Hey everyone thanks for your feedback! I ended up opting for the MSR Dragonfly and purchased it from ebay. I paid £60 pounds brand new with a free bottle, FANTASTIC.
|
 |
This thread doesn't seem to have had any posts from people who've used stoves which are not MSR which is a shame. I've used MSR, they're very good, but I've also got a Primus Omnifuel (I think that's what it's called). It's good and can be used on gas as well as various liquids. I think it's probably my preferred liquid fuel stove at present - I have also used a Whisperlite, Whisperlite Internationale and XGK. However, if I can be sure of getting gas then I tend to take a gas stove unless it's going to be very cold.
|
|
I too use the omnifuel and think they're great. They burn so many different types of fuel including gas. The drawback is their weight compared to other stoves, especially gas powered but in cold weather there's nothing better. I bought it instead of the MSRs because the Primus stove has a metal pump which should prove more robust than the plastic one people keep breaking on the MSR.
|
|
 Is it possible to get the Primus one to simmer more easily than the MSR ones?
|
|
 This thread doesn't seem to have had any posts from people who've used stoves which are not MSR which is a shame. OK then, three cheers for the Optimus Nova - a brilliant multi-fuel stove, burns like a flame-thrower when required, simmers beautifully too, and oh, that wonderful, comforting roaring noise.... beautiful!! 
|
|
 DO not dis the trangia well the swedish army one anyway cheap (£3) and if you run it on either meths or organic gel can be as hot or gentle as you like. It has no moving parts and hence cannot break. if a swedish squaddie hasnt broken it you wont either. It is heavy though and for superlight i use a hexy stove but I am a traditionalist (and I love the smell of hexy in the moring)
|
|
 I've got a Trangia, but generally use an old Epigas stove. Three fold out tripod legs, rubber tube to link to the gas canister. Sits low, is stable, & is reliable.
|
|
 Whisperlite - but make sure you get the International model which burns more fuels.
No worries with control - just be more organised and do all your cooking in one burn - this'll save fuel and avoid the need to ever simmer. As you can't re-light the stove for ten minutes you let everything soak and cook in it's own heat.
You make the tea first - then pour into insulated mugs, add your gunk to the already hot water, switch off and insulate the pot. Aften ten or twenty mins you relight to warm it all through and eat.
Using the weeny fuel bottle (200ml?) I Mannaged to feed 3 people for 5 days using that method.
|
|
 I use my Trangia with a gas converter and it is super efficient. Bought a genuine Trangia converter in the F&T shop today and I'm going to give it to my son, it was £9.99. Yes, £9.99. It was wrongly priced but they said that as it was marked £9.99 then they were duty bound to sell it at that price. Bargain! Also went into Snow and Rock but it was a bit pants, top dollar for everything. Their RaichleMount Envy boots (which I fancy) were marked as £16, they were £134 at F&T and they had the rrp as £150. I might get them from Go outdoors for £75, if they have any left. BTW they offered to sell the Active 10 to me at 20% discount when I said they were selling it on line that way.
|
| Edited: 21/12/07 17:28 |
 Ian, that sounds like an Epigas Alpine. If so it has a preheat tube and therefore should run on liquid fuel if you invert the cylinder - much more efficient in cold weather.
|
|
 > It was wrongly priced but they said that as it was marked £9.99 then they were duty bound to sell it at that price.
Thank heavens for sales assistants who don't know the law (they weren't obliged to sell the item; they could have declined the offer to treat... however, if they chose to accept the offer to treat, they were obliged to honour the marked price; it's only an offence if they try to charge more than the marked or advertised price).
I think...
|
|
That's what I thought. I was just pointing out that they should change the ticket because some prospective punter could be misled and feel very disappointed but then they said that they had to sell it at the marked price and so I snapped it up. 
|
|
Ian, that sounds like an Epigas Alpine...
OK. Thanks for that. Never realised. I'll have to see what I can sort. What sort of bottle do you need for the liquid fuel, and what sort of fuel - Coleman Gas / petrol?
|
|
Ian,
No, Frum meant that you can deliver the gas from your gas canister to the stove as liquid - if you turn the canister upside down then the gas in it's liquified form runs through the feed tube, and it only vapourises as it goes through the pre-heat tube just before reaching the burner. This works much better than the normal gas feed in cold weather. But it's not a case of using different fuel or carrying any other bits and pieces. Hope that helps...
|
|
Ah! All is now clear. Cheers Matt. Previously I've kept the gas cylinder in an insulated sleeve, even taking the bugger to bed with me so it's nice & warm in the morning for the daft o'clock brew.
|
|
 Some later designs based on the Epigas/Coleman Alpine have a handily ratating hose connection meaning that you don't inadvertently flip the stove over when trying to invert the cylinder. Oh, and it's a very bad idea to invert the gas before the stove is lit and burning OK.
|
|
