Optimus Vega vs. MSR Windpro 2 vs. other suggestions please

Alright folks, please help me decide on a gassie. Love my new diesel stove and truly enjoy it, but it's not a good match for making tea more than a few feet from mechanized transport.

What I'm looking for:

*Gassie
*Remote burner, no tippy cylinder top nonsense
*Preheat loop for liquid feed, will be using down to 15F/-10C
*Bigger burner rather than smaller pinpoint burner
*Reasonable simmer, not making bechamel but hopefully some settings between afterburner and off
*If it can handle propane via one of the common unregulated adapters, that would be great
*Not looking for an integrated Windburner/Reactor/Stove-which-must-not-be-named system, want something I can set any kettle or pan I have on

Leaning towards the MSR at the moment. The burner is bigger/less hot spot, and reviews say the Optimus has a short/stiff fuel line and likes to flip the whole burner over when switching to liquid feed mode.

I already have one of the tippy orange box cylinder top gassies, I should just throw it away. Not worth the postage to send it if someone would want it, and frankly I think they're too tippy to be safe to use.

Already have a remote burner gassie, if it had a preheat loop I wouldn't be asking this.
Kings Grill gassie

Open to other suggestions beyond the Vega/Windpro. Pretty well done with stove collecting(I heard that snort in the back, keep it down please), looking for the One Gassie to Rule Them All. Basically want to buy once and be done for this category of stove.

Thanks folks.

 

I have this other MSR stand to set canister top stoves lower.
What about the MSR Windpro II? Wide burner, can invert the canister, folds up, preheat loop, valve swivels to allow the canister to rotate without kinking the line.
Duane

 

MSR Reactor or WindBurner
Quick
Effective
Efficient
Wind resistant
Quality proven

 

Thanks Duane. Windpro 2 was mentioned specifically in the title, I'll add a +1 to that column.

 

Thanks Ken!

 

@Marc
Sounds like your search for a regulated propane adaptor has been unsuccessful Marc.

With some experience now of the Optimus Vega and Soto Windmaster (I know, canister top but promising good low ambient temperature performance) I believe that at 15F/-10C they’d be struggling when the propane constituent of an isobutane/propane mix canister burns off.

I wonder why a gassie when a small Coleman (502 say) would offer as much convenience in lighting as a gassie and outperforms any gassie in really cold weather. An MSR Dragonfly would serve too, with an excellent simmer, great stability and easy priming with the bottle fuel if it’s white gas.

John

 

John, correct, search for a regulated propane/butane adapter was fruitless. I think I'd be better off getting a variable propane adapter, adding 1lb propane connections on either side, and then one of the unregulated propane/butane adapters.

15F would be the absolute minimum, and I believe inverted liquid feed would avoid most of the pressure issues? No personal experience using a gassie at those temps.

The other stoves are good options. I have a Coleman 502, a Coleman 400, MSR XGK EX, a couple Trangias. All of which would handle 15F no problem, although the Trangias would require careful priming. Hmm.

 

Trangia makes a winter mod.

 

Make a gas adapter for a Whisperlite or whatever remote burner you would like to use
Trangia gas burner is never a bad choice.
Put it in a metho burner triangle/ your pick of too many for a smaller foot print.

 

MSR WhisperLite Universal
Inverted canister.

 

Been pretty darned happy with my Fire Maple Blade 2 titanium. No issues, heating loop and easily invertable.

 

@Marc

Primus Gravity EF II or III. Very, very low center of gravity. It will take a propane adapter. Also has multiple jet options to tailor the output if you buy the MF maintenance kit. Reasonably priced. If using in cold weather in liquid feed the bigger the canister the better. 15F is pushing it, 25F would be my lower limit for Isobutane/Propane mix. Primus winter gas or even better straight Propane would work even not being inverted.

 

Thanks folks.

I looked at the Whisperlite Universal. The whisper part is definitely attractive.

Will take a peek at the Firemaple Blade 2 and Primus Gravity EF II/III.

Leaning towards the Primus now. Really like the wider burner.

As I said, I've no personal experience using canisters at 15F, if they don't work at those temps then they don't work and I've other options. 15F is nothing to mess around with, but none of this use will be life threatening or more than merely inconvenient if it doesn't work. At worst we walk a couple miles back to the car without hot tea.

Thanks again, everyone.

 

Alrighty, as usual, Ken has good advice.

Came across a NIB Whisperlite Universal on another forum for a good price and pulled the trigger. Perhaps overkill as far as the originally intended purpose was concerned, but that's in character for me. Same price as the Optimus Vega, and a better price than the Windpro 2.

 

And it can also burn kerosene

 

Whisperlite Universal arrived in good order.

Initial firing. Once lit, per stovie regulations a kettle was employed and a brew commenced.



In inverted mode it had a crackle like a rocket exhaust, which I thought was seriously cool.

Calling this one done. Thanks folks.

 

I should fire mine up too.

 

First use on an away mission! As expected, it performed flawlessly.



I'm astonished at how much water I've been able to boil with that one ~220g canister. Haven't used a gassie in a serious way before and don't have a feel for fuel consumption, but I'm impressed. The 450g canisters I bought are going to last forever.

 

Match it with a heat exchanger pot and knock the boil times and gas usage even more. The same would apply on the liquid stoves as well but my hiking setup uses a 1.5l pot and all my liquid fuel stoves had too big a flame diameter so didnt really work.

 

@geeves Heat exchanger kettle may well happen.