I'm new to the hiking thing and usually camp off my motorcycle then do day hikes. I'm looking for a new stove to keep on the bike..looked at jetboil, and several others,, found an exponent firestorm kit, multifuel, white gas or butane,, at a local outfitter.. He had them marked down from $140 to $60 to clear off his shelves of all the older stuff.. are these anygood? for the price I'm thinking it be worth it??
Not as light as I'd like,, but I would have to bring the whole kit every time,, just the part I'm going to use..
What ya all think??
Steve

Steve: I know nothing of multifuel stoves, but it seems to me they were designed so if a particular fuel were not available, one could switch to something else. They likely are very useful for those traveling around the world. For most guys like us on motorcycles or hiking, such a stove is a waste in my opinion. In my younger days I toured and camped on a motorcycle and now I log some miles hiking. I have never found anything more convenient and economical than a butane stove. No fuel to spill. Nothing to pump or pour. Simply screw on the cylinder and light it up. Very fast for cooking. A cylinder seems to go a long way for me because it takes such little time to heat things up. A 5 or 6 dollar cylinder would likely last you a week. I don’ t know about where you live, but where I live butane or iso-butane (butane/propane mix) is readily available at most hardware stores. A good butane stove is only about $50.00 too. That is what I think. That is my recommendation.

Howie

Howie,,
I've seen the butane only stoves and was leaning that direction.. but the sales guy at the outfitters warned that they get tippy.. said to get one with the hose so the fuel is about 8" away from the burner, and the burner has better "feet" than the can of butane.. The firestorm has this setup and runs on butane,, or change tanks and can run on white gas.. Thinking this could be best of both worlds.. and less trash if I use the white gas.. no little tanks to throw out.. They sell the white gas around here in gal. cans or little bottles.. its harder to find the butane tho,, only a couple places sell that.. all the places sell the white gas including walmarts..
Thanks,,
Steve
link to the stove in question,, coleman

x

For your situation of motorcycle camping (with which I'm familiar), I'd get something like an MSR Windpro and matching can of isobutane. Although weight's not as critical when motorcycle camping, space still is, and these take up little space. I recommend the Windpro over something like a Pocket Rocket because it's easier to use a wind screen without blowing up your fuel canister.

Steve. It is a matter of personal preference. Personally I have never had my stove tip over, even though the only base is the cylinder. The standard 8oz cylinders are 4" in diameter. My stove has proven to be very stable, and it is a relatively inexpensive hardware variety. It probably cost $40.00 Canadian which at the time might have been about $30.00 US. I have had this folding stove for about 7 years now.

There is something else to consider here. For the difference in price between what you are paying ($175.00) for that unit and a regular run of the mill unit ($30.00), you can buy several (24 or so) butane cylinders and store them away. They don’t seem to deteriorate. When you see a bunch, buy a bunch, and then just take what you require on your trip. I dare say that even Wallmart sells butane cylinders. Of course they are not so readily available as white gas but so what? Personally I would never go back to white gas, unless perhaps for winter use, and even then I would use my butane whenever possible. It is true we have to deal with empty cylinders but they don’t weigh a whole lot. With white gas there is still a can to throw away at some point.

Howie

The walmart doesnt sell the butane around here.. but the stove was 175,, the local guy is clearing out and will let it go for $60,, the Jetboil was $135+ and the msr pocket rocket was $75.. I guess I'll keep looking..
Steve

The MSR pocket rocket is available for $40 from both REI and EMS, likely other places too.

Steve, I took a quick look at that stove on the link you posted. For $60, it may be a bargain if it works as advertised. However, there are better choices for not much more money.

The canister arrangement is kind of odd, with the canister sitting on its own little stand, so I wouldn't bother with that if I got one.

Most multi-fuel stoves use various liquids fuels, such as white gas or kerosene, but the Coleman seems to run only on white gas (Coleman fuel) or unleaded auto gas. A couple of stoves can be adapted for canisters, but in most cases, unless you really want a canister stove, I see no need to get a stove that uses them.

On your bike, weight isn't a big deal. With a liquid fuel stove, you can carry an extra fuel bottle and have plenty for two people for a few days. Most towns will have white gas or kerosene and all of them will have unleaded auto gas.

I am not keen on running a stove on auto gas-even unleaded has additives in it that you don't want to be breathing, from what I understand.

Personally, I would look for something else. MSR makes some very nice stoves. You can often find them on eBay second hand if money is an issue.

If you want a multi-fuel stove, I suggest a Whisperlite Internationale from MSR-retails for $80, plus a fuel bottle, about $10-15. This is a popular, well-made stove and MSR has excellent customer service.
Whisperlite Int'l.

One last thing-don't let anyone talk you into the MSR XGK. It is designed as a mountaineering or winter stove, but it is not really a general purpose backpacking stove. I know, I have one.

Tom,,
I'll look into the one you mentioned.. as the mention on the canister sitting upside down on its own stand,, I was told you get all the butane out of it that way? That upright there is always some left, but that way it drains better?
As far as REI or EMS,, nearest REI is about 1.5 hr drive and EMS store in Allentown closed up last year.. so the next one is again 1.5 hrs.. you would think that here in the mountains there would be lots of outfitters,, or any,, we have some great trails for mtn bikes and hiking,, and the town of Jim Thorpe is all about outdoors,, but no real outfitters.. makes me want to open a store.. cabela's ids 45-50 minutes away,, they have a lot of camping stuff,, I'll check out the stoves they have.. If I need to I'll buy online but I'd rather fiddle with it before hand..
Thanks!
Steve

One thing to know about REI is that they will take back almost anything if you don't like it-no questions asked. If you do take the time to go to REI, they should have demo models so you can see how they work. The REI's I have been in all have a test bed set up for the stoves they sell.

As far as the canister, I haven't done any tests, but I don't think the orientation of the canister makes much difference except in winter. Different manufacturers sell slightly different mixes of butane and propane which have different boiling points. Propane works better in winter, because of its lower boiling point, but has to be mixed with butane in the low pressure camp stove canisters sold for backpacking stoves, unlike the big steel tanks you see for the big Coleman stoves or gas-fired barbeques.

If you boil off all the propane in a canister in winter, you may wind up with some butane left over, as I understand it, but again, this is a temperature issue that you may not encounter.

I might be able to hit up REI,, I have to go down near Philly to go to IKEA,, the wife wants some new stuff for the office.. there is an REI nearby.. multitasking saves fuel... thank god my jeep gets 25mpg on the highway...
Steve

I second Hector's idea of the MSR WindPro canister stove. I have one for car camping and the fact that the burner is remote from the fuel canister means you can safely use a windscreen - hence the name WindPro.

MSR WindPro is not the only remote canister stove. Brunton and Coleman both make good versions.

Eric

Eric,, What do you think of the coleman remote canister stove in question here? The firestorm? It has both a remote canister hookup and a white gas hookup so it can run either or.. A local outfitter has them dirt cheap to clear out the shelves for all new stuff..I'm heading to rei today to "play" with some other stoves..
Thanks,
Steve

Check out the Primus stove Plinko is selling on the Buy & Sell Gear forum - looks like it would be good for you.

dk,, thanks,, but they had the new ones at the rei for $30 so before I bought that used I think I would go new.. but thanks,, I did get to see a few at the REi today.. took a while before I got to speak to someone who had any clue tho.. I guess some REI's are better than others.. Looked at a few msr's and snopeak, jetboil, coleman exponent, and a primus.. Well,, one asked about the stand for the canister,, I got a written explanation on how that works,, need to read up later(its late) but the jist is,, all canister stoves loose some power as the canister runs low,, under 35% or so.. by having it upside down, you do not see/feel the loss of power as the canister gets low/empty.. And msr, jetboil, colman all use this,, in fact they said if I get a regular canister stove to think about getting a kit to place the canister remotely upside down and better feet for the stove.. also this would allow the use of a wind screen to help the stove in cold weather.. They touted the colman as good or better than most stoves but said its the weight and $ that holds them back. And if I could afford the ti exponent it is a good one,, but was over 2bills,, uh,, no.. so,, I'm going to check with the local outfitter again to see if he has any of those stoves left.. I found them online for the same $ and some less but would rather deal with the local guy now so hopefully when I really need him he will still be in business..
Thanks guys for all your help
Steve

I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of these stoves Steve. I thank you for your post as I have learned a thing or two from your questions, and from what you have found out. A couple of things I would like to add. Though an upright cylinder loses some pressure as it empties, I have never found it to be much of an issue. It seems to have to get pretty low before I notice, and even then, I still have plenty of cooking power. As for a windscreen, I have never needed one. I simply place the stove in a place where there is a minimum of wind, and if necessary I simply sit up wind of it so to shield it a little. Unless it is a gale force wind I cannot see it noticeably reducing the cooking power. In any case, I find butane to be much faster than cooking with the propane in our motorhome. Glad we were able to help.

Howie

Steve,

Personally, if I had it to do over, I'd get the more versatile Coleman stove. Its "upside-down canister configuration permits the use of butane in colder weather as the LIQUID butane now flows through the fuel line. And, if it just gets TOO [email]d@mn[/email] cold you can go to its backup white gas mode if you've packed some along.

This said, I still like my MSR WindPro.

Eric