First Gosystem Stove Lands

The first of the new Karrimor Gosystem stoves has just landed on our desk, so we thought we'd do a quick virtual look before testing it properly over the next few weeks.

Karrimor Gosystem, you may recall, is the new incarnation of Go-Gas, and this - see pic - is the pleasingly named Mighty Atom.

As you might guess from that name, it's a small, lightweight canister-top stove aimed at lightweight backpackers and mountaineers. We've been impressed with Go-Gas burner efficiency in the past, and we suspect this'll be similarly efficient, but you'll have to wait on that one.

Built-In Lighter...

So what else can we tell you? At 124 grammes, the Mighty Atom is significantly heavier than the leader in this category, MSR's neat little Pocket Rocket, which tips the scales at a mere 85 grammes on the OM scales, but then you also get a built-in piezo electric igniter so there's no need to carry matches or a disposable lighter. Before you scoff, a disposable cigarette lighter weighs almost 20 grammes, so you could argue that the real weight difference comes down to only 20 grammes odd.

The other plus point of the Mighty Atom is that the folding stove supports feature serrations which are designed to mesh with Gosystem's ridged pan bottoms for maximum stability. Claimed boil time for one litre of water is 3 minutes 15 seconds and burn time on a 220 gramme standard gas cartridge 2 hours and 45 minutes.

One feature we're not overly impressed by is the chunky plastic carrying case which is supplied with the stove. It feels as tough as an old dog's paw pads, but remarkably at 137 grammes is actually heavier than the stove. This doesn't really matter as you don't have to carry it with you and Karrimor also include a nylon bag, but it does mean that when you pick up the closed box, it feels extraordinarily heavy, something that could backfire in shops.

The price is a very reasonable £30 and it'll be in the shops at the end of this month.