I have hesitated to use an alcohol stove of any kind in the past, but I'm finally giving in!! Let me explain... I have used and taken apart and tested and modified dozens of backpacking stoves. I have tried wood stoves, Esbit stoves, and all kinds of liquid gas and gas cartridge stoves. I have studied them and spent waaaay too much of my life thinking about them. I've even written two stove reviews for BackpackGearTest.org, one of which includes extensive testing that has since been duplicated in a variety of ways and validated by numerous other sources. But through it all, I've avoided alcohol stoves. The more I read and the more I learned, I somehow convinced myself that they can be a fun hobby stove, but not cut out for the backcountry. Sure, they worked, but they need 4 times the fuel and 3 times as long to do the job. The lightweight stoves and lack of cartridge weight savings were quickly lost to increased fuel consumption. Then 2 years ago I became a parent. Suddenly my 5 day trips turned into quick weekends or overnighters. I began to use stoves for one or two quick boils on an entire trip. All of the sudden the heavier fuel didn't matter because I needed so little of it. I still clung to my gas cartridge stoves for speed and convenience, but the lure of alcohol stoves has become stronger and stronger. So, here I am now with one of the lightest alcohol stoves on the market - the Brasslite Turbo II-F. Not only have I never tested a Brasslite stove before (one of the requirements of this test), I've never used a real alcohol stove before. I plan to bring a "newbie" experience to this test, but from a backpacking stove veteran perspective. Initial Observations The Brasslite Turbo II-F arrived looking exactly as it's shown on the Brasslite website. It is a beautifully simple stove, with just one moving part – the simmer ring. As best I can tell from my own experiences and the literature – the stove will continue to work just fine even if that one part fails. It's difficult to gain perspective from a website photo – even with the quarter as a visual aid – and this stove is smaller than I expected. It appears to be large enough to securely hold a pot, but will certainly pack away into a tiny corner of even the most crowded pack. Small, simple, clean. The stove includes a thorough instruction sheet that is packed on both sides with all kinds of information in a tiny font. Much of the same information is found on the Brasslite website. Included are the legal stuff in Terms of Use and Disclaimer, Warranty and Return Policy information, instructions for a homemade windscreen, and a full page on filling and lighting the stove. While most of the information is both expected and helpful, some of it is a tad confusing and unnecessary in my opinion. For instance, the windscreen is referred to as both a "windscreen" and "reflector" interchangeably in the lighting directions. This makes it sound as if they're two different things. Also, while the highly detailed step-by-step directions are no doubt necessary in a product manual, I was struck by how complex and structured the steps were. In my mind, one of the great things about an alcohol stove is the "pour and light" simplicity. I'm fully aware that a 3-word instruction on lighting isn't realistic, but the directions for lighting a simple alcohol stove rival those found backpacking stoves with dozens of parts, pressurized bottles and canisters, and highly volatile fuel.

*Note: According to Brasslite, the reflector and windscreen are indeed two different things. While a windscreen is still recommended and directions included, the reflector is no longer part of the instructions. The references to it that I mentioned are from the older directions and will be excluded from future instruction sheets.That said, the stove itself is a fantastic piece of gear. As mentioned above, it has just one moving part that is not critical to its core function. It's much, much stronger than it appears, and to anyone who is familiar with soda can alcohol stoves, the strength and toughness differences are massive. While I'm sure I could crush the Brasslite stove if I jumped up and down on it, a good squeeze does not deform it and I believe it could easily handle a few drops without damage. The manufacturer claims that the stove has been tested to hold 20 pounds (9 kg), and I have no doubts that it could. Speaking of manufacturer claims, I don't know if I've ever used a product that was dead on – to the gram! – in regards to product weight. The Brasslite Turbo II-F is that accurate, and this leads me be pretty confident that most of the manufacturer information is reliable. There's a lot of it, too. From fuel consumption to boil times, Brasslite provides predictions that have a lot more integrity when I see accuracy in product weights like this. While I did not light up the stove in its first week, I plan on using it in the coming days and weeks leading up to the Field Report. Based on the product information and product itself, I anticipate the Brasslite Turbo II-F will do exactly what it says it's supposed to – boil water for a solo backpacker. 3) Test Plan and Location I will use this stove primarily in the cold and wet conditions that persist from October to spring here in the Northwest. I will undoubtedly use it in snowy conditions a bit, but most use will be in old growth forest valleys around Western Washington and the cold and dry Steppe of Central Washington. I will be using the two pots that are part of the GSI Hard Anodized Aluminum Cookset (reviewed by me here at BGT). Both pots measure between 4.5 and 5.0 inches (11.4 and 12.7 cm) across. This is about the minimum measurement for this test, but according to the Brasslite website it should work. Most of the use will be to do one thing: boil water. I don't have plans to do extensive simmering and delicate cooking, but may try work up a couple of gourmet dishes just to push the limits of the stove. I'm attracted to the Turbo II-F because of its simplicity and single-minded goal: lightweight solo water boiler. I will test the stove in various conditions for:

Boiling times: Are they what the manufacturer claims? Are the reasonable for backpacking usage?
Fuel consumption: How much fuel is needed to boil water for a just-add-water meal and a cup of tea?
Pot stability: Are my test pots stable on the Brasslite stove? How does stability compare to other backpacking stoves?
Ease of packing: Do the stove and fuel container safely pack away with becoming damaged by - or damaging - other packed items
Cool down time: Once the stove flame is extinguished or the fuel burned off, how long before the stove can safely be handled and packed?
Wet weather effects: Is stove performance affected by rainy and drizzly weather?
Wind effects: How does wind affect performance? Does using a windscreen increase fuel efficiency, decrease boiling times? How does wind resistance compare to other backpacking stoves?
Snow effects: Does this Brasslite stove perform in the snow? Can it melt snow to any usable degree? While not claimed or really expected to do this, can it be used beyond its apparent cold-weather limits?
Fuel spill issues: Is spilling fuel a problem? Does spilled fuel readily evaporate? Does fuel get into other packed items?
Simmering ability: The Turbo II-F is equipped with a simmer slider ring. Is it effective? Can food that needs a lower temperature cook be successfully done on this stove?
Impact on total kitchen weight: Using the same pot and windscreen components from my gas stove setup, what are the realized weight savings of using an alcohol stove? With all things equal except the stove, fuel, and fuel container, what's the real difference in pack weight for a given trip?
Weight over various length trips: Assuming there are weight savings, at what point are they realized, maximized, and minimal?
Suitability for solo stove: Does this stove make sense and function as a solo stove?
Suitability for couple stove: Does this stove make sense and function for two people?

4) Contact and Background Information Name: Curt Peterson Age: 32 Gender: Male Height: 6'3" (1.91 m) Weight: 270 lbs. (122 kg) Email address: curt <at> boopants <dot> com Location: North Bend, WA, USA I live in the Cascade foothills, just 20 miles (32 km) from the Pacific Crest Trail via footpaths leading right from my backyard. The vast majority of my outdoor activities are here in Washington State. During the summer I backpack and dayhike, and continue into the fall and early winter until the snows overtake the Cascades. In the winter, I ski 1 to 2 days per week, and backpack in the Central Washington tundra-like steppe at least once. Spring and early summer I usually climb, most often on the Cascade volcanoes. In addition, I try to go to the coast in Olympic National Park at least once a year, so the range of locations that I test gear is pretty broad. I hike on a forested trail each and every day with my dog, no matter what the conditions are. I played football in college and like to evaluate products from a big guy perspective, as there is definitely a shortage of both gear and reviews from this point of view. I served on the Product Test Committee for Seattle's biggest outdoor gear retailer for a two- year term in the mid-90s, then guided backpacking tours with my wife in Olympic National Park for a few summers. I've been interested in the most recent shift to lightweight thinking for the past few years and really enjoy checking out new ideas and approaches to backpacking. Thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and Brasslite for the opportunity to test the Turbo II-F!

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Initial Report

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