UKH

My friend's going bike touring in eastern europe and wants advice on a stove. Weight is important and so is size, but then so is price! Can't have everything eh....

I was thinking on of the msr mulitfuel stoves. Do you think it's best to get a multifuel one or could he get away with a conventional gas bottle stove?

He's going through places like Albania and pretty remote places, which is why I've so far advised multi-fuel stove. What do you think?

Know of any good quality multi fuel stoves that aren't msr? And therefore a bit cheaper? It's been a while since I've looked at stoves.

In reply to Andy S:

I've used 2 in the past - Optimus Nova and Primus Omni-Fuel.

Optimus Nova
Pluses - the nova did me a season in the alps comfortably burning petrol and paraffin - no clogging issues (though I did take care to clean / service it often). The pump unit is metal, so much more durable that MSR plastic pumps (I know several people who have broken theirs). Weight was higher as a result (but not much overall as the burner unit its self was smaller and lighter. More compact that MSR as well. Problems I did have: the breather tube was never very securely attached - I ended up gluing it in repeatedly as it was falling out all the time. I never found it to be as fast on the boil as MSRs, but it was a little more fuel efficient. Simmer control was poor as well - most of the adjustment didn't seem to do anything.

Omni-Fuel.
This has been my favourite so far! Seems very fuel efficient, easy to dismantle / service. The fact that you can use it with Gas Canisters as well as liquid fuel adds more flexibility.
Combined with a Primus heat exchanger pot its massively fuel efficient.
No mechanical issues so far, though I've only had it 18 months and not had the chance to test it long term with petrol / paraffin like the nova.
Side by side with mates MSRs it seems better made, with a more robust pump.
It comes with different jets for different fuels - so you can optimise for best performance, or just fit the nozzle for the most restrictive fuel and live with the less efficient burning on other fuels.

Neither seems nearly as prone to the "MSR Fireball" on startup (though this is probably as much about the user as the stove.......).

Anyway - hope that's of help!

Cheers,

Stu

In reply to Andy S:

Edelrid Hexon is a nice looking budget multifuel stove. I'm thinking of getting one myself.

Having said that, IMHO "multifuel" is often overkill, as most of the time all you really need is something that will burn petrol. Something like a coleman sportster is fine for that, and it's only about 40 quid.

In reply to Andy S:

+1 for the omni-fuel, great stove allegedly has been know to burn whisky. best fuel is Aspen 4t usually available wherever things like chainsaws are sold as it is used for fueling them. Burns very clean and much cheaper than coleman fuel.

Steve