In the endless search to make camping more appealing for my wife, and as an excuse to buy more gear, I am on the search for a stove that will be comfortable for meals more involved than my typical boil in a bag method.

Criteria:
Remote canister stove
Wide flame pattern
Wide stable base for larger pots
Automatic ignition
Light enough for some family backpacking (no Coleman double burners)
Ideally low CO levels (I just like the idea of this and I'm considering trying some winter cooking in a ventilated floor-less tent in conjunction with a digital CO monitor, although this would not be the primary use of the stove)

So far I have narrowed it down to two stoves:

Primus Gravity II EF With Piezo Ignition Gas Stove P-327993

and

Kovea Expedition TKB-9703-1

The Kovea is heaver, but also lower in CO and I am leaning towards it. Apologies in advance for asking such a non-light weight centered question on this forum. I promise to cut my toothbrush even shorter if I buy this stove:) Any suggestions are appreciated.

Edited by ascientist on 07/23/2012 00:52:13 MDT.

I just bought one of these for my 2 person setup. It is missing the piezo lighter and it is not invertable but at 98 grams it is ideal for pots up to 2 litres. The burner head appears to be the same as the Fire Maple 116T (Monatauk Gnat) so it should have low CO2. Cost under US$60 on eBay including postage. I have added a 100mm wide strip of Ti for a windshield about 1 oz (30g) depending on the length to suit the pot diameter.

If you want an invertable stove then look at the Fire Maple 118 at 146 grams which as a very similar design. I haven't see the 118 on eBay yet.

http://fire-maple.com/products_list.html?cate_id=8&c_id=5

I should add that I have used my 116T extensively and am very happy with it. I haven't used the 117T apart from test firing it but it also seem excellent.

I would hold out for the new Optimus Vega

http://www.optimusstoves.com/fileadmin/user_upload/optimus/Downloads/Factsheet_Optimus_Vega_EN.pdf

http://www.optimusstoves.com/seen/service/newsroom/detail/article/2012/07/10/whats-new-for-the-perfect-outdoor-cooking-experience/

It looks like once again Optimus has come out with a great product including inverted canister option.

Edited by abhitt on 07/23/2012 05:32:20 MDT.

I found the 118 on EBAY for 49.99 with free shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fire-maple-Cooking-stove-camping-stove-146g-2990w-FMS-118-Windscreen-/230824631223?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35be385bb7&ssPageName=RSS:B:SHOP:US:101

That's a great price for such a light weight remote canister stove. I would jump on it, but am really looking for something with a piezo lighter built in for the wife.

Windpro and done.

piezo is a deal breaker? Maybe YOU should do the cooking. :)

I looked for a bit and couldn't find any other "lightish" stove meeting the above criteria.

Re: the auto ignition...would one of the handheld piezos surfice? If not maybe you add one of these to a manual ignition stove (fire maple back in?):
http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/stove-accessories/autostart-igniter/product

For a data point on flame pattern, I been able to make pancakes in an Al pot with monotuak gnat on lowest setting.

looks like this guy was able to fit the MSR piezo on an optimus stove:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCJ9xrI8nd0

Also, If you already have a normal canister stove with piezo and nice flame patern...you could try to source one of the brunton stove stands to make it remote -- though this wouldn't quite as stable as a normal remote stove (would be taller). I am pretty sure I still have one I tried to sell a while back....

I have that 118. It's great stove. See my review on this site: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews?forum_thread_id=64593&cat=Stoves%20-%20Canister&cid=19
Forget the piezo. Anyway it is not reliable!

I have a gravity MF. I think it is very stable and very easy to use. We cook everything on it. We can make pancakes without a problem. It is very wide and very stable. Being low to the ground helps tooNothing has ever fallen off of it and it has never toppled. I use it for cooking with big groups. The one thing is though is that I have an older model and my flame pattern is not equally distributed. I am not sure it this really matters in reality- I don't really notice that only one side of my pancakes cook. The gravity MF does not have a piezo. I do have a stove with one and it does make it much easier to use- I will give your wife that.

I ended up going with the Optimus Stella Plus. Actually it was my wife's choice. She really likes the remote piezo ignition. Certainly not the lightest option and I agree that Piezo may not last. I decided I would not buy one for trying inside a tent for now. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm not much of a canister stove person. I prefer wood, alcohol, and gasoline to cook with in that order. When I'm traveling light it is almost always boil in a bag. Maybe later I will try one of the other stoves suggested.

Edited by ascientist on 07/24/2012 11:47:31 MDT.