I did a hike up to Mount Islip (8250'/2515m) yesterday. I shot a few photos of the Soto Muka stove and this video of the Muka. I'm happy to report that the Muka is an excellent snow melter. HJ
Too tired to post any pics yesterday, but here's a photo of the view from the top (click to enlarge): HJ
Morning, HJ, Wonderful video, Jim. Fun that you did it all with one hand, too, and hey, it turned out great! 8) Just to show that the old phrase, "different strokes, for different folks" (and in the case of stove pumping, that's very apropos! 8) ), I have found that pumping the Muka is not big deal, and just like EVERY "Plug and Play" stove, with less fuel, it needs more pumping. Seems quite normal to me. Also, our testing has shown the Muka to be more fuel efficient than you seem to believe, for what it's worth. So far, we've never added a single drop of fuel since Sweet Bride and I began our testing, and the little Muka is still perking along very nicely, albeit needing more pumps to pressurize the fuel bottle, which, as I say, seems normal to me. It is nice to hear that the Muka will still perform like a champ, at elevation, and also with only 3/8" of fuel left in the bottle!! THAT is an outstanding plus for this little giant of a stove, IFAIC!! Some other stoves leave an irritatingly small amount of fuel in their bottles, or fonts, that just does not burn, now matter what you do. So, the fact that the Muka seems to be able to function at full performance, despite having only meager fuel left in it's bottle, is an outstandingly positive thing, IMHO. In any case, nicely done video, HJ, and up to your usual standards, which is always fun!! Thanks for undertaking it, and for offering it here. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
HJ, Great review, nice to know it will function well at high elevation per Doc's comment. Please drop me a line once you send her this way. Cheers, AJ
i also thought that. now set as the background. stoves doin fine isn't it ? i thought it would. any chance of a close up picture of the end of the fuel pipe where it joins the pump ? thanks. kez
Interesting stove. I did a bit of reading about what makes this stove unique. My first impression, not knowing much about it was, hmm, yet another white gas stove. So what? Well curious to me was the BTU output of this stove. 15,800. That's over 50% higher than nearly any other stove running on white gas fuel. I know of no other stove that on Coleman Fuel outputs more than about 10k - 11k BTU. Some will obtain a higher heat output when using butane/propane mix, but not with liquid fuel. Of particular interest to me is the claim that it can run automotive fuel without any detrimental effect. This is something also unique to this stove. It's such a pricey stove that I'd not want to risk ruining one to chance, but what are your thoughts on the validity of this?
I think you can run unleaded in pretty much any stove designed for coleman fuel (unless it has a micro filter in the jet) with pretty much no negative effects on the stove. Stoves like 8r's, 71's, 123's and my coleman apex 1 peak 11 have no problem with unleaded. It is the effects on your lungs that is the more important consideration. Maybe the soto is better at burning off the fuel additives than other stoves? Maybe its not? I have no idea. I wonder why this stove does not have a larger pump.
My interpretation of the Soto stuff about the unleaded thing is this: while most stove manufactuers say you *can* run unleaded, they don't recommend it as a matter of routine. The Soto stove is marketed as being able to run it at any time, any amount, without problems. This would be a first as far as I can tell. My experience in seeing Coleman lanterns that were run on unleaded is that it works, but is a way to shorten the life from nearly unlimited to perhaps a few years. Time will tell if the marketing lives up to the reality. I agree with you, however, that the smell and health effects of unleaded is not worth the small cost savings realized over a more refined fuel. But I have the luxury of going to a store to buy Coleman Fuel and not getting by with whatever fuel is sold in a developing nation. The last time I tried unleaded in a stove, it smelled absolutely heinous. It was smelled like a poorly tuned lawn mower full of 10 year old gasoline.
Yeah, I'm kind of silly I guess. I guess I'm just used to 30 pumps and then letting my Whisperlite or XGK do it's thing. I imagine most people will find pumping more convenient than priming. For me, priming is just no big deal -- unless I'm stuck in a tent in miserable weather. I wouldn't say that the Muka is inefficient per se, but when you have a higher output stove, that output has to come from somewhere. I didn't use a gram scale or anything, but the Muka was going through fuel at a perceptibly more rapid rate than say a Whisperlite or a Dragonfly. Definitely. Some real time and thought went into the Muka. It's really well engineered. The one potential "gotcha" is simmering. Good cooking absolutely can be done when it's turned down low provided that one one keeps stirring, but if a purchaser expects simmering in the sense that one would get with a gas stove or a valve-at-the-burner stove like the Dragonfly, they're going to be disappointed. Soto may have done themselves a disservice by saying "simmering" flame instead of "low" flame. Expectations management. Thanks, Doc. I was pleased that it came out as well as it did. It was shot ad lib in a single take. The glare off the snow was really bad, and I couldn't clearly see the screen as I was shooting the video. I was quite please that, for the most part, there was a stove in frame. HJ
Morning, HJ, Thanks for responding to my questions and comments. To me, pumping a stove is just no big deal, and it never has been. But, others may not care for such things, and most of those folks go for gassies!! 8) As for fuel efficiency, we're still using the same fuel that has been in the small Muka bottle since we began testing that stove, and we've burned it a TON of times, and quite often, since then!! So, I'm guessing that, despite it's very high output, the Muka is far more efficient than many other high output stoves. I will put that to the test at the OSG, and we'll see how the Muka compares to a variety of other high output stoves, all burning a measured amount of fuel, and all burning for measured amount of time! How does that sound? If I do it at the OSG, and not before, then all those Stovies who attend can be part of the testing, and help fire up the myriad stoves under testing! An "OSG Group Project", as it were!! I love it!! 8) 8) Also, at the OSG, I plan to bring quite a few different simmering plates, some home-made, and we'll see how they work on the Muka, and some other stoves. I have one in particular, that I think is going to work quite well on the Muka, in fact. But, I'll also do some delicate cooking on the Muka, sans simmering plate, and see how that little giant of a stove can handle that chore in real life, with real food, and not common backpacking fare. I'm excited about further testing of this little stove, and will be posting my own thoughts about such things as tests progress. I look forward to all those in attendance at OSG being able to put their fingers in the pot, too, so to speak, and we'll all do some of this testing together!! To me, the Muka really has very little competition, for what it does, and how little it weighs. If it proves reliable over the long haul, and my future testing will prove that, at least to me, then I'd say it will eventually earn it's rightful place amongst the other giants of the stove world, including the MSR X-GK, amongst others. Talk to you soon, my Friend, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc P.S. Please tell your Bride that the campground at OSG has showers, and full facilities, including a nearby lodge, if she is so inclined to join us! Sweet Bride and I would love to meet her, and also your little hiking Cheerio Gremlin, too!! 8) 8)
Greetings, All, I just had a further thought about using the Muka. Questions have been asked about burning unleaded auto gas in it. Personally, I see little need for such a thing, but others might like to have some testing done with that fuel. I am going to contact Muka again, and ask them about the long term use of that fuel in their stove. Though I am more than a little worried about doing the testing in my own Muka, I may well undertake it. Or, I may ask Muka for a loaner stove that I can test along those line. I've done that sort of thing before, "back in the day", and had outstanding success with Coleman, Optimus, Sigg, MSR, and ZZ Manufacturing, Inc. I wrote an article for a since defunct magazine, in which I tested a variety of stoves, and a variety of fuels, all cooking the exact same home-dehydrated meal, and all tested for efficiency, boiling times, length of burn with the same amount of fuel, simmering capabilities, ease of lighting, ease of maintenance, and other things, like pack-ability. Back then, most of the stove companies were really interested in such testing, and so every single one that I contacted came through in some way. Some gave me free stoves to test, which I got to keep afterwards, some loaned me stoves, some gave me rock-bottom pricing on stoves, and some just gave information and advice. But, all of them responded very positively to such requests, back then. Unfortunately, very few, if any, companies do that sort of thing today. But, I'm thinking that Muka just may be one of them, especially as I've been sending them the videos that Sweet Bride and I made whilst testing their stove. But, one way, or another, I will test a Muka, either mine, or theirs, with unleaded auto gas, and send a report about how it works, and any problems I might have with it. I look forward to doing all this!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Doc, Your fuel efficiency "stove off" at ORSG1 sounds like it would be a lot of fun -- and very informative as well. I'm very curious about unleaded automotive gasoline use in the Muka as well. I didn't try any in the stove I was testing with since it wasn't my stove. I like you am hesitant to try unleaded. Unleaded's reputation with stoves is not good. For those who might be interested in such a thing, I put together a playlist of all the Muka Stove videos I am aware of. The first six are reasonably good (well, if I'm allowed to assume that my video is any good). The second six are a bit less useful perhaps but may be of interest. HJ
HI, HJ, Thanks. I look forward to this, and to more testing of the Muka, myself. To that end, I have sent a request to Muka, asking for the possible loan of a second stove, which will be used in testing, alongside my personal Muka, with unleaded gasoline. I told them about the OSG, and my plans to do further testing of the Muka at that event, with the entire group participating in that testing. I also promised to send them all results of those tests, and others I will make this Summer, along with videos of the testing, as I have done in the past. I did tell them about my having done this sort of testing before, with help from other stove companies at the time, but also that I fully understood if, for any reason, they could not comply with my request. We'll see how it all turns out. Talk to you soon, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
I've taken all the photos, but I just haven't had a chance to pull everything together into a review. It is forthcoming! HJ
