Has anyone tested the monatauk gnat and snowpeak litemax side by side to see which one is the most efficient?

Answering my own question in case others are interested.

I found this: http://hardcoreoutdoor.com/2010/06/14/competition-makes-cannister-stoves-better.aspx

It seems the Gnat is a bit more efficient and slightly lighter.

You rock!

How did you reach the conclusion that the Gnat was a bit more efficient? The article never measured efficiency by fuel weight. They measured time-to-boil, and often that is the inverse of efficiency.

--B.G.--

You want CO numbers for efficiency. The Snow peak burns very cleanly.

Edited by kthompson on 03/01/2012 16:06:18 MST.

You need to measure amount of fuel used to boil water - weight of canister before and after, make sure you wipe off any condensed water, controlled amount of water and temperature increase,...

Compare Gnat, Jetboil,...

Comparing time to boil is not very uesful, although it is roughly proportional to amount of fuel used

Doh!
I just assumed that they put out the same amount of fuel in that given amount of time. My bad. I just ordered the gnat too! I knew I should have waited for advice from you guys.

I might have to do some testing myself.

I think you'll be happy with the Gnat

I think all canister stoves have similar efficiency - except Jetboil and Reactor are better...

the Gnats design doesnt lend itself to making a light Al windscreen that can enclose the burner head and pot bottom, there isnt anything to mount it on with the pot supports on top of the burner.

A slight breeze blows the heat away from most of them, destroying efficiency anyway.

"the Gnats design doesnt lend itself to making a light Al windscreen that can enclose the burner head and pot bottom, there isnt anything to mount it on with the pot supports on top of the burner."

Yes, but... you don't exactly need such a windscreen.

I made a flame concentrator out of a thin strip of titanium foil, and it hangs on the three pot support arms. That helps for the case of a narrow cook pot. Then a simple one square foot of ordinary aluminum foil works for ordinary wind.

--B.G.--

I think Roger C did a review of the LiteMax and wasn't favorable to it compared to the GigaPower. I bet there is probably a BPL Gnat review somewhere too.

It's because the Litemax pot support legs are across the burner unlike the Giga.

While enclosing the burner of a gnat is harder to do than with stoves that have pot supports originating below the burner it is possible.

You can rig the windscreen off of the pot. I use a couple of spacer ribs that squeeze onto the pot. To those ribs I wrap around an Al foil windscreen to mostly enclose the pot and stove.

Chris, I think each stove will be very similar w.r.t. fuel economy. Pot and windscreen selection will probably play a much bigger role in determining effiecency.

Hi Nick

> I think Roger C did a review of the LiteMax and wasn't favorable to it compared to the GigaPower.

On the other hand, it is still a lot better than *some* other stoves ...

cheers

The basics of fuel economy are generally:
1. Use a lid. Escaping steam = wasted heat = wasted fuel.
2. Turn it down. High flame = heat up the sides = wasted fuel.
3. Use a windscreen (carefully!). Wind robs you of heat. Lost heat = wasted fuel.

Pot selection can affect efficiency. Dark colored pots absorb heat better. But unless you're going with a heat exchanger pot, pot selection is pretty secondary to the three basics.

The stove does matter, but one could take a relatively inefficient stove and use it well and get better fuel economy than on a more efficient stove used poorly.

If you want real efficiency, the integrated canister stoves on the market are really efficient.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

I wonder if you turned it down too low, then it would take longer to heat up so there's more time for it to lose heat, so it's actually less efficient

Probably that would be for way low, not an issue

I like all your stove info by the way, Jim

Now, I want to see the results of a pot boiling over onto the canister down below - will this be catastophic? Probably not a reasonably likely possibility since no one has ever reported this

Jerry Adams wrote: > I wonder if you turned it down too low, then it would take longer to heat up so there's more time for it to lose heat, so it's actually less efficient. Probably that would be for way low, not an issue

Jerry Adams wrote: > I like all your stove info by the way, Jim

Jerry Adams wrote: > Now, I want to see the results of a pot boiling over onto the canister down below - will this be catastophic? Probably not a reasonably likely possibility since no one has ever reported this

Edited by hikin_jim on 03/02/2012 22:14:18 MST.

Some day someone will say, "that's weird, I haven't read any posts from hikin jim, I wonder what's happened to him?"...

Jim, Thanks for the basics:)...I mostly agree with them, they are more about technique than hardware though.

Re. Pot selection: I recomend you find a few pots of varying widths and run some tests. I bet you will find pot width is more important that pot color and on par with the other items you present.

Re. wasting heat up the sides and a proper windscreen: I am playing with a windscrreen set up that holds the stove exhaust close to the pot all the way up the side of the pot (to minimize how wasted heat). I am getting similiar result in efficiency and speed to the HTX pots. Also I am finding, with this set up, there is little variance in efficiency when throttled btw med-fast.