Personal Information:
Name: Christine Korhonen
Age: 30
Gender: female
Height: 5'4" (1.6 m)
Weight: 165 lb (75 kg)
E-mail: chris@wormguy.com
Location: Western Montana
Date: April 13, 2004

Backpacking Background:
I'm in Montana where I'm becoming re-acquainted with winter. Now that I'm back above the snow line, I'm attempting some winter camping and snowshoeing. I'm a lightweight backpacker mentally, if not always in practice. I've gotten my summer multi-day pack weight down to 13 lb (6 kg), but winter backpacking is still new to me, and my winter pack weight hovers around 25 lb (11 kg).

Product Information:
Manufacturer: Brasslite
URL: www.brasslite.com
Model: Turbo F
MSRP: US$25
Listed weight: 0.8 oz (23 g)
Measured weight: 0.8 oz (23 g)
Listed dimensions: base- 1.38" x 2" (3.5 cm x 5.0 cm)
                            pot stand - 1" (2.5 cm) high
Measured dimensions: base- 1½" tall x 2" diameter (3.8 cm x 5.1 cm)
                                      pot stand- 1" (3.8 cm) high
                                      center hole- ¾" (1.9 cm) diameter
                                      side holes- ⅜" (0.9 cm) diameter

Turbo F Description:
The Turbo F (F is for "feather") is an ultralight alcohol backpacking stove. The stove consists of a cylindrical base made of 23 gage brass sheeting (shim, 0.008" [0.203 mm]) with six small holes around the top of its sides. There is another, larger hole in the center of the base's top. Attached to the base above the side holes is a pot stand of stainless steel wire soldered in a grid. The Turbo F does not have a priming pan along the bottom edge of its base like previous Brasslite stoves, though there is a small lip where the side and bottom are fused together. The Turbo F does not have any movable or detachable parts. With the stove came an 8 oz (240 mL) fuel bottle with a screw-top nozzle.

Documentation:
The Turbo F came in an attractive white box with the Brasslite logo. Inside the box sat the stove and a four-page instruction sheet. In addition to instructions on how to use the stove, there were directions to make a windscreen, a pot cozy, and a reflector for the stove to sit on. The instructions recommend this stove be used with pots having a minimum of 4" (10 cm) base and not exceeding 1 L (34 fl oz) in capacity. There is also a suggestion for stove owners to post their reviews on BackpackGearTest.org.

First Impression:
It weighs less than one ounce! I saw this on the website, but didn't really believe it until I looked at the scale with my own eyes. And what surprised me more than its weight is the fact that this stove is bigger than the Brasslite Micro. The diameter of the stoves and height of the pot stands are the same on both, but the Turbo F's base is ½" (1.3 cm) taller than the Micro. The Turbo F is bigger than the Micro, but weighs half as much. That's quite a feat.

Using the Stove:
My main question before getting this stove was, how do I light it? The Brasslite Micro has a priming pan, and lighting that is easy. I put fuel in the stove, some more in priming pan, light the priming pan, and I'm done. My fear with the Turbo F was that I would have to light the fuel in the main chamber by sticking a match down the top hole. Since I use lighters, this would be a problem. It turned out that my fears were unfounded. As indicated in the "Ignition Instructions", the top of the Turbo F serves as its priming pan. After the stove has the desired amount of fuel, I just squirt some more fuel over the top of the stove and light it. When I did this, some fuel ran down the side of the stove, so it's important I remember to follow step 1: "Choose a fireproof cooking surface."

The maximum recommend fuel capacity for the Turbo F is 1 fl oz (30 mL). When I accidently put in more fuel, it just leaked out of the holes on the side of the stove. The instructions recommend that I pour the fuel back into the fuel bottel and re-measure at this point. The size of the fuel bottle opening (small) and location of the holes in the stove (on its side) make pouring any fuel out of the stove a tricky process. Since the stove is doused and set aflame to prime it, I just lit the stove as usual. The stove lit very quickly. With the limited amount of fuel that can fit in the stove and the interesting method of priming, I can imaging myself spilling more fuel than I would like. I will test how much effort is needed to prevent fuel spills through correct measuring and careful priming of this stove.

The Turbo F is nearly as easy to light as Brasslite stoves with priming pans. The fuel bottle can reach inside the pot stand to squirt fuel on top of the stove. The nozzle slides in easiest at the opening where the pot stand grid is missing. My lighter flame fits in this space, too, and is usually able to light the priming fuel on the first try. The directions suggest that the stove may need to be primed several times in colder weather. I will test this as much as the weather will allow. As with all alcohol stoves, it's sometimes hard for me to tell if I've gotten the Turbo F to light. After I put my lighter to the stove, if I can't see a flame, I placed my hand high over the top of the stove to see if it is warm. There is no sound when the priming fuel lights, but when the fuel in the main chamber catches fire I can usually hear a faint hissing sound, like white noise. I will test if the stove remains easy to light, or if the method of priming becomes a difficult for me.

So Far:
So far the stove meets expectations. It looks just like its image on the Brasslite website, and it's light!

Like:
Lightweight
No parts to lose or break

Will watch:
Potential for fuel spills through priming and overfilling

Test Plan:
During the coming months, I will test the Turbo F on my backpacking trips. I will determine if 1 fl oz (30 mL) of fuel is sufficient for me to boil 34 oz (1 L) of water under various conditions. I will test the stability of this stove with several different sized pots, and I will see how long it take for this stove to cool down so I can refuel. I will also watch how easy the stove primes in cold weather, how much fuel I tend to spill using this stove, and monitor my relative ease of lighting. I will be testing the Turbo F primarily in the parks and on the trails of Montana and Wyoming.

Read more reviews of Brasslite gear
Read more gear reviews by Christine Korhonen

Initial Report

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