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#108831 - 01/05/09 09:13 PM Brunton Vapor AF stove
Rich_M Offline
member

Registered: 01/04/02
Posts: 165
Loc: Southern Oregon
I am looking for another liquid fuel stove and have been looking at the Brunton Vapor AF as one possibility. It will also burn canister fuel such as MSR and SnowPeak fuel. Does anyone have any experience with this stove? I will be using it as an all purpose stove for colder conditions and for when I am not using a canister stove.

I did a search but came up with nothing. Thanks in advance. Rich

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#108873 - 01/06/09 09:28 PM Re: Brunton Vapor AF stove [Re: Rich_M]
jasonlivy Offline
member

Registered: 01/02/04
Posts: 654
Loc: Colorado
My experience with dual stoves is mixed. The idea seems good, but the application doesn't always equal the theory...

My recommendation is to go with a separate liquid fuel stove and canister stove. The reason is that often a stove that burns both types of fuels struggles, especially on the liquid fuel side. To burn the dirtier fuels, the stove's jet needs to be a certain diameter vs. that of canister fuel. Because of the very slight differences in jet sizes in the two stoves, burning liquid fuel often suffers. This can be seen in the way it primes, how it maintains a flame, ease of use, flair ups, etc. Getting a dedicated liquid fuel stove that designed solely to burn white gas or multi-fuels will perform much better.

The other issue I have is that liquid stoves tend to be heavier than canister stoves. Thus it is often hard to justify carrying a liquid fuel type stove that burns canister fuel. It's much better in my opinion to carry a smaller canister stove if you know that's the fuel that will be used. Often you make the decision which fuel to burn long before you hit the trail. It's not like you have a choice once your in the backcountry, unless you're part of a larger group that's carrying both types of fuel and where, perhaps, a stove has failed leaving you with one that does both (trying to think of every situation). That has never happened in my experience.

Dual stoves don't simmer very well when compared to dedicated canister stoves as well.

I haven't personally used the Bruton stove, but am skeptical based on others (Coleman, Primus, Optimus) that haven't performed to my satisfaction.
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#111198 - 02/13/09 04:02 PM Re: Brunton Vapor AF stove [Re: jasonlivy]
NightForce Offline
member

Registered: 01/19/09
Posts: 41
Loc: MD, USA
Having tested quite a bit lately I can offer some of my thoughts.

I bought a Brunton Vapor AF for just the same reason, a stove that could burn both liquid and canister fuels. Initially I can say that the Brunton Vapor AF is a complete waste of money. They would have to have some exceptionally ideal lab conditions for that stove to boil 1L of water win 3.5 minutes. My boil times were closer to 14 minutes; compared to "my" standard, a Coleman 440, would boil 1L in about 3.5 minutes. As you can tell, I'm still quite PO'd about that little piece of marketing info. Brunton was great and allowed me to return the first stove, assuming there was something wrong with it. The new one was no better! Boil times are now down to 6.5 minutes, thanks to a #78 drill bit and a pin vise, without sacrificing liquid or canister fuel function or simmer ability. As a matter of fact, I think it simmers better with less noise due to the larger jet size. I'm sure it voids the warranty but otherwise the stove has great features and function and I really like the option of connecting a canister.

I also bought an Optimus Crux Lite (the non-fold able one) and really like that stove as well. Spec's stated the Crux would not simmer quite so good so I chose the Crux Lite. So far, boil times for 1L have been just under 4 minutes with a slightly noticeable decrease in output at the end of the canisters life. Nothing to date has been able to trump my old Coleman 440, boiling 1L consistently around 3:48 to 3:58. The Brunton Vapor is more stable and, although they both weight similar considering the whole package, the Brunton Vapor packs better.


Edited by NightForce (02/13/09 09:17 PM)

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