I've been using an optimus Nova for about 2 years and I have to say it is fantastic. I put standard petrol in it when I'm with the bike and it is fine. Yes standard petrol does burn a little dirtier but nit much. When using the stove on long trips I find it needs cleaning after about 3-4 hours useage. (About once a week to 10 days ish). It is realy easy to clean and is only a couple of munite job.

Bo not that the reason you should use white gas rather than normal 'road' petrol is that the latter contains benzine which rots the seals of the stove over time (like a year or 2) so get some spare seal. They are cheap and it isn't hasle

Chris

OK - this is my opinion. I love my Trangia. I've used it throughout Europe with no problems, and have even dropped the whole thing down the road at about 35mph. Dented, but fine. Doesn't pack up as small as some, and isn't as light as others. But you have what you need to cook in one package, and you can always leave some bits behind!

The main problem? It runs on meths. I don't get why this is such a problem for so many people, as meths (white alcohol) is not only easy to get in *most* places, but is also extremely low-density (very lightweight) and not so volatile as petrol. It also doesn't smell as much, burns cleanly and can be used as a cleaning agent.

I think I'll be taking a litre of meths on my african trip ... and if it runs out, I agree with a previous poster - when in rome, do as the romans do. I will be cooking on a log fire if necessary.

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My XR650L Pan-Med Expedition Site!

In 1996, I put leaded gas in my MSR Whisperlite. We got the gas at a station in Peru (we were climbing, not riding). Used it for 2 weeks or so, never a problem. Mine has a shaker jet, shake it briefly before and after every use. I think it's important to let the MSR get really hot and cover your food. Since boiling water wants to escape out, I don't think too many bad chems can get inside the pan. Use a stainless steel or Titanium (expensive) pan.

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Kevin

http://www.nohorizons.net

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http://www.nohorizons.net

if the other stoves can burn petrol, why not the simple trangia?

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dave

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dave

Petrol has twice as much heat in it as Kerosene which has twice as much heat as metho. By my calculations, if you have a Trangia, then you need four times as much fuel as a petrol stove.
On a similar thread, an Australian inventor has produced a tiny stove which will burn absolutely anything and has no jets. It's called "the blowfly". I hear MSR might take it up.
Tim

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Tim ('91 R100GSPD)

The only baggage you carry should be in the panniers

An other downdraft for the Trangia:
It is quite hard to find the right fuel in some places... Africa for ex...
Think I am gonna have to buy me an other stove in the future.
But they stay unbreakable and very safe in my eyes.

The DragonFly is a good stove in my opinion, however, Optimus Nova has got to be the best I have ever used. In 18 years of using liquid fuel stoves I keep going back to Optimus.
Desert heat to Norway colds they work perfectley at all tempratures and altitudes.
You really do get what you pay for.
Geordie

Has anyone used a Sierra Zip stove?

http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...ory_rn=4500455

I'm trying to decide on a stove to go anywhere with(S.America in near future), and all signs seem to point to this one. Looks pretty rugged, light and compact. Cheap too. Anyone know why it may not be a good(best) choice? The only downside I've heard is soot/smoky smell, but I prefer that to leaks/gas smell(when carrying in pack on hikes). I guess maybe in barren desert/glaciers/etc it'd be tough finding fuel.

Tim,Fireboomer,
i meant why cant you burn petrol IN the trangia?

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dave

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dave

Has anyone used an ex-army Hexamine stove? They seem super-lightweight and good enough for limited occasional use?

See one here on the right...
http://www.strikeforcesupplies.co.uk/pics/mugholder.gif

Hi,

Not wishing to see this fantastic thread come to an end, I just went to my local Mountaineering equipment shop and they recommended a Primus Omnifuel stove that claims to run on any kind of fuel, liquid or gas, even aviation fuel! It looks good to me, has anyone tried one?

http://www.primus.se/

Cheers Andy.

Too right apatrick we can't let this die just yet. Look on this link under making your own gear. Lot's of home made stoves - mainly seem to be variations on Trangia.
http://www.backpacking.net/. Interesting and a bit scary, but could get you a temporary stove in a pinch. I take no responsibility for loss of eyebrows etc.
My own experience is mainly with paraffin(kerosine) stoves - best being optimus 111 (in the blue box). good heat output and fuel capacity, but hard to light in wind. I have just bought some preheating paste (modern version of using meths to warm stove up) so will see if that fires it up better. Also a fan of trangia - the only stove which actually likes wind.Last few years this is what I have used, but I travel in places where meths is available.(Incidentally you can reduce boiling time by raising pan a further 10mm or so above burner- don't know what that does to fuel consumption).
Recently got a Coleman Sportster 2 stove which will burn unleaded petrol, but not impressed with burning time, wind tolerance or cold morning performance. Will continue to test, possibly with preheating paste as I like the idea of using the bike's fuel tank.
I have used ex army hexamine stove,good for short periods, but fuel seems to absorb moisture and become difficult to light.
As has been said, the search goes on. Great thread.

Sorry - left this link out of last post - it refers to trangia boiling times.
http://www.ultralight-hiking.com/stoves-trangia.html
Seems like others are equally fascinated by their stoves.

Well, I took the plunge and went for the Primus OmniFuel. Light, small and looks really solid including a very robust looking aluminium fuel pump. Claims to burn anything combustible including leaded fuel (only not recommended for health reasons) and comes with different jets for gas, white gas/ petrol and diesel/kerosene. Cleaning the jet takes about 10 seconds with the nifty 'bit of wire on a stick' provided. Fired it up for the first time last night and boy does it go! It has more power than the cooker in my house! Only 30-40 seconds preheating time required, flame adjustability is really good and controllable with 10 half turns to go from gentle simmer to mental boil. Well impressed and worth the money I reckon. It's even a few quid cheaper than the Dragonfly which has a plastic fuel pump plunger and a shakerjet thing that seems like an unnecessary gadget IMHO.

When I've actually used it and bashed it about on a real trip I'll let you know how it goes.

Andy.

Well, as the starter of this thread (2.5 years ago!) it certainly has made for some interesting reading.

We just spent a year travelling throughout Europe and then into Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco for the winter. Since Europe is hideously expensive (at least for Canadians) we camped as much as possible. The Dragonfly worked reasonably well throughout that time, needing a good cleaning at about the halfway mark of the journey.

While in Tunisia (after about six months of continuous use with unleaded fuel) we started having trouble. The flame would extinguish easily and the boiling times increased. Also simmering (the best feature of the Dragonfly) became spotty. After much disassembling and cleaning without success I took out the in-line fuel filter. This improved performance significantly but not to the same level as with a clean fuel filter. Apparently the filter acts as a regulator of some sort. This filter is just a little white thing that looks like foam and couldn't be more than 2 cents to make.

In Morocco we arranged to have some supplies sent out, including a spare parts kit for the stove. ($140 in customs duties and taxes for $60 worth of stuff!!) Installing the new fuel filter included in the kit fixed all the problems we had. The stove worked perfectly again.

A few months later, when back in Europe, we started dropping by camping stores to see if they had these filters in stock. We eventually found that you must buy the entire maintenance kit in order to get the 2 cent filter. Back in Canada my Mom went to the Mountain Equipment Coop and mentioned the filter problem to the staff there. They rooted around and "borrowed" a filter from their demo model.

Other than the filter we had no problems with the stove. It was essentially self-cleaning with the shaker jet. Somewhere along the line (in Spain I think) I picked up a set of disposable, plastic gloves (used at self-serve gas stations for filling with Diesel) and wore those when filling the fuel bottle from the quick disconnect on the bike so no more smelly hands. Come to think of it, it wasn't the filling of the bottle that was the smelly part, it was unscrewing the top of the bottle when there was still some gasoline under pressure in the bottle.

When working well (with a clean filter) the Dragonfly boiled water very quickly and yet was able to simmer low enough to make rice pudding. A happy user

Ekke Kok
Redwood Meadows, AB
1989 BMW R100GS

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Ekke Kok

'84 R100RT 141,000 km (Dad's!)
'89 R100GS 250,000 km (and ready for another continent)
'07 R1200GS Adventure 100,000 km (just finished Circumnavigating Asia)
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www.ekke-audrey.ca