Anonymous from United States, CA Public Profile

As a newbie to the canister stove world, I had no idea where to start when looking at models. I've been using the same Whisperlite for 20 years, and a Svea back to the mid 80's so I was a bit reluctant to change. Hiking Jim at adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com got me up the learning curve very quickly.

Why get a canister stove? I wanted something super-light and compact for day-hikes and climbs in colder weather when carrying my Whisperlite would be too bulky and heavy. Among canister options I was only able to field-test the MSR Reactor - an absolute beast of a stove that can boil water faster than any weird project at DARPA. But, the Reactor is the farthest from being light and compact. The answer was going to be something in the MSR Pocket Rocket genre.

I decided on the Soto Amicus with igniter based on its weight, packability, price and design.

Only downside is the size of the legs' footprint to support larger pots as I'm still accustomed to my Whisperlite, but will get over it.

In the field, it worked fantastic. So far, I've only put one 8 ounce canister of fuel through it in warm temps, solely for boiling water in the mornings. It boils like a champ, but watch out for wind. Like any stove with an unprotected burner you need to shield the burner head from wind. Otherwise, your boil times will increase See the link to Jim's website above - a ton of real-world info there.

There are several options for anyone desiring a collapsible coffee maker. We weren't moved by any of them until randomly seeing this one. The winning feature? - Metal. Thoughtfully designed, simple and uncomplicated. The metal makes for easy cleanup and we wager it'll last longer than other options on the market.

Why only 4-stars? I would give it 4.5 stars if this review system would let me. The design is somewhat tippy on mugs due to the springy design and the weight could be lower. That said, the weight isn't a major concern since this is for car camping only (we use micro-ground coffee on backwoods and climbing trips).

Given that we car-camp out of a small 2-door hatchback, the packability of all gear is important and this coffee maker wins.