Reader Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5

I bought this exclusively to be a fast and light solo BP stove for use with a small solo pot. I've had a MSR Superfly canister stove for a few years, but wanted to lose the extra 2 oz of stove weight. Bought the F1 over others based on favorable editorial reviews of the stove here on BPL in their lightweight canister stove comparison. From my experience, the review was spot on! Hard to believe Coleman, maker of the heavywieght suitcase whitegas stove for car camping, makes one of the lightest baskpacking canister stoves on the market at 2.7 oz!

I've used the F1 on a week long and a couple weekend backpacking trips, as well as a day or two of car camping.
Output is rated at 16400 btu, most UL canister stoves are 8-10k. This is quite noticeable side by side next to my MSR Superfly. The full output isn't necessary, esp for use with a small solo pot. But, even at moderate power settings under my .7L Snowpeak pot, the flame is quite robust and very reistant to wind. Haven't felt the need to build a windscreen for it yet. The other advantage of the higher output is the F1's ability to crank out a stronger flame from a dying cylinder. As expected boil time is fast, 4-5 min with no windscreen. Efficiency seems as good or better than my Superfly. 4-5 days on a small MSR or Jetboil cylinder, mostly boiling, a little over a liter a day. The folding pot rests lock in place,are serrated and grip the solo pot well. They seem fairly fairly sturdy for a UL stove, more so than the taller Pocket Rocket stands that tend to flex. The tiny stove gets lost under my 1.3 L Evernew pot, but still grips it fairly well. It's short and fairly stable, considering it's a canister mount stove. About an inch shorter than a Pocket Rocket for lower center of gravity. Burner head is small, but still bigger than a Pocket Rocket or Gigapower stove. Good simmer control, but still wouldn't trust the small flame spot for delicate cooking tasks like my Superfly with oversized burner head. Stove is very compact with pot rests folded. The F1, a mini Bic and a small Snowpeak/Jetboil cartridge all fit inside my small .7L Snowpeak pot!

This is my first Coleman product, didn't know what to expect. Am quite happy so far. I give it 5 stars, as it's lighter and outperforms the competition. For $40 it's on the low end for price, esp compared to the ti stoves, or Brunton Crux at $70+. Some might knock it for not having a piezo igniter. It's bigger brother the F1 Power Boost does and it's very reliable according to BPL reviews. My experience with piezo's is not good. I've had two fail on my Superfly in 3 trail days. Wouldn't camp without a mini Bic and backup!

Rating: 5 / 5

I have been using my F1 for about three years and it is still going strong.
I got it as it would fit in my MSR Titan Kettle with a 110g canister, lighter, and a bandana.

Edited by dhile on 12/20/2005 09:49:00 MST.

Rating: 2 / 5

The first review touched on the F1's performance. This post will describe and critique the set up process.

Prior to buying the F1, I have used the MSR PocketRocket (PR). With the PR, all you have to do is pull out the pot stands, screw the stove onto the fuel canister, and fire away.

With the Coleman F1 Ultralight, set up isn't hard, but prospective buyers who want light weight and simplicity should know that the F1 requires the user to assemble two pieces: stove head/pot stand and the body of the stove itself.

One needs to first screw the stove head onto the stove body -- just so -- not too tight and not too loose. The second step is to position the three pot stands. The third step is to fully tighten the stove head to the stove body -- taking care not to touch the three pot stands. But because it is too easy to touch any one of the three pot stands and knock them out of position, the user will need to loosen the stove head/stove body again to re-position the pot stands. After everything is finally positioned and tightened properly -- the stove is finally ready to be screwed onto the canister stove.

No doubt the above gets easier with practice, but to me, it's still a nuisance. And yet, in order to compact down this stove, it needs to be disassembled after each use -- and reassembled again the next time around.

My rating covers ease of use -- as compared to other stoves.

Edited by ben2world on 01/28/2007 11:05:09 MST.

Rating: 5 / 5

I bought this stove a year ago because of positive comments from BPL and other users. I have been very impressed. The stove only cost me $36 which is pretty darn good. It boils water in about four minutes and provides a stable platform for my MSR Titan Kettle. It can put out over 16,000 BTU so power is readily available. It also spreads the flame out more than most other stoves in this weight class (2.7 oz.). I have not had any problems with set up. After having it a week, I was able to get it up in running in less than thirty seconds. It has been reliable and uses an appropriate amount of fuel. All in all, I really can't say any more about it. A nice simple, inexpensive stove that is stable, efficient, powerful, and reliable. I haven't used a canister stove that is better.

Edited by gungadin on 01/29/2007 11:15:22 MST.

Rating: 4 / 5

I bought this stove to lighten my load after using an MSR Whisperlite for many years. I used it in the 3-season hikes at first, and it performs extremely well, and heats water very quickly. The set up of the pot stand and such can be finicky as noted by another reviewer, and I actually bent one of the pot holder fingers because I didn't have it adjusted correctly. Overall, though, I'd have to say that the supreme compactness of the stove outweighs some of the usability issues.

I used the stove recently during 5-15 degF winter hiking. I had no idea how well it would work, but since someone else had a white gas stove I thought I'd test. I slept with the gas canister at night to keep it warm and used a windscreen when running the stove. Both things seemed to make a difference in the performance of the stove, which performed extremely well in the cold using a 4-season fuel mix.

Rating: 5 / 5

This is the lightest stove in BPL's reviews and has the highest BTU output. Its extremely compact and is cheap. Why isnt this fine little cannister stove getting more attention?

I use this thing to boil water for dehydrated meals, nothing else. I replaced my Jetboil PCS with it. It works pretty well in wind, not as well as the Jetboil PCS in wind, but good enough. I dont bother with a windscreen as the thing gets extremely hot with its high BTU output.

This stove boils water faster than the Jetboil PCS and honestly, I dont know why it isnt more popular.