6 Sweet New Stoves at Outdoor Retailer 2014
The backcountry stove market is heating up! We tracked down six brand-new options for cooks of every kind, plus one revolutionary pot.
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The third new cooksystem offering is an expansion of Primus’s Eta Lite line. In addition to the .5-liter model we reviewed in our Spring Gear Guide, there’s now a 1-liter pot offering that clips on to the same triangular burner system. The Lite XL is $130 [priced corrected from $110] and weighs 15.9 oz.
Optimus takes its new offering in a different direction with the Polaris Optifuel, a four-season, changeable-fuel stove. In canister mode, you can invert the canister to help it work to temps down to around 15 degrees F. Converting to liquid fuel mode is as easy as screwing the fuel line into a liquid-fuel pump, no valve-changes necessary. The stove runs on pretty much everything–kerosene, gasoline, etc. It runs for $180.
Another Japanese offering is the quirky Roccano ($99; 11.6 oz.) from Snow Peak. The integrated “geo shield” windscreen suspends the burner head like a spaceship, eliminating the need for bulky stove legs. We know this much already: It certainly looks cool.
Japanese stovemaker Soto has a teaser of a stove that doesn’t even have a final name yet (it’s currently called the OD-1NV). This new mystery stove is a cousin of the WindMaster, but will have a more-affordable price point ($40, or $50 with built-in ignitor). Like the WindMaster, it has a concave burner head that helps serve as a windscreen. New for Soto, the stove arms fold down to help it pack extra-small. At only 2.6 ounces, it’s an ultralighter’s dream.
JetBoil introduces a new personal cook system, with an emphasis on the “cook.” The MiniMo ($129; 14.6 oz) has a 1-liter pot with wider silhouette to make stirring easy, and features a new burner unit that allows for finer-tuned simmer control. It also features a regulator that should allow it to work in temps down to around 32 degrees F.
MSR also has a new personal cooksystem. The WindBoiler ($130) is a little-brother version of the 2007 Editors’ Choice Award-winning Reactor. It’s not only smaller but lighter and more affordable, with increased simmer control. Its main claim to greatness is its total windproof flame. We look forward to putting these two systems head to head!
And finally, Sea To Summit introduces the world’s first collapsible cookpot: the X Pot. Modeled after their popular X-series of plates, bowls, and cups, the 2.8-liter X Pot features a hard-anodized aluminum base bonded to a silicone upper. A rounded, heatproof polycarbonate lid has strainer holes and is large enough to let you stack two X Bowls and two X cups inside. Happy cooking!