A Survey of the State of the Art of Upright Canister Stoves

Well, yes, this is Classic Camp Stoves, isn't it, but, er, well, I believe there may be some interest in things current as well. For those that may indeed have such interest, I've written a brief article that surveys what is available in terms of the current offerings of upright canister stoves.

For this article, I didn't consider integrated canister stoves (e.g. a Jetboil) or remote canister stoves (e.g. an Optimus Vega). I felt that trying to "do it all" in one article would be just too much.

As a part of the article, I compiled the following table which while certainly not exhaustive should be fairly representative of what's out there, at least in the US market. No doubt there are additional offerings outside the US but the table does include most current stoves from major manufacturers.

The article: Upright Canister Stoves – the State of the Art

The table is below. I hope it is of interest despite it's decidedly not "classic" content.

Regards,

HJ

 

Great work HJ. I see 'classic' in the context of the CCS title as a flag of convenience, personally. A flag for anyone interested in whatever aspect of the broad topic of stoves, their use, their repair/restoration and related matters to sail under.

John

 

Steerage class of course!

 

As long as it doesn't hit an iceberg and I'm locked below I'm not bothered Ross!

 

Lol, Ross.

HJ

 

i have an Optimus Bleuet 206 but no canisters. so obsolete and useless.
the Snow Peak line are pretty cool. i have a Snow Peak catalog, that's about as far i go with canisters.

 

https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/optimus-bleuet-206-campingaz.25282/
funny how the past keeps looking for a way into the future.

 

My only one on this list is the MSR Superfly. Only a true ultra lite guy would call a 177 g (mine weighs 175g) stove heavy! I actually like this little guy with its wide burner. But I actually cook in the woods, so I appreciate its cooking abilities rather than being limited to boiling water. And it can digest about any canister you throw at it. Having said all those nice things about it, I never carry it in the woods anymore. I don't like canisters with all their disadvantages. And like all this class they are way too tippy for me in the woods. I mostly carry my Trangia 27 with one pot and pan/lid when I backpack. As long as my pack is around 30 lb I am happy and comfortable, so you can tell I am not among the UL crowd. If I am in the canoe I see no reason whatsoever for a canister stove, so anything from the Trangia 25 to the Coleman 502 (and many others) would be fair game. If I don't have a portage I would consider throwing in a dutch oven!

 

@monkeyboy
The Camping Gaz C206 piercable canisters are readily available in the UK.
They can be purchased in most outdoor activities outlets and some other places.
I believe that Camping Gaz is now owned by Coleman and it would seem logical that they would be available in the US, but that is not the case.
Here is just one page from UK eBay.

 

There are still plenty of puncture type canisters floating around the US, but puncture type canisters are no longer sold in the US or Canada.

Likewise, Camping Gaz non threaded canisters with a Lindal valve are no longer available.

HJ

 

I keep getting people wanting to sell me their Camping Gaz stove, the Coleman Power max line is enough of discontinued fueled stoves for me. Sold all my older msr canister top stoves a few years ago, only have three of the little ones by different makers left. So my MSR stove collection is not as large as it used to be, concentrated on the early msr stoves.
Duane

 

i'd love to use my Bleuet, looks like a nice well made stove, but with no cylinders handy here in the states....

 

There are plenty around. You've just got to look for them.

HJ

 

I made coffee and then hot cereal with my MSR Windboiler (No not Windburner) stove this morning. The canister has it's place in the hierarchy. It was cold and I was lazy. Classics stayed in the truck. I had to put the canister in my pocket for a while.
Ken in NC

 

There's another source for puncture type canisters in Britain, and at pretty reasonable prices, too; B & Q. The problem with many sources on E-bay is not the nominal price of the cartridges, but the shipping charges.

The ones sold by B & Q aren't Camping Gaz, but marked as GoSystem; I have, however, used them in a Camping Gaz lantern, and they work fine.
http://www.diy.com/departments/gosystem-190g-gas-cartridge/1138715_BQ.prd

Even better is that, if you are a senior citizen, you can get a free discount card, which gets you 10% off the marked price every Wednesday.

If you live near a Sievert stockist, you may find they also sell the 190gm cartridges, badged as Sieverts - I presume intended for use in their small blow-torches. But I've no idea if all Sievert stockists sell them (or would be willing to order them for you), and, again, the shipping costs really wallop the price up unless you can collect in store.

HTH,
Jack

 

I have to say that while I love my Coleman lanterns, I do not like cooking on Coleman stoves, with the exception of my 400s. When I camp solo I use my cannister stoves to augment the 400. I use the Classic Trail for most cooking in camp. The large burner head distributives the heat well and I have no problem simmering. Yes they're heavy, but I use my jet boil when I backpack. I have been looking for another stove for hiking (not that I need another!). I really didn't want a pocket rocket so when I saw Jim's review on the Soto Amicus I decided to give it a shot. Best $40 buck deal! Nice stove, very small footprint and can be turned down to simmer. If this is the kind of stove you're interested in, I'd say go for it. I'll let you know in a year how its been holding up, specifically the ignitor.

 

I was just at the primus.eu website today and it looks like for 2017 they are putting a regulator on some of their gas stoves, including a few uprights.

 

the best cannister top stove i have used is the primus classic also sold as the primus yellowstone - nothing fancy in the way of folding up or such but a huge burner that bumps out large amounts of heat - weighs half a pound but rock solid

 

I have a Gaz Bleuet 470 HP I got in the early '90s and it used to be my primary backpacking stove until the thin retainer plate for the pot stands cracked. A Twister 270 replaced it, which Coleman now sells under the Peak 1 label with different colors. I never liked it much and fuel getting scarcer (in the U.S.) was a good reason to try a Giga Power when REI had them on sale at $25 with the igniter. I knew ahead that the small burner would make actual cooking tougher, but it's otherwise a nicer, lighter, smaller stove. I have not used it enough yet to find out why the igniter has such bad reviews, but it works well now and I always carry matches anyway.

FYI, my Giga Power weighs 127g with the igniter and plastic case.

 

I am not a fan of JetBoil, but the JetBoil group pot works great with the Giga Power stove.