Stove Shootout

[Matthew]

After using my Kovea titanium stove for a while, I was concerned that heat was travelling down into the gas cartridge and melting the seal. Hot gas canisters, flames and high-pressure do not mix. I originally bought the mini stove due to the physical size and the low weight (56g).
Having access to machine tools, I thought I would be able to turn 5mm from the base and insert an o-ring to prevent the heat travelling down but this was not to be.

Over the last few weeks I set about buying miniature stoves on eBay with the hope of finding good ones, they were not more than a few pounds so I had no real reservations in having a few more stoves to add to the collection. This week they have been arriving in the post and all of the new ones have certain drawbacks for instance the material quality, accuracy in production or general finish but they all solve the issue of the hot gas canister.
Having a plethora of stoves to hand, it is only fitting to have a boil off challenge against my current and new burners.

Optimus nova plus

Trangia mini


Jet boil


Kovea Titanium stove


S N Outdoor Sports mini stove


TK200 mini stove


OT-B1 Integrative mini Stove




Testing

For me, when I am in the hills, 400ml of hot water is enough for a large cup of tea or enough to cook a dehydrated meal with so that was the amount of cold water I decided to use. As weight, shedding seems a current trend between us NI Wilders I went for an MSR Titan Kettle as my boiling vessel.

Assumptions and methodology
•   I decided that I would time the water until a rolling boil on the off chance I needed to purify water. 
•   To make the test accurate across stove and fuel systems I allowed the burners to reach temperature or prime themselves in the case of the Optimus and the Trangia burner.
•   The lid of the kettle would not be snapped into place as to allow me to see inside without tipping the kettle over while removing the lid.
•   The testing was to be carried out indoors and the times produced do not take in to account wind and relative temperature.
•   The Jet boil was the only cooking system where I had to use the supplied cup, as I did not that the pot and pan support for it.

Jetboil pan support




The method was a follows:
Dip the titan kettle in cold water for 10 seconds to remove any residual heat.
Top the kettle up with 400ml cold tap water.


Start timing as the kettle comes to rest on the burner.


Stop as the water turns to a rolling boil.


Repeat.


Stove Name                Boil time in Minutes and Seconds

Optimus nova plus                                       1:47

Trangia mini                                       6:59

Jet boil                                      2:11 (in Jetboil Pot)

Kovea Titanium stove                        3:15

S N Outdoor Sports mini stove                       3:19

TK200 mini stove                                       3:30

OT-B1 Integrative mini Stove                       3:24


So overall I have solved my dodgy hot canister problem and I have gained three stoves all with remarkably similar boil times.  It is probably at the point now where to achieve quicker times with gas I will be looking to the burners like the MSR spider which pre heat the gas before combustion but this takes away from the weight and size saving. The Optimus multifuel stove is the clear winner but I still like to carry this as it just works whatever you throw at it and as guessed the Trangia takes the longest but on the flipside the Trangia cooks a mean sirloin 6 minutes on side one then 4 on side two for medium to well.

Matthew

[surfnscenic]

This sounds like a good homework;- "compare and contrast the weight and compactness of each (of the aforementioned) stove with the time taken to boil 400ml of cold water."

No more than 500 words. Pictures optional.

[twentyclicks]

Nice comparison Matthew. The Nova sure is fast, and you can see a clear advantage of the Jetboil, although it makes you wonder about the published times for boiling a litre, even in similar controlled conditions!
Pity you don't have the water & room temps at start for strict comparison but the results still stand for your purposes. Quite the collection now 

I might try the same amount with my titan kettle and Pocket Rocket - maybe do it a few times turned up to different levels to see the time difference between full power and economy mode (reportedly 2/3 on the PR).

[RedLeader]

Awesome info chum. I'l really suprised at how much quicker the Optimus was over the Jetboil. Honestly expected the Jetboil to win hands down.

[Matthew]

Pity you don't have the water & room temps at start for strict comparison but the results still stand for your purposes.

If I was pushed I would guess that the water was 4-8 degrees and the garage temp was 15-18.


The way manufacturers test the stoves to achieve the stated boil times is of interest to me, they must use fully optimised gas mixes and pots with the heat capture technology as I reckon if I used my Primus eta pot with the flux ring the times would fall.

Awesome info chum. I'l really suprised at how much quicker the Optimus was over the Jetboil. Honestly expected the Jetboil to win hands down.

I would have gone for the jet boil too at the 400ml took the cup up to the 2 cup marker.  Jet boil quote 2 mins / 1/2 litre so I am not too far behind that.

This sounds like a good homework;- "compare and contrast the weight and compactness of each (of the aforementioned) stove with the time taken to boil 400ml of cold water."

No more than 500 words. Pictures optional.

Might get some funny letters if I set that lol.


Matthew

[RedLeader]

What's a flux ring? Is it like a Flux Capacitor - would explain the awesome boil time

[Matthew]

It's the corrugated steel strip or fins which are bonded to the base of some pots and pans. The idea is to improve heat capture at there is a larger surface are to heat. Some say that there is a 60% improvement.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=5955

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=flux+ring&start=15&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&tbo=d&tbm=isch&tbnid=EuwvkiVEAbQYjM:&imgrefurl=http://thehowzone.com/how/jetboil/3&docid=BbUQVsR4w68TNM&imgurl=http://jerryrig.com/img.php%253F412&w=300&h=281&ei=G2CyTs6xJYik8gPP_smMBQ&zoom=1&biw=768&bih=928

[Dowser]

Yeah... Go on ye Multi-fuel.  Still my stove of choice and always will be till they invent a tiny portable microwave (Patent Pending  )

The actual burner part is very small and light and fits neatly in my smallest pot.  Ok, you got to carry a fuel bottle, but it doesn't have to be full, and with all stoves you got to carry either a Gas Cylinder or a bottle of Meths etc.

I've said this before, but I don't like gas stoves.  You never know exactly how much gas is left in your cylinder so you always end up carrying a spare, just in case.  With the multi-fuel, you open the top of your fuel bottle and look in.

The Multi-fuel is also also very efficient at low temperatures so with our winters getting colder I am confident I could use it at -15 on the top of Donard in December

[RedLeader]

We should defo do this. Donard Summit stove shootout - Sunday afternoon job.

The Multi-fuel is also also very efficient at low temperatures so with our winters getting colder I am confident I could use it at -15 on the top of Donard in December

[Dowser]

We should defo do this. Donard Summit stove shootout - Sunday afternoon job.

The Multi-fuel is also also very efficient at low temperatures so with our winters getting colder I am confident I could use it at -15 on the top of Donard in December

Sounds like a plan... could combine it with the Igloo Building day.  I would love to build an igloo and sleep on Donard Summit in it 

[Matthew]

Yeah... Go on ye Multi-fuel.  Still my stove of choice and always will be till they invent a tiny portable microwave (Patent Pending  )

I've said this before, but I don't like gas stoves.  You never know exactly how much gas is left in your cylinder so you always end up carrying a spare, just in case.  With the multi-fuel, you open the top of your fuel bottle and look in.

The Multi-fuel is also also very efficient at low temperatures so with our winters getting colder I am confident I could use it at -15 on the top of Donard in December

I know what you mean I like all stoves when they work and I generally do fall back to my Optimus stove as it just works, any problems with it can be easily solved generally by just taking it apart and usually it's my fault as u switch between petrol and white gas. They do take abuse and I would rely on it for expedition use. I too feel it would work at extremely low temperatures, after all they use them at Everest base camp.

Donard stove shootout I'm in.

[Spud]

very informative post matthew, kudos!

[LennyJ1]

I would like to see what time you would get with your ti pot on a jetboil. I have a pot stand so we will need to try that out.