Ultralight Inferno
Written: Aug 21 '05 (Updated Aug 21 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Light,compact,high heat output,cheap
Cons: Small burner head - not for gourmet cooking, no piezo igniter option
The Bottom Line: Best performance and value in class for ultralight cartridge backpacking stoves.
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| sweetdaddy's Full Review: Coleman Exponent Outlander F1 Ultralight Stove, 97... |
Coleman and ultralight?
Like most people, when I think of Coleman, images of their classic green 30lb suitcase style whitegas stoves, or the companion whitegas lanterns from the 70's come to mind. They've been making decent, but heavy car camping equipment for years. Their line of smaller whitegas and cartridge backpacking stoves has lacked the innovation and lightness of the competition. Surprisingly, the F1 stove is one of their true groundbreaking items, showing that they can compete in the niche of ultralight backpacking stoves with the likes of MSR, Brunton, Primus, Snowpeak and others.
What it is and what it aint
This stove and others in it's class like the MSR Pocket Rocket, Primus Micron, Snowpeak Gigapower and Brunton Crux are intended for lightweight backpacking. Their main use is boiling water for dehydrated meals, rice, pasta and hot drinks. All have great simmer control, but, with the exception of the Crux, all have tiny burner heads giving them a focused flame spot that doesn't go well with precise cooking. For gourmet backpack cooking, the oversized burner of MSR's Superfly is worth the extra
couple ounces.
F1 vs competition
The F1 is the lightest cartridge stove at 2.64 oz, even less than other makers expensive titanium offerings. Heat output is rated at 16,400 btu - best in class, others in are 8000-10000. The pot irons are serrated to prevent slip, Snowpeak Gigapower's aren't. It has a shorter stance than the Pocket Rocket for more stability and less flex in the pot irons than the PR. It is very compact with irons folded, stowing in just about any small diameter solo cook pot. Mfg claims 7.5 liters of water boiled per 100gm of fuel, high end of class in efficiency. Cost is ~$40, down there with the Pocket Rocket at the low end of it's class.
How does it work in the field?
I've used this on a couple weekend backpack trips, a one week trip in the Wind Rivers and a couple days car camping. The stove, mini Bic lighter and small Jetboil fuel cartridge all fit into my .7 liter Snowpeak Ti solo pot, nice! The flame from this stove is very robust and wind resistant, noticeably better than my MSR Superfly. This is nice when the fuel cartridge is close to empty and losing pressure as well. A pint typically boils in 4-5 min without using windscreen. I've used MSR, Jetboil and Primus cartridges without issue, never tried the Coleman fuel. The potstands grip my small Snowpeak solo pot without slippage, my bigger 1.3 liter pot a little less aggressively. It's fairly efficient, getting me 4-5 days on a small fuel cartridge, boiling water for coffee and two dehydrated meals a day. No quality issues, stove is sturdy. Some might like the convenience of a piezo igniter. I had two piezos die in 3 days on my Superfly. I never camp without a lighter and backup in case of failure anyway. Coleman makes a bigger cartridge stove with piezo that's supposed very reliable, so it's not like they couldn't offer this as an option on the F1.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sweetdaddy
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Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 1 member
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