Soto not only has the Micro Regulator stove, but also the new Muka Stove. They have quite an interesting video of the stove in operation. They're available at REI for $148. I don't think I'll get one, but they look rather interesting. They claim that it doesn't produce soot and, if I'm understanding them right, will burn unleaded just as well as "white" gasoline/stove petrol. It doesn't have a priming process, exactly, although it takes a bit before the flame settles down to a good blue. Looks like quite the blowtorch. It will be interesting to see if it proves itself under hard use and catches on. It's a pretty expensive stove. It appears to be aimed at the same type of market as say an Omnifuel would be aimed at. I wonder about that. HJ
Is that a little tiny carburetor or fuel injector on the side opposite the fuel hose inlet? Notice the fuel bottle sold seperately sign! All it is missing is a tachometer and a turbo! Everyone knows my thoughts on MSR stoves but this one seems to have taken several steps backwards from the Reactor and shows as much style as a fenced off industrial superfund site.
Looks to work nicely, but like Chef mentioned, bottles have to be bought separately. They are 'big mouth' ones so none of your Sigg, MSR, Primus, Opti-or-whatever-mus bottles will work on them. Also, the stove is gasoline/petrol only. Nice to take it with you when on a motorcycle (as it works happily on unleaded fuel) but they will loose some customers that prefer kero/paraffin. Maybe a bit pricey too... All the best, Wim
"All it is missing is a tachometer and a turbo! " It does however have a boost gauge. I like the theory of this stove but worry about how robust it is.
You can download the manual for it. http://www.sotooutdoors.com/products/manual/OD-1NPmanual.pdf This explains that it delivers a fuel/air mix to start and then you switch it to run once the generator warms up. Its exactly like an older Coleman. They claim it will simmer by using the pump valve. To turn off, the valve directs air only to clear the fuel line without needing a bottle flip. I like the look of it, but not for 148$
Some neat ideas in pump design. It would interesting to know how well it is made -- especially that valve. Maybe I missed it but there appears to be no way to prick the jet, and it would be hard to get at to clean manually. Looking at the manual, there are directions for replacing the generator, but they don't mention anything about cleaning it (which might be necessary if one used much unleaded).
Bugger, is that thing LOUD!!!!! They sure found a way to take the 'silent' out of silent burner! At full bore, it looks like the business end of someone's rocket engine, too. Murph
Precisely. How will it stand up to hard use, and will it age gracefully? Sometimes high tech gadgets can be a little "fussy" when they get thrown about a bit and dragged through cold and wet. With that complex pump, I worry that I might not be able to field strip it and correct any problems. I don't know that she's "sensitive," but I do wonder. Still, an intriguing stove, and I salute them for trying something new. For the North American market the use of white gasoline and unleaded gasoline makes great sense. Very few people use paraffin here. Internationally, perhaps not so much. If they really have a stove that will work just as well on unleaded, they might be on to something. Unleaded gasoline is about 1/2 the price of Coleman fuel. HJ
I assumed they must be doing something like the Coleman stoves. REI's write up says "the first liquid [fueled] stove that doesn't need priming". Ha! My Coleman 502 seemed to do OK the last time I fired it. Did you notice the "simmer" in the video? It didn't seem very low to me. It was a lower flame, but I wouldn't call it a low flame. I'd like to see one "in the flesh." HJ
Look at about 6:25 into the video. He says "this would be the simmering position." Now, look at the flame. I wouldn't exactly call that a simmering flame. Looks like it simmers about as well as a Simmerlite -- in other words, it doesn't. Either that or they chose a poor video. HJ
Well, I can't see anything new here. Snowpeak had a similar stove (GigaPower WG) some time ago and then gave it up. The "trick" was to use a quite high pressure and pulverize the fuel to create a fuel-air mix, thus minimizing flares during preheating. After a while you flip a lever to normal operation. IMHO a pricey gadget. juergen
The Muka has one thing going for it: REI is selling it. With that kind of distribution network, it may catch on. One problem with the Snow Peak white gas stove was (at least in part) that it was just never widely available in the US. MSR has had a real lock on the market except for a few high end stoves like the Omnifuel. Walk into 95% of the stores in the US (at least in Southern California), and the only liquid fuel stoves you'll see are MSR. Of course the internet has opened up things a bit, but most people buy stoves they've seen in use. It's a bit hard to break into the market when no one has ever seen your product. HJ
OK, I thought that might be it. We use it with respect to TCPIP in the computer world. As to the Muka, who knows, maybe it'll gain acceptance because of it's lack of priming, but so many people, at least in the US, just think gas is the way to go. I've heard people actually say that liquid fuel is obsolete. In the Sierra Club training class that I did a volunteer stove clinic for, one of the instructors flat out told me that the students, "will get a gas stove if they've been listening at all." Such is life. HJ
We too As for the gas preference, that's life. And frankly, outside winter/cold temperatures it's not the worst choice. juergen
I guess this stove would run fine on gas too, even over turned canisters. Just a matter of fitting the fuel hose with a lindal coupling, no?
