Eta Express?????

[Humpo]

I have a bit of pot envy, on the OLT one of the guys had a Primus Eta Express and it worked great.

We did a comparison between the three pots (stainless steel, Snow Peak Ti and EtaExpress) and three burners and it was the quickest by 30sec (450ml) We had the MSR XGK, MSR Whisper lite and the EtaExpress.

We worked out that if there was wind around then the xgk and whisper lite would have killed it but in calm conditions it worked well. There is even a difference between the xgk and whisperlite with wind. We were fanning them pretty hard but the xgk came out on top. The flame did not waver.

It seams like a great 1 man kit as it only has a 1l pot. He boiled about 3l a day on the OLT and only went through about 3/4 of a 225g canister


Is this the one to get?????????????????????????????????????

[flatfoot]

I just found a great comparison video on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B1oGjUL9cw

the video has a great overview and demo of the stove:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RagK-WZL-M

There are also some reviews on the REI site: http://www.rei.com/product/767566

Until I saw this post and the videos, I had the Jet Boil as the number 1 on my list.

[Humpo]

Yer I know and the best part is that it is on about $115 for the whole system, from ebay. If you could get the rubber from the Jetboil it would be even quicker.

So if any one is looking for cooking gear goto the market place. Im going solo.

[Earthling]

Personally I prefer the light weight burners such as these guys:
http://www.snowpeak.com/back/stoves/ultralight.html

A light pot such as these:
http://www.snowpeak.com/back/cookware/titanium.html

And a flash windshield made from hitech aluminium foil from your kitchen draw.

Will turn up as half the weight of the ETA and even fuel wise will not use much more if you use your hitech aluminium windshield well.

[Tony]

Hi Humpo,

I have a bit of pot envy, on the OLT one of the guys had a Primus Eta Express and it worked great.

We did a comparison between the three pots (stainless steel, Snow Peak Ti and EtaExpress) and three burners and it was the quickest by 30sec (450ml) We had the MSR XGK, MSR Whisper lite and the EtaExpress.

We worked out that if there was wind around then the xgk and whisper lite would have killed it but in calm conditions it worked well. There is even a difference between the xgk and whisperlite with wind. We were fanning them pretty hard but the xgk came out on top. The flame did not waver.

It seams like a great 1 man kit as it only has a 1l pot. He boiled about 3l a day on the OLT and only went through about 3/4 of a 225g canister


Is this the one to get?????????????????????????????????????

The ETA express is a very good stove but heavy, and being an upright stove it does not work in very cold conditions, if you want speed the very heavy MSR Reactor is supposed to be the fastest but with boiling water speed does not equal efficiency, that is a myth that the manufactures have made up to sell stoves. At 418g there are lighter 1l pot, stove, and windshield systems. The XGK is heavy and also very inefficient but is on its own in very cold (below-20C) conditions.

Tony

[Ent]

I have the ETA Expresses bigger brother and bit of a love hate relationship. Mine is the multi-fuel one so runs on petrol to diesel (kero) and gas canister depending on the jet used. On petrol it has all the up and downside of a Whisper-lite but on gas its flame is controllable but is directed very upward so you do get a hot spot forming with a frypan. On boiling times nothing comes close and appears efficient on gas. As Tony says it is heavy and in the past posted a graph that suggest you will need to walk many days before the weight in gas saved is greater than the starting weight of a lighter less efficient system. Also the unit does feel a bit flimsy in one or two area but has not let me down. In fact there is not much that can can wrong with it.

However its fast boil times means for a group it is near perfect as the hanging around with the lighter Kovea Ti and Optimus Crux appears an eternity by comparison.

Cheers Brett