I have always used an MSR Dragonfly camp stove. I originally selected this light of a stove for backpacking use and just continued to use it for my canoe trips. In general, it has worked well but there have been a few times that I have had to rebuild it with the maintenance kit while on a trip (something I HATE doing with all the small parts and O-rings!). I may continue to use this stove but have heard some good reports on the Littlbug stoves. Have you use the Littlbug stoves and have you liked them? What stove do you use and why? Thank you for your thoughts and guidance on this!

Don't take this as a put down but what went wrong with the Dragonfly? What fuel were you using?

Reason is I own more than one and use them regularly, one with a BD cap, other with roarer flame plate. Have used for 20-25 years never a problem. Rebuilt once just to check the whole stove out. Very little to go wrong them, and maintenance is very easy.

Do not own a LittleBug stove but have made many twig burning can stoves. They are not legal in a fire restriction (blowing ashes), will be sooty to cook over, way slower that a stove.
They are light weight and fuel cost only the time it take to scrounge it up.

I do not use a twig burner canoe camping or backpacking.

butthead

No put down taken and I appreciate your reply! I had trouble on both cases with the small valve. I always have used Super Fuel and I I have said have had good luck with the stove in general.

SilentPaddler: "No put down taken and I appreciate your reply! I had trouble on both cases with the small valve. I always have used Super Fuel and I I have said have had good luck with the stove in general."

Valve on the pump or on the stove? The pump valve should last when lubed corectly, the stove burner adjustment will carbon up and need to be cleaned with the tool from the Expedition kit.
Good videos on service.
MSR Dragonfly service video
Pump service
I bought only 1 Expedition kit in my life, just replace o-rings/parts as used. Probably have rebuilt 10 Dragonflys. My stock stove was rebuilt 10 years ago because I wanted to get practice. Have bought 5 Dragonflys used and rebuild each when recieved, another 3 rebuilds for friends.
Only good place to find replacement parts I have found, Needle Sports in England

butthead

I think it's a good idea to pursue Ken's point about stick stoves. I have one, really like it, and I got some pruning shears to cut the little sticks, a lot more efficient and very little chance of losing a thumb. Anyway, there are levels of "fire bans", the first level is anything that releases "particulate matter", sparks. Just something to think about.

I have not used a twig burner for the fire ban/restriction issues already noted. I have used an alcohol stove - there's nothing that can go wrong with one - but not for a long time since it's also not generally allowed during fire bans and I prefer the speed and simplicity of my JetBoil canister stove. But I only boil water, I don't cook on it.

I have a number of different stoves. White gas, canister, alky and twig. Depending on the number of people I’m cooking for and whether I’m backpacking or canoe camping us how I decide which stove to take. Also what season it is. For the post part we use canister or white gas stoves. Canister stoves like Snowpeak Gigapower or a MSR Windpro are two of what we use. Both are great stoves The Windpro is great for wide pots or fry pans whereas the Gigapower is good for narrow based pots.

any stove that comes with a repair kit is trying to tell you something.
"I will break down sooner or later"

I was using a dragonfly and then tried a littlbug but found it hard to simmer and lightly fry. Gave up and went to a windpro. Very reliable and easy to use and simmers great.

wetcanoedog: "any stove that comes with a repair kit is trying to tell you something.
"I will break down sooner or later""

Well Dave, some folks like to say that. In reality any stove with rubber o-rings or leather parts can and will wear out with age. MSR, Primus, Optimus, Brunton have included maintenance "repair kits" with their stoves. The contents are mostly filters, o-rings, and gaskets, some simple tools for disassembly and cleaning.

butthead

MSR Whisperlite international. It burns just about anything but white gas is best. Lightweight and easy to maintain. That said, everyone has their favorite.

We always use the Dragonfly stove and love it, but my buddy is into trying new stoves and last October brought a stick stove similar to the Littlebug to try out. I didn't like all of the scrounging for twigs and constant feeding into the fire, and his stove covered my MSR cookware with soot. He liked that part.

wetcanoedog: "any stove that comes with a repair kit is trying to tell you something.
"I will break down sooner or later""

Ironically as someone who has bought several stoves that come with and without a repair kit I can say that from my experience I've had failures from the latter, but have yet to actually need the included repair kit for the former.

I've had issues with my MSR reactor, snow peak litemax ti, optimus crux, and coleman 533 but my XGK EX and my old whisperlite have yet to even need a new o-ring (I've had to clean them though).

FWIW ... I have to admit having limited experience with various stoves since I've used the same Coleman Peak One stove on BWCA trips for over 30 years. It is now called the GUIDE SERIES COMPACT DUAL FUEL STOVE. It's never been repaired though I do tighten up the metal fuel connections every now and then. It is a little fussy to start in a breeze but has good flame control and can burn nice and hot on high flame.
Dave

That'd be a 533 Coleman, reliable and parts can be found in local hardware stores (by me anyway).

butthead

My dad bought a Svea 123 back in 1968, I am still using that stove. Never been repaired or rebuilt. In my opinion, still the best out there.

I have a Coleman 576 that I bought new forever ago, in the early 80's, I think. It's still great, I have had to replace the generator once.

Also a Primus Omnifuel, it is lighter and I can carry more fuel easily--but it is loud as hell.

Both stoves are incredibly reliable and I love them, although we often cook over fire.

In recent years we have been going with the Trangia stove (made in Sweden). There are no moving parts, so very little can go wrong. They burn denatured alcohol, which you can find in most any hard ware store. They are quiet. They are self contained, and very lightweight. Some people have concerns about fuel efficiency, but we have found it to be about as efficient as our old Colman single burners (white gas). Maybe in real cold temps that would change.

I have a Littlebug Jr. and am very happy with it. I bring it on every trip, mainly because I enjoy using it and because it works well to help minimize fuel consumption (and as a backup in case of gas stove failure).

Anyone have experience with Esbit stoves.

Yes, and my opinion is they are fairly useless for meal prep.
One of the most expensive fuels to use, used on a 60 degree day with the folding "Esbit stove" could not boil any significant amount of water, 16 oz. They will leave a dark brown sticky residue on the pot.

butthead

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Fortunate1: "Anyone have experience with Esbit stoves. "

I debated whether to respond to this or not. Esbit can be a little controversial and definitely has drawbacks, but I still use Esbit (and Coghlan's) quite a bit for solo trips of less than 5 days. I personally would never use them when cooking for more than myself and I also never really cook with them, I only use them to heat water for hot drinks and to boil water for freezer bag cooking.

I like that they are lightweight and that there is little in the way of containers to pack out. Also nothing to spill, since they are a solid fuel. For heating water for a hot drink I use the 4 gram Esbit cubes or one ~6 gram Coghlan tablet. These will not boil a cup of water, but will get it more than hot enough for a cup of tea or instant coffee. For rehydrating meals I use either two Coghlan's tablets or one 14 gram Esbit cube. I find this easily boils up to two cups of water on my stove.

I only have experience with two Esbit burners, the Gram Cracker from Trail Designs and the Brian Green Esbit Tray. Of the two, I prefer the Brian Green Esbit Tray as I get burn times that are about two minutes longer than what I get with the Gram Cracker and boil times seem about the same. I use the burners with a Caldera Cone, the Fissure model sized for a 640ml Evernew pot. The burners are very light, My Brian Green burner weighs 2 grams including the storage container.

That pretty much sums up what I like. What am I not wild about? Well, they leave a sticky residue on the pot. I've never found it excessive, but it is definitely there. I use a small snack size baggie that covers the bottom half of my pot to keep this goo off of other stuff in my pack. They also don't light up instantly, but have to have a flame held to them for a few seconds before they start to burn. Not a big deal most of the time, but in high winds you definitely have to think about protecting them from the wind while you're lighting them. They have an odor that is slightly reminiscent of a dead fish (ok, maybe not that bad, but it's definitely an off smell).

Butthead mentioned the high cost and he's dead on there. Probably the priciest camping stove fuel you can use. I have not bought any Esbit for a while and don't remember what I paid the last time, but paid just paid $15.00 for 72 Coghlan's tablets a few weeks ago off of Amazon. I'll get 36 meals out of that, so a little less than 45 cents per meal. Not cheap.

As I said, I use them quite a bit, but am always very hesitant to recommend them to someone else, as they are far from perfect. I use them most often for backpacking when I am trying to keep weight as low as possible. I do occasionally use them for paddling, but generally use alcohol or a canister stove for canoeing trips. Both are more convenient to use. You'll probably find far more people that dislike Esbit than like them and I can certainly see their point. Unless you are fanatical about saving weight I would probably not recommend Esbit.

HappyHuskies just reminded me of something.
I do not care for entirely negative reviews or opinions as there must be something about a product to get it to market. And Esbit has been around a long time. So I was over harsh in my post forgetting to state any benefits, and there are a few.

They are light weight and in solid form, very stable, and usable in most any weather conditions. You can save money by purchasing surplus lots of trioxane tablets (be aware they release toxic fumes when burned). You can use them without any stove or with very simple/rudimentary stoves. Lots of wilderness travelers keep some in their emergency kits. I used to, but now have enough confidence in my bush abilities to leave them out.

I just never found much use for them, in my camping style.

butthead

Thanks for detailed response.
I purchased an Esbit years ago but was never serious about using it. I guess it was more for entertainment. I am looking to lighten my load have have been considering alternatives to my Coleman exponent. I also plan to limit the size of my group. Have almost always gone with eight others.

Fortunate1: "Thanks for detailed response.
I purchased an Esbit years ago but was never serious about using it. I guess it was more for entertainment. I am looking to lighten my load have have been considering alternatives to my Coleman exponent. I also plan to limit the size of my group. Have almost always gone with eight others.
"

I think looking to lighten your load is a great and fun process, but there are lots of more productive places to start before looking at Esbit, as I'm sure you know since you've already got experience with it. With a larger group or longer trips it is hard to beat a gas stove. The more fuel you use, either because of the size of the group or the number of days you're out, the better the numbers start to look for gas stoves.