This is my first liquid fuel stove and I'm quite pleased with it. I chose it over the MSR stoves because of the aluminum pump body. It's easy to prime and boils water quickly. It's not designed as a simmering stove, like the Omni fuel with it's dual valves, but you can dial in a "pulsating" low flame that'll work fine for simmering. I've used it on spring snow at 9600' with no problems. Fuel consumption is in line with my canister stove. Have used it on 2 trips for 6 or 7 days total, no cleaning or maintenance yet. As other reviewers have noted, it has a nice "off" position on the pump body that allows you to burn off the fuel in the line before disassembling and storing. Jury is still out on long term durability, but no complaints so far. All in all, very good stove for the price.

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MSR Superfly Primus propane camp stove

I really like this stove, I have used it for regular cooking and I have no real complaints. Where it really came in handy was when I was on an Army exercise in -39 C and our Coleman stove for our ten man tent broke down. Our Standard Operating Procedure is to run the stove all night with someone on stove watch so that the others can sleep and dry out. With the Primus and a Coleman lantern going all night we had no problems. It was quite warm in there and people with little experience with the stove had very few problem lighting and refueling it. It certainly made our life less miserable, but it was pretty loud having it on full blast all night. All things considered I'm glad I brought it.

Customer Service

The people at MEC exchanged the entire pump mechanism when the washer cracked. It took all of about 15 minutes.

This is a great stove. The Metal pump werkz well, and the legs are sturdy.The fuel economy is amazing! a 6 day-5 night canoe expedition only required 2L of coleman fuel. Even when melting snow juring our canadain winters it just sips onm fuel.

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Coleman Peak 1

This stove is made of the highest quality components. You can put it in your pack and forget about it. The all metal pump is a real plus too. I am VERY happy with my purchase. I've had VERY fast boil times and excellent fuel economy. I actually went way overkill on the amount of fuel I brought. We had to melt snow for our water. So the stove was on FULL blast for literally hours each day. This was all in the Boundary Waters at -20F and the performance was just like it was summer! Plus the "ON/OFF" feature on the pump is really practical. You don't get fuel spray because you can bleed the pressure out with no fuel in the line. I think that this keeps the fuel line cleaner. The line doesn't sit with liquid fuel in it. I really didn't know how good this stove was till after I used it and used all it's features. I've never had it clog on me. I use Coleman fuel. I would highly recommend this stove to anyone. What else can I say?

Customer Service

Not needed.

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Esbit fuel cube stove

This stove rocks! The legs are extremely sturdy and the serrations on top grip the pot very well, 10x better than my wisperlight. The all-metal pump is fantastic, and my favorite feature is that the hose unscrews from the pump so you can easily separate the fuel can from the burner without depressurizing or getting fuel everywhere. The only down side is that it is louder than the whisper-light, but the rest of the features more than make up for it. It does have a bit of flare-up when priming, but most stoves do. Also, a wind shield is really necessary... but I just use aluminum foil. Also, I've used mine about 20 times now and the primer pad is still in excellent condition.

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MSR Whisper light

This is a super stove. It's light, small, extremly easy to operate, and the metal pump assembly makes me feel a whole lot better than other plastic models. It lights quickly, is essentially self-priming, has the coolest flip-over-turn-of feature, and disassmbles for cleaning so easily. I've been very impressed with boil time, fuel economy, and all the other things you want a stove to do. Add that to the fact that this stove seems to be made of real metal - not upgraded coat hangers like some others - and I just don't know that you can beat it. Haven't really pushed it as far as fuel versatility, but see no reason to doubt that it's as versatile as claimed. Would highly recommend this stove to anyone.

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None

I found this stove needs to be cleaned often when using white gas and was inefficient quickly at altitudes of 7 to 8 K if not cleaned daily. Easy to disasemble and the tools provided wiorked well. I think my old Peak iso-butane stoves are way ahead of this model for efficiency and convenience.

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Peak 1

Well thought out stove. Better built and more reliable than MSR's. I like the longer hose and the metal pump. Like all volcano on a hose type stoves, it requires maintainence to keep it operating properly and safely. So when I'm camping alone, or cooking in a tent, I prefer my Optimus 8R. The Himalaya is a great stove if you require the extra heat, but the basic design can never be as reliable as the 8R.

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

Coleman Green Box
8R
Trangia
Assorted Others

I bought this stove to replace mt MSR Whisperlite. Ordered it from JustCamping for $50 and believe I got a great deal. In comparison to the MSR, the construction of the stove kicks the MSR out the door! The burly pot rests and wide leg stance make for a very stable cooking platform. FYI-This stove has a very low center of gravity making it increadibly stable. My neighbor has a Whisperlite Intl. and we performed a back to back light test and found that the primus stove primes faster (mostly due in part to the built-in windshield). The aluminum pump is built much tougher than the MSR assembly, operates smoother, and looks like it was just though out better. I can take apart the whole assembly in two minutes if (God forbid) a problem arises. All in all, the stove performs great...I don't simmer my foods but had tried to simmer with this stove and have had a good turn out with a windscreen. This stove can't top my buddy's Kenmore gas range, but that doesn't exactly fold up into my pack now does it.

Customer Service

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

Similar Products Used:

MSR Whisperlite
MSR Whisperlite Intl.
Primus Family Twin Burner LPG Stove
Coleman Single Burner WG Stove

Stove is very stable. I like the aluminum pump vs. MSR's plastic unit. It is easy to light and has performed well during winter overnight trips (20-30 degrees in AR).

After the first use I noticed that the priming pad was flaking away. I contacted Suunto USA (importer of Primus stoves) and was told by Larry Kohn "If you saturated the pad with too much fuel or let it burn/pre-heat too long, yes. Most people go about six months before replacing. Also don't put too much fuel, or not enough, on the pad."

Despite following the stove's directions, Suunto says the pad's deterioration was caused by user error. Larry volunteered that you might need to replace the pad after every couple uses.

When weighing the purchase of a Primus Vari-Fuel vs. an MSR stove, consider if you'd rather deal with a goofy priming pad or a plastic pump.

Customer Service

When reporting a possible fault with a new stove, Suunto customer service was quick to tell me that there was nothing wrong with the stove as shipped. It was simply a user error.

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MSR Dragonfly
Optimus Nova
MSR WhisperLite