FireSpout 100 wood stove vs Primus Omnifuel

[Warthog]

My stove experience is limited. Trangias when at school, a Whisperlite in Argentina, and Primus Omnifuel since then.

I chose the Whisperlite and the Omnifuel for their versatility in choice of fuels, and indeed with the Omnifuel I have often made use of the extra gas cannister option.

I have also increasingly liked the idea of a wood stove, particularly as a back up: carbon neutral, cheap to run and frankly a bit cosier than a jet engine like the Primus...

So I got one: a Fire-Spout 100. It was delivered last week and today I gave it a... yes, you guessed it, Baptism of Fire.

And of snow, as it happens, seeing as there is 1-2 feets of snow over the whole of Estonia!! I then decided to compare it directly to my Omnifuel at the same time.

So, results:

I tramped thorugh the snow into a nearby area, out of the way of local houses. I scooped snow into my kettle and got the FS going.

I had brought with me some bits of wood from my recent sledge building attempt as well as some old bits of paper. Tore up the paper, chucked it in, put in a few bits of wood on top, lit the paper and in less than a minute the fire had taken very well.
Added some more, put the kettle on, and just under 4 minutes later the snow was boiling: about 250ml in total. I am sure that the water would have boiled faster had I added more wood.
For this stove I also bought a "fire-door" which is really just a sheet of steel, cut and angled to slide in front of the FS100's air port.

I should point out that I had also made a 20cm x 20cm platform out of a sheet of ally screwed to a square of plywood. Don't know how long the ply would last with regular use, but is stopped the whole thing melting into the snow and after those 6 minutes or so of heat the ply still seemed fine as did the ally.

Then the omnifuel: a little longer to set up, with the heat shield, conduits, pressurising the bottle etc, but once going a similar quantity of snow was boiling in 2 and a half mins

Pros and Cons:

FS100:


+:

• very compact (size of A5 envelope and less than 1 cm thick),
• very tough, all one piece so no loosing bits (except for the Fire door piece),
• carbon neutral, and frankly just nice to use.
• Reasonably light at about 800grs, but lighter would be great! (something the designer is working on).
• Simple, therefore relaible.

-:

• You're limited to wood, so you need to camp near sources of wood. I have no idea how hard the fire would be to get going with damp, wet, or frozen wood! BBQ starters or a drop of unleaded might be needed!!
• Cooking apparatus is very sooty afterwards!!

Price is OK. At £35 it's actually relatively cheap compared to other wood burners, very few of which would be as compact, but for that money you also have a choice of camping gaz burners, or some mutli fuels for a bit more... Price includes neither P&P, nor the "Fire Door"

Omnifuel:


+:

• relatively compact (but less so if you pack gas and the fuel bottle),
• robust in my experience
• very versatile fuel-wise: with the right jet, could probably run on water!
• Reliable: mine has not given me big problems (except see below!).

-:

• Not infallible: I have had problems with fuel escaping from the fuel bottle coupling just before the o-ring seals meaning that I have to wait abit for the fuel to evaporate. OK if you know about it: pretty hazardous if you don't!
• Expensive: RRP aroundd £110-130 : the only reason I bought one was that I found it on sale at £90: that is still one front tyre, or as much as 1000 miles of fuel in some parts of the world!!

In summary:
If I had to choose one on a big trip then the Omnifuel would have to be it, for the choice of fuels. Travelling locally on shorter trips, I would happily take the FS100, if for no other reason than the fun of it.
In reality, I bought the FS100 as a back up and as a means of being able to easily get wood fires going even in adverse conditions. In this capacity, I think it is great: a really nice piece of kit. Even as a main stove, if you're willing to adapt to it's fuel limitation, I think it would be easy to live with (and give you that "living off the land" feeling!).
Would I recommend either of these stove? Yes, especially on performance.
Happy camper/budgening pyromaniac