Hi, all. As a brief intro, I`m an avid short duration (mostly weekends, occasional week) bike tourist, just starting to dip my toe into the backpacking world for the first time since Boy Scouts in the early 80s. I live on the outskirts of Reno, a stone`s throw from the CA line and do most of my playing in the Sierra with a few high desert trips thrown in from time to time.

Drought conditions are really serious this year, and fire season is already off to an ominous start- I`ve seen plenty of online speculations about burn bans, which will probably eliminate my HEET powered stoves before ISO burners. Since I`m not willing to "go cold" and really prefer not to go back to packing my old white gas Coleman around again, I think I`m going to try a canister stove. Not really sure which way to go with it, though. I`m tempted to just get one of the cheap and simple models that screws directly on top of the can, then go back to my HEET stove when conditions permit. Are all those stoves (Pocket Rocket, GigaPower, Crux, etc) fairly similar to each other, or do they actually differ in significant ways?

And while I`ll PROBABLY start off with a simple screw-together in the $40 to $50-ish range, I`m a little bit tempted by the more sophisticated (yes?) versions that allow a nice stable base for the burner with a tube connecting to a remote fuel canister, thinking maybe I`ll like the ease of gas stoves enough to move on completely from alcohol. Just see how things go this year with an inexpensive model and save it for an extra if I later decide I like the format and go big?

My stove use is mostly to boil water, once in a while a short simmer, always for one person. I need to be able to use it in hot weather, rarely camp when I expect morning lows to drop below the upper 20s (F), though I get seem to get surprised by colder mornings a lot in the fall (may favorite time to be out). Altitude extremes range from about 3000 to 9000 ft, but most often between 6k and 7k- not sure if that matters, but there`s the info if it does. Most of my bike trips and all my forseeable backpacking trips are two to three days, so I generally carry all my fuel from the start with no need to resupply.

A few more thoughts that keep going through my mind are that, while I mostly like my cat stoves, I think I could get used to the ease of use offered by gas. Except the thing about needing a half pound canister just for a half dozen quick burns! I also like the simple restock availablility of HEET, but like I mentioned already, that probably won`t ever come into play for my backpacking- but who knows? I also like the price of operating an alky stove, though for a half dozen weekends per year, it isn`t like I`ll go broke buying a few canisters.

So, what do you think? Screw together? Whichever one I catch on sale, or think first and pay attention to the reviews? I think I gave all the pertinent info, but will fill in anything I missed if need be. Thanks!

I use an MSR Micro-Rocket and have been more than happy. It's been used down to single digits F and 11K+ with MSR fuel by keeping it in the bottom of my sleeping bag and placing it on some foil instead of directly on snow when using. I also use some heavy foil for a wind block and to preserve heat. The thing I like best is it boils a quart (it's always my wife and I) in 3.5 minutes and simmers like a dream. Other than being a little careful with leveling and placing the pot, I've had zero spills and disasters with over 200 uses. It's about 10 oz. with the 4 oz. canister (5 bucks) and stove( add another bit for the foil, I guess), which is good for a 3 day for us boiling morning coffee/oatmeal and a rehydrated meal at night, sometimes some eggs/fresh food. 5-6 burns. I've cooked with friends and their various alcohol stoves and we're usually near finished with dinner by the time the water is boiled in their pots.
For me, it's a simple, fairly safe system with a small weight penalty. Works for us.

There is another issue which may be more important, and that is dealing with the fires. I live in Colorado, and the past couple years have been bad. Smoke settles low spots and a fire 50 miles away can cause breathing problems, especially when associated with altitude. A "low spot" is valley or drainage. Another problem is when there is smoke in the area from a distant fire, you can't tell if a new fire is starting. Last summer, we came close to making a night time evacuation of our camp because it was so smokey. The nearest fire was about 75 miles away.

We no longer plan trips where there is not an escape route other than the direction we came in, and we carry maps for the escape route.

There is usually about a 12 hour "grace period" after a fire starts, and then they can move frighteningly fast. They can certainly move faster than a hiker can hike. This means any fire within about 20 miles should be treated as a serious situation, and our plan is to walk out without panic. It's rare for a fire to travel this far in 12 hours, but it's quite common after the first 12 hours of the fire starting.

Am I overly cautious? Yes. I prefer to avoid situations that scare me.

Top-mount stoves are dead-simple and for the most part, tiny and lightweight. Have a couple and they've never required maintenance of any kind. Hard to argue for anything more complicated for simple water boiling.

Downsides are less stability, especially with larger (taller) cartridges (they rock unless the surface is dead flat, or you have a cartridge stand), poor cold-weather performance and the challenges of rigging a decent windscreen.

Second the Microrocket suggestion--bone simple, sturdy and a very handy remote sparker. Resolves all the Pocket Rocket shortcomings.

Remote burners sit lower and are far more stable. Invertible cartridge setups mean excellent cold performance and none of the pesky burning off the propane first. It's also easier to find one with a wider flame, which I prefer to a narrow "blowtorch." This is more critical with cooking than for boiling water.

One thing I've never resolved about canister stoves is the accumulation of all those partial cans of fuel. There are always at least half a dozen rattling around.

Cheers,

I like my PocketRocket. I have been using it for 4 years without a problem. Like someone else mentioned, during extreme cold (below freezing) I put the canister in something insulated overnight, so the gas can combust easier vs. being frozen.

I'm down in CC, used a few canister stoves, really light, about the same, just find one where the price is right. Check Craigslist.
Duane

Yes they are all pretty similar... the one caveat I would add is that I do remember reading a report some years back that measured significantly different amounts of carbon monoxide production between the various stoves. I am not sure how relevant that still is though. I think at least one stove was completely redesigned because of that report.

If you are used to alcy stoves I can't imagine you would find cannister top stoves too tippy. The ones that have a tube off to the side are a bit more stable and (if they allow inverted operation) can be used to lower temperatures. The ones that screw on the top are lighter and more compact and seem like the more popular choice for 3-season use.

Jetboil's are popular for a reason. Pretty simple to use. They boil water exceedingly fast and efficiently. They are also pretty light and compact.

(Hmm... the thread and posting format is a bit different from others I`m used to- gonna take some time to figure out)

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Gershon, not nice thoughts, but definitely something we should put more consideration into. I never thought about escape routes before in the context of outdoors adventures.

Rick_D: accumulation of a pile of partials- Damn. Hadn`t thought of that either, and I`m sure it`s one I`ll run into. If it gets bad enough, maybe I can donate to a frequent car camper who uses canisters and doesn`t mind dragging a whole box full of `em out to kill off over the span of a single trip.

Does your CC mean Carson City, Duane? I tried a search on "Reno" just to see if any neighbors popped up via discusion, but the search results didn`t help much since they seem to spot any combination of those four letters (even out of order), and mostly false leads.

After posting, I happened into the apparently famous "Hiking Jim" blog post on Kovea Spider- sexy! But aside from the BARELY resistable Neat-O factor, I don`t think it`s my best bet. Solo, mostly warm weather, and boil only all seem to point to screw tops for me. Besides that, I happen to have some Cabelas store credit, and screw top stoves are among the few items they carry that I really have use for- they even have the Micro Rocket. Maybe later I`ll find and excuse to order that beautiful Spider!

Thanks again for all the words of wisdom, folks.

Yes, I work in Carson City. In extreme fire restrictions, if you can still use a stove, the light option is the canister top stoves. I've had a MSR Pocket Rocket and now have the Micro Rocket, Snow Peak Giga Power GS-100? and a old Coleman Exponent F1. All are very fast and light. Get things ready before you put water on to boil. For a remote canister stove, there is a MSR Windpro for sale in Truckee or the Lake on Craigslist.
Duane

I have a Primus Micron, but don't really like it. The pot supports are flimsy. I better, if more expensive choice would be a Soto, from what I've seen looking at one at REI. You can make a base for the cartridge that holds it with little tabs and makes it more stable. Gas stoves are simple, no matter what they look like. I would stay away from the off-brand Chinese ones though. Buy a decent brand and the quality will be there. My Primus is well made, just a mediocre design, big difference in terms of safety.

FYI, I know there are lots of photos of mountaineers using them in tents, hanging from the tent poles. They are also at high altitude. However, I wouldn't do that at all, unless absolutely necessary.

Ah, now I see it does say Carson City under your name. At home (with a different browser), it cut off after "Carson". Windpro looks pretty bulky for me, but thanks for the heads up- as much as I troll Craigslist for other goodies, I haven`t gotten into that habit for camping gear.

The base sounds like a good idea, Tom. And so far I`ve never had any temptation to cook inside my vestibule, don`t see that changing.