Stove of the Week: Optimus Nova

[Hikin_Jim]

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.


HJ

[halhiker]

I'm into keeping it simple.

http://zenstoves.net/BasicSideBurner.htm

[Hikin_Jim]

An alcohol stove like that is a great stove for one, possibly two people (if you don't mind the slower rate of cooking), but for groups or for snow melting, it's a little slow. Every stove has it's application.

HJ

[momphrare]

Leaning towards simple I've always like Skurka's Cat food Can.

http://www.andrewskurka.com/advice/tech ... tstove.php

He does mention yours on there as well.

[Hikin_Jim]

I've experimented with the Skurka cat can. It works OK, but it has a pretty wide flame pattern. With my 0.75L Snow Peak pot, I found the flames largely went up the side (in other words the heat was largely wasted). I found that a top jet (rather than a side burner like the Skurka) gave me a narrower flame pattern and worked better with a small pot.

HJ

[halhiker]

An alcohol stove like that is a great stove for one, possibly two people (if you don't mind the slower rate of cooking), but for groups or for snow melting, it's a little slow. Every stove has it's application.

HJ

I also have a Dragonfly, a Svea, a Bluet, Rapidfire, Trangia and a few other I forget plus a couple Coleman stoves. Lately, though I've just been doing short solo adventures so big boy stoves stay home.

[Hikin_Jim]

Makes sense to me.

The Svea 123 is a favorite of mine. I take it out a lot still, for solo or 2 to 3 people.

HJ