Favorite Stove

[radar2016]

I've pretty much got all of my gear together for my hike except my stove/cookware. I'm undecided on which stove to use. I was looking at either the Jetboil or MSR Windburner. What is your favorite stove and why? Thanks in advance for your input!

[Cotton Terry]

It depends on how much real cooking you want to do, but I like my MSR Pocket Rocket for boiling water. Pretty much bullet proof and efficient. Down side is, I will have to carry/sleep with the canister when the temps get down to 20F, or so.

[OCDave]

... I was looking at either the Jetboil or MSR Windburner. What is your favorite stove and why? ...

Neither of those is my favorite. I have several stoves but enjoy my MSR MicroRocket most. Slightly more compact than the Pocket Rocket but, $20 more expensive. The stove and canister both fit in my IMUSA 12cm pot.

[mtntopper]

It depends on how much real cooking you want to do, but I like my MSR Pocket Rocket for boiling water. Pretty much bullet proof and efficient. Down side is, I will have to carry/sleep with the canister when the temps get down to 20F, or so.

You can use a canister heat exchanger on your stove to warm the canister.

[SWODaddy]

Wife has a Jetboil. I don't care for it. Efficient, but not versatile (good for boiling water, that's it). Plus, the piezo is finicky and I'm always fixing every time we go out.

I really like my Optimus Crux. Folds very small, large burner for more even heating.

[Feral Bill]

Same one I've used since 1968. SVEA 123. Always works and you can really cook on it.

[Yiddo]

pocketrocket and GSI soloist, stove/lighter/canister all fit inside. gets the job done

[HooKooDooKu]

I find the Snow Peak LiteMax to hold a pot a little more stable than a Pocket Rocket. I think it is because the arms of the Pocket Rocket leave the pot sitting on three points, where as the arms of the LiteMax lay flat. I also like how small the LiteMax folds down compared to the Pocket Rocket (and it is even a tiny bit lighter).

I find my LiteMax to be great for my usual weekend hikes, but as a play a thru hike of the JMT, I'm looking at the stove that comes with the JetBoil Minimo. Unlike the other JetBoil stoves, the Minimo stove is designed to actually allow you to simmer (and they supposedly have done things to help it work better in colder weather). So I'd like to pair my Jet Boil SOL pot with a Minimo stove.

[Goatgas]

It depends on how much real cooking you want to do, but I like my MSR Pocket Rocket for boiling water. Pretty much bullet proof and efficient. Down side is, I will have to carry/sleep with the canister when the temps get down to 20F, or so.

Ditto on that

[Ercoupe]

I only boil water.

Jetboil for efficiency, no wind screen required. 12 days or more 1 liter a day, small cannister.

MSR windburner I had, the burner got incredibly hot, hard to handle, I believe they have made the blowback shutoff field resettable, but make sure if you go that way.

[bigcranky]

We've had a lot of stoves over the years - it can become something of an obsession.

Pretty much any stove will work for a thru-hike. A homemade alcohol stove is cheap, light, easy to use, but takes a long time to heat water. Fuel is generally easy to find. White gas stoves are overkill, heavy and complex and usually not needed. Canister stoves are light, easy to use and very fast, but the fuel can be harder to find and one often ends up carrying two canisters most of the time (thus negating some of the weight savings).

My current favorite is the Jetboil titanium we got a couple of years ago. It's the most fuel-efficient stove I've ever used, and very fast to boil water. That's really all it can do - boil water - it's not designed to cook in, though we successfully made various meals in it. We bought it for a Long Trail thru, where resupplying canisters was going to be an issue especially in the northern part. The fuel efficiency was a huge help and I almost never needed to carry a second canister.

[soumodeler]

Jetboil Sol Ti. Only for boiling water but thats all I do with it. Super easy, super fast.

[nsherry61]

I "accidentally" aquired a JetBoil MiniMo burner a few weeks ago. Wow. I'm really quite impressed. My JetBoil flash boiled two cups of tap water in 4 minutes. My MiniMo burner did the same amount of water in the same pot in 1'59"! Half the time. Then, the MiniMo turned around and maintained a simmer with a stable flame, unlike the Flash burner that, as noted above, can't really simmer. The regulator and burner design on the MiniMo burner also allows much hotter flame with less pressure in the canister which is what improves colder weather performance. So, the MiniMo hype is real.
Also the piezo igniter on the MiniMo is different and more stable than the one on my Flash burner.

In the end, both JetBoil stoves work. I agree with bigcranky that any stove will work. When I'm hiking solo I tend toward lighter stoves like one of my homemade alcohol stoves, or an Esbit stove, or no stove. When backpacking with other people (or bicycling), I use my JetBoil most because it is so incredibly easy to operate, it is faster when more hot water is called for and it's easier for people unfamiliar with my other stoves' idiosyncrasies.

[Harrison Bergeron]

We've had a lot of stoves over the years - it can become something of an obsession.

Pretty much any stove will work for a thru-hike. A homemade alcohol stove is cheap, light, easy to use, but takes a long time to heat water. Fuel is generally easy to find. White gas stoves are overkill, heavy and complex and usually not needed. Canister stoves are light, easy to use and very fast, but the fuel can be harder to find and one often ends up carrying two canisters most of the time (thus negating some of the weight savings).

My current favorite is the Jetboil titanium we got a couple of years ago. It's the most fuel-efficient stove I've ever used, and very fast to boil water. That's really all it can do - boil water - it's not designed to cook in, though we successfully made various meals in it. We bought it for a Long Trail thru, where resupplying canisters was going to be an issue especially in the northern part. The fuel efficiency was a huge help and I almost never needed to carry a second canister.

A second on the Jetboil titanium. Wish I'd got one while they were still making them, but an add-on titanium cup with my old Jetboil Flash is still lighter than an alcohol stove and a lot less hassle than a pocket rocket or similar. The built-in wind screen and cozy make all the difference.

[colorado_rob]

Jetboil Sol Ti. Only for boiling water but thats all I do with it. Super easy, super fast.

One more vote for this little gem; unfortunately, they no longer make/sell it. Repeating, only for heating water though.

The newer jetboil models are confusing, haven't really tried to figure them out because I have my Sol Ti, but overall, they all work so well, hard to go wrong. get the lightest one, not sure which one that is these days. Maybe the micro-mo at 12 ounces. My Sol Ti is 8.9 ounces. Hope it lasts a long time! (I actually bought a second one when they stopped making them... not for sale!)

[swisscross]

I have (only) three stoves for different uses.
Whisperlite (winter, family and car camping)
SP GigaPower ti (hiking with another)
Zelph fancyfeast (solo)

Like them all...different uses for sure but all work and work well.

[wornoutboots]

I've been carrying a jet boil since they came out, but I'm leaning towards buying one of these for only $50 & it's more versatile & compact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-OOFyniJQY

[DuneElliot]

I also have the SP Giga, the basic model...great little stove I inherited from the friend of a friend. It also came with the wind shield but I never carry it. Tiny but stable with 4 arms instead of 3 for the pot to sit on.

I also have a 3-armed Primus Express stove that I used exclusively before I was given the SP Giga. It has been reliable and solid also, but since it is slightly heavier than the Giga I have switched out. Both have adjustable flames but I only generally boil water.

[Deadeye]

Same one I've used since 1968. SVEA 123. Always works and you can really cook on it.

Which supports the YMMV caveat. I found the SVEA to be unreliable, finicky, and heavy, and no better at simmering than any other stove. You really need to experiment and find what works for you, and ignore everyone else. Except me, of course.

[boudreaux76]

I have the jetboil flash and love it. Yes, as is - it's pretty much set up for boiling water, and it does it in a hurry. Everything including the fuel is easily stored inside the cookpot. I eventually got tired of MH meals so I bought the burner and use it with no problems on my extra pot and a small skillet I also carry with me for anything I could possibly think to cook.