Light and compact water boiling genius(ness) - Soto Amicus Stove

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.