Stove of the Week: Optimus Nova

The Optimus Nova is a crummy piece of junk -- or is it?  The answer:  It depends.  Buy the right version, and you might get a really good deal on a high quality expedition class stove.  Buy the wrong one, and you might just go hungry.New post 18 Oct 2011:  Running an Optimus Nova on Canister Gas What am I blathering about?  Optimus was bought out by Katadyn in 2007.  Katadyn has sought to reduce production costs. ...

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Stove of the Week: Primus Omnifuel

If you want a stove that runs like a Swiss watch, then the Primus Omnifuel is your stove. It's precision engineering at it's best.  I mean this thing is a stovie's dream. Just look at that beautiful blue flame.  The pump's action is a smooth as silk.  Everything fits together just so.  This is one high end stove.  But enough praise, let's take a look.  First, the burner.It's a roarer style burner.  I expected it...

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Stove of the Week: MSR Rapidfire

OK, so this week's stove is a bit of a "sleeper" in the sense that it's not a stove that you would expect a lot from -- unless you knew better.  But you'll have to read on to find out what's so interesting about this week's stove, the MSR Rapidfire.First, let's go through our usual run down of the stove, and then we'll get into some of it's unusual qualities.  So, what's with this thing called a Rapidfire?  Isn't it just a Whisperlite? ...

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Stove of the Week: MSR Whisperlite (Pre-Shaker Jet)

In 1980 Mountain Safety Research (MSR) was bought out by Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI).  Prior to the buy out, MSR was mainly a fairly specialized equipment manufacturer catering mostly to mountaineers. REI wanted to change that and turn MSR into a company that would cater to a wider audience.  One of the first big projects undertaken during the REI years was the MSR Whisperlite.Prior to the Whisperlite, MSR stoves all had roarer...

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