, my favorite stove is an MSR Dragonfly with a Dragon Tamer. Total cost with fuel bottles is north of $200, but fuel is dirt cheap and I can cook anything on it. It will even burn my Ecerclear or unleaded in a pinch. I carry a Whisperlite as a backup/secondary which uses the same refillable fuel bottles. Does LNT stop at the edge of the BWCA? Refilling bottles is cheaper than buying canisters, and there is less trash in the landfill.

I've used all sorts of stoves since the 80's and the new Gaz stoves are the way to go.
if you plan on lots of cooking get two.one with a blow torch burner for water boiling and another with a wide burner for general cooking.if your meals are simple the wide will work just fine.get a wind screen!
take one more Gaz cartage than you think you need as a back up.
Coleman fuel and pumps are a hassle and make-do stoves are a waste of time.same with stick stoves,who wants to beat the brush for twigs when you can screw on a burner and be cooking in a minute.
I over did it on a few trips and used a hose hook-up to my burner from one of the butane bottles from a table top stove.now I just put the burner on the cartage.



old method,too much hardware!


new system,the burner go's in the blue bag over a cartage so it's all in one spot
ready to use.

quote Bigbriwi: ".... Last year we used on outfitter and they gave us a single burner that propane that you mounted right on top of the bottle. We hated that thing because you couldn't adjust the flame on it."

This has worked on over 30 trips without a single problem. Flame adjusts in a wide range. Heavy, but durable.

quote Wables: "Picking a stove is like picking a canoe or a wife. No one can give you the best advice, the decision is yours based on your personal situation. For me, my favorite stove is an MSR Dragonfly with a Dragon Tamer. Total cost with fuel bottles is north of $200, but fuel is dirt cheap and I can cook anything on it. It will even burn my Ecerclear or unleaded in a pinch. I carry a Whisperlite as a backup/secondary which uses the same refillable fuel bottles. Does LNT stop at the edge of the BWCA? Refilling bottles is cheaper than buying canisters, and there is less trash in the landfill. "

+1 I love my Dragonflys and Dragontamers and no interest in changing. Great with a big pot of water or my jello mold oven.

First you have to choose whether you're a canister stove or liquid-fuel stove person. I used to love canisters for their convenience, but I have stacks of mostly-empty canisters lying around because I don't want to waste space on a mostly-empty canister but I don't want to throw them out. Canisters also work poorly in the cold.

My current liquid fuel stove of choice is the MSR Whisperlite International. It's small, quiet, and easy to service. It's harder to simmer on than some other stoves, but not that difficult. I cook pancakes, eggs, fry bread, and other things that require some care in cooking without any issues. It's also super stable, a characteristic that's especially important in the BWCA since you rarely have a good flat surface to set your stove on.

quote billconner: "

quote Wables: "Picking a stove is like picking a canoe or a wife. No one can give you the best advice, the decision is yours based on your personal situation. For me, my favorite stove is an MSR Dragonfly with a Dragon Tamer. Total cost with fuel bottles is north of $200, but fuel is dirt cheap and I can cook anything on it. It will even burn my Ecerclear or unleaded in a pinch. I carry a Whisperlite as a backup/secondary which uses the same refillable fuel bottles. Does LNT stop at the edge of the BWCA? Refilling bottles is cheaper than buying canisters, and there is less trash in the landfill. "

+1 I love my Dragonflys and Dragontamers and no interest in changing. Great with a big pot of water or my jello mold oven. "

+2 Dragonfly owner here as well. One thing I can't stand is partially filled canisters of fuel laying around everywhere. I think most of the negatives of liquid fuel that are spout off are pretty much overblown. Lighting them is very easy once you get the hang of it. If you buy from REI or Midwest Mountaineering, they have demos and will show you right there how to light them. I've never experienced a leaking bottle. Even if you did, it evaporates quickly. As for smell and sound, I find it nostalgic :)

The huge advantage for liquid fuel (and negative for canisters) is the performance in cold weather. I've seen canister stoves start to suffer even with temps in the 40's. As you run them, they lose pressure. This causes them to get cold and reduces their vapor pressure which drives the fuel in most cases. This is why you will see frost on the outside of fuel canisters when using them. Liquid fuel always works, especially on those cool mornings when all you want is a hot cup of coffee.

The cost upfront is a little more expensive for liquid fuel, but the operating costs over time are far cheaper. You can pick up a gallon of Coleman fuel for $10 that will last many trips. Two canisters of isobutane fuel costs near $10 and that's probably only one trip worth. Plus you will have partials that you need to consume if you want to get your moneys worth.

Remote fuel tank MSR liquid fueled stoves are my favorite. Have a version of each basic type from Firefly thru Dragonfly.
If you want to cook in camp the Dragonfly is hard to beat. Reliable, powerful, adjustable, it's also a bit heavy at 11.5oz, noisy, and expensive. Used are found easily at about 1/2-2/3rds new price. Noise can be reduced with a silent burner cap.

from MSR with roarer burner plate simmer with OmniDawg 6 row cap with a MidiCap 4 row Dragonfly compared to Brunton/Primus/Optimus Nova

butthead

"It will even burn my Ecerclear or unleaded in a pinch." Wables

If you mean burn alcohol, NO IT WILL NOT SAFELY and is not recommended by MSR.
Auto fuel can be used but has it hazards also from clogging and sooty burn to poisonous fumes (much more than CO).

butthead

I did pretty exhaustive research trying to find a stove that would reliably simmer at a very low temperature as well as blast hot for boiling water and frying and was dead reliable. I ended up with a Primus Omnifuel and it's a heck of a product. Except for the noise its as good as my high quality range at home. Not only do I use it on my canoe and hunting trips, I cook with it outside all summer on my grill for stinky things like Fish Fry's and bacon etc. It is stable enough to hold my 25# cast dutch oven at home no problem. I've used a host of other backpacking stoves and darn near every single one of them it's hard not to burn stuff like rice that really needs to be simmered low. I think a lot of campers just want something that boils. I really like to cook and eat and making high quality meals in the woods is part of the fun for me. It comes with a bunch of parts for maintenance and cooking with various types of fuel. I stick with white gas only, but it's nice to have other options.

For the Whisperlite fans. If you want this model stove to simmer look for a used pre-shaker jet model.
these used a golf tee style jet and small diameter pre-heat fuel line. Feed it clean white gas/Coleman fuel and it will simmer almost as well as a Dragonfly.

butthead

Hey it's crappy outside and I'm bored waiting for some parts to rebuild a Rapidfire and convert it to multifuel canister or liquid.

butthead

"Picking a stove is like picking a canoe or a wife. No one can give you the best advice, the decision is yours based on your personal situation."

You clearly haven't met my wife.

butthead: Have I been this stupid all of these years in my quest for a somewhat lighter but still reliable and bomb-proof stove for our men's group? For years, we have been bringing the usual MSR bottles filled with Coleman gas for our 1-burner Dual Fuel 533, and lately have experimented a bit with an Xpedition 2-burner (discontinued), which you re-configured for me for use with isobutane/propane canisters.

The weight and cost of the canisters was a bit off-putting, but the novelty of a DIY project in the wild was a kick. And the combined weight of the 533 and fuel bottles is no slouch, either.

So, whenever I thought 'lightweight backpacking stoves,' I only thought of those requiring canisters, like a PocketRocket or a WindPro. It took your posted pictures to finally realize that MSR has lightweight stoves that run directly off of bottles of white gas. Perhaps these are the options I have always been desiring, and they've only available for -- I dunno -- maybe the past few decades? Where have I been all of these years?

Am I blinding you with the lightbulb finally going on over my head? Sheesh.

I'm very happy with the MSR Dragonfly as well. Pretty easy to use, very stable, and flame very adjustable.
I have no idea what a DragonTamer is, will have to look that up.

I converted from the MSR Whisperlite, which I used for a good 20 years to an MSR Pocket Rocket because liquid fuel just has too many ways it can go wrong... leaks, spills, etc. The stove itself never failed - but I have seen a lot of problems with storage and transportation of the fuel.

The Pocket Rocket is small, but big enough to support a small frying pan, and it does have an adjustable flame. It's not a full range... it's pretty much full blast, not quite full blast, and off... but I've used it to cook a steak or chicken tacos or hot dogs before. It didn't work well for scrambled eggs, as that really requires very low heat to be done properly.

I don't do a lot of "cooking" whilst camping, though - mostly boiling water for freeze dried meals or doing an easy chicken tacos recipe from pre-cooked chicken, so the Pocket Rocket works for my needs. I can see how you'd want to have something a little more adjustable for other needs.

But... the LP cannisters are WAY better than Coleman liquid fuel for my needs. It's easier to get the stove running... no fuel transfer, no pumping for air pressure, there's nothing to foul the process, and good luck buying a can of Coleman fuel that's not way bigger than you need for one trip if you're travelling by plane. I've also wondered if I would have to resort to using unleaded gasoline because I couldn't find an outdoors store that sold Coleman fuel or an equivalent before going in to a hiking trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I never have trouble finding LP cannisters no matter how small or remote the gear store is.

I've never personally had a problem with getting an LP stove working in cold weather, and that's including December trips to the North Rim when the temps were down to 8 degrees, but it is well known that it does become an issue in bitterly cold weather. If you warm up the canister in your sleeping bag for a few minutes before you get up to make breakfast, and use a windscreen, it'll be fine. It's not the cold air that's the problem, it's the gas in the can getting too cold that causes problems. You might have some issues with it in late fall/winter trips in BWCA.

Here ya go Howard, BernieDawg Shapeways or i.Materialize Gary Adams
I do not have a DragonTamer but use similar caps by Bernie Dawg/Gary Adams.

butthead

MSR Liquid Fuel Stoves
So, which one(s) do I buy? Gawd, this web site always winds up costing me...

quote schweady: "MSR Liquid Fuel Stoves
Which one(s) do I buy? Gawd, this web site always winds up costing me...
"

I thought Butthead was pretty clear in his meaning: you should buy ALL of them.

I've had a Whisperlite Shaker Jet for about 15 years and it has worked well for me, though I dislike the lack of flame control. I do like white gas as it allows me to bring as much or little as I need. I've had two mishaps over the years. Once in cold weather when the plunger stem thingy snapped leaving me no way to preasurize the fuel (this could have been a fluke), and once I tried to use a generic, non-MSR fuel bottle that looked the same but had a rim that could not hold pressure and leaked (user error!). Otherwise I'm happy with it and see no need to replace any time soon, though I am sure the newer ones are better.

quote schweady: "MSR Liquid Fuel Stoves
So, which one(s) do I buy? Gawd, this web site always winds up costing me...
"

Take yer pick---------left to right, FireFly, Whisperlite 600, Whisperlite, Simmerlite, XGK II, DragonFly. And a couple of canister stoves RapidFire, WindPro, PocketRocket.

I have others, duplicates and different makers, but I do not collect those. Heck even a few alcohol burners, favorite types are wick pad and wick fancee feest.

Most all stoves are so reliable that I buy only used.

Real "stove geek" I am! Even video boil tests Nova vs Dragonfly-, Pocket Rocket boil

Enough of my demented drivel--------I'll email ya.

butthead

MSR Windpro and Superfly here. Both have been VERY good for us. Canister stoves are crazy easy, crazy reliable and very efficient.

There seems to be a lack of Primus devotees in this string. I'm also shopping around for a new stove and see that MSR seems to be really popular and Primus not so much. The Primus doesn't have the options that MSR puts out and seems to be more spendy for the liquid fuel stoves compared to MSR. Anybody have any insite into this observation?

there is a two burner Exponent that look like it is set up to use a MSR bottle and pump at the place on Lake Street that sells used camp gear.
I looked it over but I don't have any use for a two burner stove.i bought a Trangia Storm Cooker instead.
butthead I like your ammo collection,i have a 30mm around someplace.

quote wetcanoedog: " there is a two burner Exponent that look like it is set up to use a MSR bottle and pump at the place on Lake Street that sells used camp gear.
I looked it over but I don't have any use for a two burner stove.i bought a Trangia Storm Cooker instead.
butthead I like your ammo collection,i have a 30mm around someplace."

I have converted 2 burner Exponent stoves to standard canister from the discontinued PowerMax, without a better preheat (the pre-heat loops on these are soild brass), liquid may be dicey for startup. The casings from a variety of rounds get use as circle punches for gaskets and such. The 25mm is perfect for the preheat pads on Whisperlites, cut from carbon felt replacing the woven pre-heat from MSR. The Storm Cooker is quite the set, good with a variety of burners!

butthead

Thanks guys, looks like I have a lot of options.

quote Bigbriwi: "Thanks guys, looks like I have a lot of options.
"

I live in Burlington WI if you want could get together to swap info on stoves.

butthead

Long time whisperlite user here.

Whisperlite 1 pump simmer:
This works on shaker jet models.
Get your food boiling and then disconnect the fuel bottle from the stove. With the bottle safely away from flame sources, loosen the pump to let the pressure out of the bottle. Screw the pump back in and pump ONCE or TWICE if the fuel level is low and then reconnect to the stove. The stove is still hot, and will relight immediately with a perfect simmering flame. Pump once at a time when the flame gets low.

quote BuckFlicks: "I converted from the MSR Whisperlite, which I used for a good 20 years to an MSR Pocket Rocket because liquid fuel just has too many ways it can go wrong... leaks, spills, etc. The stove itself never failed - but I have seen a lot of problems with storage and transportation of the fuel.


The Pocket Rocket is small, but big enough to support a small frying pan, and it does have an adjustable flame. It's not a full range... it's pretty much full blast, not quite full blast, and off... but I've used it to cook a steak or chicken tacos or hot dogs before. It didn't work well for scrambled eggs, as that really requires very low heat to be done properly.


I don't do a lot of "cooking" whilst camping, though - mostly boiling water for freeze dried meals or doing an easy chicken tacos recipe from pre-cooked chicken, so the Pocket Rocket works for my needs. I can see how you'd want to have something a little more adjustable for other needs.


But... the LP cannisters are WAY better than Coleman liquid fuel for my needs. It's easier to get the stove running... no fuel transfer, no pumping for air pressure, there's nothing to foul the process, and good luck buying a can of Coleman fuel that's not way bigger than you need for one trip if you're travelling by plane. I've also wondered if I would have to resort to using unleaded gasoline because I couldn't find an outdoors store that sold Coleman fuel or an equivalent before going in to a hiking trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I never have trouble finding LP cannisters no matter how small or remote the gear store is.


I've never personally had a problem with getting an LP stove working in cold weather, and that's including December trips to the North Rim when the temps were down to 8 degrees, but it is well known that it does become an issue in bitterly cold weather. If you warm up the canister in your sleeping bag for a few minutes before you get up to make breakfast, and use a windscreen, it'll be fine. It's not the cold air that's the problem, it's the gas in the can getting too cold that causes problems. You might have some issues with it in late fall/winter trips in BWCA.


"

LP is a way different beast than the isobutane most of these canister stoves are running off of. LP has a way lower boiling point than isobutane (-44F vs 11F) so performs much better in cold temps. Case in point, all the ice fisherman using LP heaters in frigid subzero temps. The problem is that LP requires a much more substantial bottle than isobutane since it requires higher pressure to stay liquid. This is why LP bottles are so heavy and cumbersome. Isobutane doesn't require as much pressure to stay liquid so the canisters are much thinner and lighter. This why you can generally puncture and crush them like a beer can when finished. Well a heavy duty beer can. This is what makes it suitable to the light weight back packing crowd.

White gas gives you much more energy per volume as well. LP is something around 25,000 BTU/L. I couldn't find the data published for white gas specifically, but gasoline would be similar, probably a little lower at 33,000 BTU/L.

I get the convenience factor from a usage stand point to some. I just don't think that small benefit outweighs all the benefits of a good liquid fuel stove.

Walleye6, here is a fuel comparison chart, listing BUT per pound weight amoung other info (scroll down the page a bit). Zen Stoves

Coleman fuel is lower than isobutane by a bit. Something else to consider liquid fuels are sold and measured/sold by volume, an ounce volume of Coleman fuel weighs .8oz. Compressed gas like isobutane is measured/sold by weight.

I regularly use both fuels and others. I find an 11oz MSR/Sigg bottle holds 10oz of fuel by weight (full), and will cook as much in the field as a 8oz isobutane canister.
13.3 oz for full canister
14.3oz for full tank and pump (fair comparison of fuel delivery systems)

It's difficult to quantify the fuel to be used as all varieties have very different support systems. Canisters seem great till you need to carry the empties out, liquid gas uses a slightly heavier stove but fuel management is easier and the empties actually weigh less per amount used, alcohol has a huge fan base, it's simple, quiet, very light weight till you add up the fuel used to cook the same amounts of food.

Lot of information is available but nothing beats personal use and direct comparisons. Too often personal use anecdotes become stated facts to be misinterpreted latter. Such as the comment about simmering with a PocketRocket, Bigbriwi may have had problems simmering one, but mine (have 2, used others), simmer to a whisper and I have video showing that. Honestly out of about a dozen canister stoves I've owned, used, sold, all simmered better than a home gas range.

Here I'm droning on again still crappy outside. I'm sitting in a pile of gear and do not want to get cold and muddy. Time to walk into town get some o-rings got a Primus ErgoPump to rebuild.

butthead

I totally agree with lindylair on the Primus Classic Trail Stove. Very, very affordable and dependable. Not tiny. Not big. Forget tiny pots; does better with 6" or over. Need to take some caution to buffer when packing it--as with many of the older backpacker stove designs.

No love for jetboil in this thread? I've got a 15 year old kit with the old fluxring setup. It fits my spoon, fork, spatula, scraper, burner, canister, and stand all inside the pot. Can't even weigh two pounds.

quote StreetDreams56: "No love for jetboil in this thread? "

I love Jetboil, but it's a one-trick pony (at least the one I have used - I understand they have some more versatile models now.) If I'm ONLY boiling water on a trip, the Jetboil is the one. I like ramen noodles, and that's not easy to accomplish in my tall jet boil pot.

To Walleye6 - you're absolutely right. But I was (mistakenly) referring to LP as the group of liquid petroleum gas fuels, not liquid propane gas specifically. I typically use IsoPro from MSR, which is a mixture of propane and isobutane, allowing for a lighter can than pure propane, but a lower boiling point than pure isobutane.

I acknowledge the advantages of white gas liquid stoves, but I prefer the convenience of LPG over coleman/white gas fuel stoves, simply due to my general preference for ease and convenience over muss and fuss.

I find myself in the same boat. My old liquid gas stove finally pooped out so I started the search. Also I need to put my gear on a serious diet - have been packing in too many lbs / kg.

That being said I have been kicking this around - A wood gasifing stove. I planned to buy one for trial, then found a home made model. Two cans ( a one quart paint can - new and a 16oz progresso soup can and a couple minutes with a drill and had this:) A small handful of split wood - 3" long and it burns for 12-17 minutes and can be reloaded, and boiled 1/2 liter hard in 6 minutes. Total weight 6 oz and no need to pack fuel. Notice the flame comes from the side holes on top. Not truly smoke free but very low smoke and very efficient.

quote wetcanoedog: " there is a two burner Exponent that look like it is set up to use a MSR bottle and pump at the place on Lake Street that sells used camp gear.
I looked it over but I don't have any use for a two burner stove."

Those two-burner Exponents have always seemed interesting to me. I trip with larger groups and sometimes have use for 2 burners - I've taken two liquid-fuel MSR stoves on a couple trips to accomplish this, but it seems like there's some redundancy associated with this setup.

I'd definitely consider a backpacking-style 2-burner if I could find one. The Jetboil Genesis is on my "watch list", but it seems to get really mixed reviews. I'm keeping my eye on it, hoping they work the bugs out as the current unit is 5# lighter than my green Coleman suitcase.

The Exponent is the only other non-suitcase style 2-burner I've seen. So what's the story on them? Is this something they'd ever revive, or is the concept just a non-starter? Maybe it just wasn't real popular?

The Coleman Exponent Xpedition Stove and single burner stoves used Coleman PowerMax canisters discontinued several years ago. Many can be found but are kind of useless without the fuel canisters. An adapter was made by Coleman also discontinued, problems with leaking due to the plastic collar and o-ring failures. I have done a few conversions to common canisters like MSR IsoPro. The fuel lines from Coleman are prone to kinks and failures, but the fuel system can be fully redone and a Lindal canister valve used. They work well but remain somewhat fragile. I've only done conversion on already owned and used 2 burners, and do not recommend finding one just for converting. Going with 2 new burners I feel is a better option.
Link to 2 burner conversion


I have run them on white gas by using a Primus ErgoPump and MSR fuel bottle, but lighting and pre-heating is a big problem, the pre-heat loops above the burners are solid brass and take too long to vaporize the fuel.

butthead

Hey, Ken - just got a Dragonfly. Can you fill me in on the "silent burner cap"? Where can I pick one up. MSR didn't mention that on their site. Thanks.

quote johnMN: "Hey, Ken - just got a Dragonfly. Can you fill me in on the "silent burner cap"? Where can I pick one up. MSR didn't mention that on their site. Thanks."

Here are some of the ones you can get off ebay: dragon tamer cap

Here is another: Cap for dragon fly stove

I have one from eBay ( and a previous one from Bernie Dawg when he sold them direct). Work great. Does help to heat stove with alcohol to start. Seems easy once I got it down.

I wonder why MSR hasn't gotten involved and what they think of it. I meant to ask at Canoecopia.

quote johnMN: "Hey, Ken - just got a Dragonfly. Can you fill me in on the "silent burner cap"? Where can I pick one up. MSR didn't mention that on their site. Thanks."

The Shapeways link OF57 provided is good the other source for Gary Adams DT is Imaterialise.
The ebay caps are not from Gary and may or may not work well.
They do require a different pre-heating. Use either the stove fuel of better a squirt of alcohol to heat, let the flame die out, then light off the cap ports to use.
You will lose some high end heat output and a very low simmer may result in an under-burn blowing out the flame. The cap will glow bright red at low simmer but is fine as long as the sound does not change (under-burn sound is very noticeable). They work well and are quiet!

Personally around camp I do not mind the noise, I sure know the stove is on. So I usually take it off for in camp use and use the regular flame spreader.

butthead

quote billconner: "I have one from eBay ( and a previous one from Bernie Dawg when he sold them direct). Work great. Does help to heat stove with alcohol to start. Seems easy once I got it down.


I wonder why MSR hasn't gotten involved and what they think of it. I meant to ask at Canoecopia."

Obviously I do not work for MSR, but the possible liability issues with it and changes to stove performance/maintenance have much to do with that. The flame spreader is easily removed for access to the jet. With a burner cap on not so much. The caps I have need the stove to be HOT to remove the cap. They do reduce the adjustment range somewhat also.

butthead

Mine often fall off if I turn stove over. Odd.

I like the alcohol over white gas because it doesn't spot. I want to try the alcohol gel in a tube but haven't gotten around to it.

Yeh, maybe it's the Shapeways/Imaterialise metal printing, but mine take a set after first burn and will NOT come off. I need to relight and use a small hammer (gently) to knock the cap off.

I have a video of lighting and use covering the underburn. Gotta find it and post it. I use alcohol for prime also, you can get away with tank fuel but the alcohol does not soot at all (really helps keep Whisperlites/Simmerlites clean). Try the paste first when I used FireRibbon on older Coleman singles it left a residue, again maybe a brand issue.

butthead

I use the wood burning solo stove. comes with a little pot. No need to carry fuel and boils water in 4 minutes. Endless amounts of fuel in the woods,even in the rain. NOT legal during an all out burn ban. so many stove options.

Good luck.

Any of those for sale? Can never have enough stuff.

Any of those for sale? Can never have enough stuff.

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned yet but I'm a huge fan of the primus classic trail. It's cheap, bulletproof and very adjustable.

I haven't tried any of the fancier stoves but I've never felt the need to upgrade.

Thanks, Ken - found 'em!