gabby
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Post by gabby on Jul 8, 2019 14:34:40 GMT -8
Now to see if it's a keeper. Weighs 139g on my own scale.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jul 8, 2019 14:40:49 GMT -8
Because you don't already have enough stoves?
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Jul 8, 2019 15:14:46 GMT -8
I have the "117T" by Fire Maple. Looks similar but doesn't have that arm-like piece in your picture (lighter?) Got mine in 2016. I use it mostly on boat trips and sometimes car camping. Great when paired with wide pots, fry pans. Just used it this past weekend on a 'sailpacking' trip. Worked well.
I'm a fan of Fire Maple. I've been to one of their stores in China.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Jul 8, 2019 16:20:55 GMT -8
This is the 117H, which adds the evaporator/preheat coil ("arm-like piece"), allowing the use of liquid fuel from the canister - IOW, "canister upside down". This means that the fuel inside the canister doesn't have to vaporize prior to reaching the burner. Isobutane boils @ ~11°F, meaning that, at colder temps at-near-below that, there's not enough pressure in the canister to force the fuel into the line. Altitude also affects the boiling point, so there's that. Because you don't already have enough stoves? You can't ever have too many stoves ...
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crawford
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Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.--Edison
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Post by crawford on Jul 9, 2019 4:21:43 GMT -8
"...can't ever have too many stoves." I'm going to try that line with my wife, though she's possibly not in agreement. ; )
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Jul 9, 2019 5:59:43 GMT -8
This is the 117H, which adds the evaporator/preheat coil ("arm-like piece"), allowing the use of liquid fuel from the canister - IOW, "canister upside down". Ahh, OK. (A lot more obvious looking at the picture on my computer instead of my phone...) I had an interesting experience using the stove with Coleman canisters last month. We were in the middle of nowhere and all I could find were the Coleman canisters at a Walmart. They're a butane-propane mix as opposed to the isobutane-propane I normally buy (MSR, Jetboil, etc.) At 7K feet and around 40 degF, I was only able to use maybe a quarter of the canister. Had the canister upside down and my hands wrapped around it in an effort to warm it up. Luckily, I'd bought two canisters. Dropped about 1,500 feet and it was OK. I didn't know that there was such a noticeable difference between butane and isobutane... learned my lesson.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 9, 2019 7:46:37 GMT -8
jazzmom, that’s good to know. I had no idea. We used a Fire Maple stove—I think the same one Jazzmom has—all over NZ. I did have trouble on occasion with uneven flames. And I have the super-compact version that sit right on the canister. Used it in the Sierra last summer, and was not 100% satisfied. It was a little finicky and actually went out a few time, apparently from not having enough air when I used my reflector plate. Even without that sometimes it sputtered and didn’t seem to burn clean. Still, no more fussy than the alky stove, and at less than an ounce and $15, I’ll use it when alky isn’t an option, and not gripe. I like the one with the remote can better, though. Small weight penalty, but much more stable (which is why I bought it for my son, since he’s a bit of an amateur).
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Jul 9, 2019 10:19:01 GMT -8
The long, long story:I had been looking at the Olicamp Xcelerator, which is 98g (~3.5oz advertised wt, currently $70 on Amazon, but is actually the US version of the Fire-Maple FMS 117T) back when a few of us were looking at the Olicamp XTS heat exchanger pot on another thread ( "Pots with built-in heat exchanger") started by BigLoad back in April. At least one online review I watched on Youtube said the Xcelerator was so light you had to keep a pot on it to keep its relatively stiff cable from capsizing it. That sorta got my attention. After reading a comparison review of the Xcelerator and the Fire-Maple FMS 117V ( Backpacking Light: "Olicamp Xcelerator/Fire-Maple FMS-117V Ti Stove Review") which, BTW, complained most about the low height of these stoves from the ground, I started looking at the Fire-Maple FMS 117T, and that's about the time when I spotted the FMS 117H. So I ordered one about 2 weeks ago. (China Post is slow.) interesting experience using the stove with Coleman canisters ... I didn't know that there was such a noticeable difference between butane and isobutane... learned my lesson. I had to learn this lesson the hard way, I presume just like about everyone else. Different brands have different mixes, and those specs seemingly change somewhat unpredictably, esp. in the cheaper brands. If you read the article from which I retrieved the following info (link below), you'll see that some of the cheaper brands of fuel won't even discuss their "secret formulas". Since Snow Peak fuel canisters are pretty much equivalent to the best, and are always (at least in my local REI) lower in price, that’s what I buy when I want dependable fuel. Otherwise, you are taking a chance on uneven results at best, though I clearly don’t actually require “high quality” just for use “around the house”. From the article at "Adventures in Stoving": Recommended for Winter Use:- Olicamp Rocketfuel is the best cold weather blend available in North America – at least based on the label. It has 75% isobutane and 25% propane.
- MSR is a good winter blend, 80% isobutane and 20% propane.
- Snow Peak is 85% isobutane and 15% propane.
Brands of Unknown Quality- Jetboil is supposedly 80% isobutane and 20% propane.
- Brunton is reputedly an 80/20 mix.
- Sterno is an isobutane mix according to the label on their cans. What is the mix? Unknown.
- GSI, likewise, is an isobutane mix according to the label on their cans. What is the mix? Unknown.
Not Recommended:- Coleman regular threaded canisters (not Powermax) are 30% propane and 70% butane.
- Primus is 25 % propane, 25 % isobutane, and 50 % butane per their website.
- Optimus brand is 25% propane, 75% butane
- Glowmaster is 20% propane and 80% butane
Adventures in Stoving: "What's the Best Brand of Gas for Cold Weather?"We were in the middle of nowhere and all I could find were the Coleman canisters at a Walmart. ... and, sometimes, you have no choice - but it's good to know what you're getting into. (ETA: If your stove has the preheat loop, you pretty much don't care about the mix, since you will be using what's in the can as a liquid. I'm sure, however, there are other caveats I'm dismissing cavalierly here.) As for the “stove collection”, I know about “pure butane” fuel from back about a decade ago, when I bought one of these at the local Korean grocery over on Burnet road (just for grins, it was all of ~$10 in the store). Using an adapter I got from Hong Kong, I tried the “pure butane” with one of my cheaper Kovea canister stoves (Lindal connector), but, as might be expected, it was pretty poor, even in warm weather. BTW, I got an Optimus Vega last year just before Christmas as a "gift" from someone (178g, both advertised and on my own scale). It too has the preheat coil, and even has a cute little "flip out" stand for the canister when using it upside down. You can never have too many stoves …
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jul 9, 2019 10:55:01 GMT -8
I had been looking at the Olicamp Xcelerator I nearly got one of these a while back, but settled on the Kovea Spider, which some people claim performs better in the cold. As I noted on other stove posts, it hasn't seen much truly cold weather, so I don't have an opinion. Xcelerator was so light you had to keep a pot on it to keep its relatively stiff cable from capsizing it. My local outfitter carries these, and that's something I noticed in the store. The Kovea Spider has some of this tendency, but a bit of care unbending the cable gives good results.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Jul 9, 2019 11:47:35 GMT -8
I was going to buy a Kovea Spider a couple of years ago (I think it's actually still on my list @ Amazon), but opted for a couple of the somewhat cheaper Reifeng stoves (a stove which is no longer available, at least based on a quick search) because I was doing some "play research" with pressurized alcohol in a white gas fuel bottle, and didn't want to spend all that much on a stove I might "trash". As it turned out, the Reifeng was pretty much "trash" to begin with, though it still works. I think they've both been relegated to the "tried it and put it aside" box somewhere in the garage. The cheapo Reifeng "ultralight" stove: I get the distinct impression that, among other somewhat questionable marketing/retail practices, Amazon is using "made up" names and designations to sell products, and is, additionally, not paying much attention to its "outside retailer" segment, who, on occasion, do some sort of "phishing retail", which seems to consist of offering products (or copies of products) at ridiculously high prices, apparently in hopes that a relatively gullible public will purchase from these "niche suppliers", who will make a windfall profit on something egregiously overpriced. I actually saw a Primus Omnilite Ti on Amazon for > $900, back when I was shopping around for one. Since it currently retails (stated on the Primus US website) for $199.95, that's a bit over the top. I think I paid closer to $130 for the one I bought some time ago now.
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Westy
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Post by Westy on Jul 9, 2019 12:15:00 GMT -8
gabby the Stove Guy or any forum Stove enthusiast! Have question, will ask! Background: Use Shock and Awe resupply strategy that insures more than adequate canister fuel supply. As a consequence, always have fuel on hand in the field. At at home it results in excess inventory of a variety over canisters ranging from 75% to 25% full. Question: Is there anyway to transfer canister fuel at home from one canister to another, in essence refill or top off partial canisters?
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Jul 9, 2019 12:27:40 GMT -8
I won't do it (it is dangerous, and even sounds dangerous), but apparently some (like Hikin' Jim) will: andrewskurka.com/nifty-refill-transfer-stove-fuel-backpacking-canisters-g-works-gas-saver/ETA: As stated above about different brands of fuel (you can find this sort of info in a number of places), what you would be doing, IMHO and presuming you are talking about mixing fuel sources here, with such a procedure would amount to taking one sort of fuel and mixing it with another which might (or might not) be the same stuff. This is to completely discount the possibility of leakage due to sloppy use of such a device, or even Lindal valve failure. I don't like how it all sounds. I'm too paranoid for this, and probably should be more thoughtful about all the things I do with stoves, like lighting that Bleuet after it sat in the garage for 30 years last February, but ignorance is sometimes blissful stupidity. I'm sure I've done stupider and sillier things without actually knowing the facts, but I'm just stating my opinion here. Others will almost certainly disagree in, perhaps, a number of ways. There is, I suppose, a wonderful feeling associated with one's life ending with a relatively quick "bang". All of this is strange, mostly because, as they say, one guy's terror is another's adventure - and vice versa.
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Post by trinity on Jul 9, 2019 17:12:07 GMT -8
On the subject of canister stoves, the recent canister stove review on the Backpackinglight podcast was quite good. Based on that podcast, and on bradmacmt's recommendation, I am considering upgrading to a Pocket Rocket Deluxe. Not that I need another stove.
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Post by tramp69 on Jul 9, 2019 19:03:21 GMT -8
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Post by ukpacker on Jul 11, 2019 13:37:46 GMT -8
That's a lovely picture, Rembrandt? But on inverting gas canisters in cold weather, a warning, make sure to light the stove when the canister is upright, warm it up in your hands if necessary but don't ever try to invert the canister before lighting in bellow freezing temps as liquid gas, butane or propane I don't know which can freeze or condense around the cold metal of the stove burner making you think no gas is coming out until you get ignition then big fireball.
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