Product Description:
The Brunton Raptor is a lightweight backpacking stove that uses fuel canisters available from a variety of manufacturers. Brunton describes the stove as:
At last, a simple butane stove that does everything well. Our Raptor stove integrates an electric Piezo ignition onto a burner that gives you high output on a sturdy stainless steel platform. Crank out 11,000 btu with this reliable new cooker, and boil a liter of water in just over four minutes. Raptor folds down small and weighs a mere five ounces soaking wet.
This is quite a list: small, light, hot, and simple -- all the features that make canister stoves popular with hikers. Let's take a closer look at these features
 Construction and weight. The Raptor's body is made of stainless steel, making it rugged at the expense of some weight. At 5 oz (142 g), the Raptor is a couple ounces heavier than the lightest canister stoves on the market, though it is lighter than most stoves at this price point. The stove sits on top of the fuel canister.
- Piezo ignition. Clicking a 'heat resistant resin' button on the side of the stove creates a spark, conveniently lighting the Raptor without matches.
- Pot supports. The Raptor features three large fold-out pot supports, forming a 6 in (15 cm) base which appears capable of holding any pot up to about 2 qt (2 l). The supports, which are cleverly designed to fold back against the stove body, have large teeth to keep the pot from sliding off while cooking.
- Heat output. This thing cranks. With a small burner head, the Raptor focuses all its energy in one small area under the pot. This makes it more efficient with smaller pots, like my Snow Peak Trek 700 (a popular choice among ultralight hikers).
- Packed size. With the pot supports folded inward, the Raptor fits inside a small nylon storage case (included, 2 oz (57 g)). The closed case measures 3.5 x 2.25 x 1.75 in (9 x 6 x 4.5 cm). Stowed like this, the stove fits easily inside my Trek 700.
- Flame control. This is another advantage of canister stoves -- their power output can vary easily from a very slow simmer to a jet engine on afterburner (which is what the Raptor sounds like on full power). The Raptor has a steel wire 'knob' to control the flame, which folds against the stove when packed.
- Fuel. The Raptor uses screw-on fuel canisters of the type commonly called 'Primus Canisters.' These non-refillable canisters contain a mixture of butane, isobutane, and propane, in different proportions depending on the manufacturer. I have not been able to find the Brunton 'Bruntane' canisters locally, so I will use the widely-available MSR IsoPro canisters.
The Raptor comes with an 8-page instruction manual, which includes many Cautions and Warnings, e.g., 'Parts of the stove will become very hot during use.' (Gosh, I hope so!)
Manufacturer's Website:
The Brunton web site is well-designed and easy to navigate. Each page that I visited had a large photo and a detailed description of the product. The Raptor page suggested several accessories that might be useful (but which are not part of the test). After reading the description of the stove and all the details, I had a very good idea of what to expect, and the stove met my expectations.
Test Plan:
We use a canister stove for our family hiking trips. The Raptor will be our only stove on multi-day hikes in March and April, a 4-day car-camping and kayaking trip in March, and a 2-week section hike of the Appalachian Trail in June. In addition, I'll take the stove on my solo hikes (replacing my alcohol stove), on day hikes for a hot lunch, and for occasional unplanned weekend backpacking trips as they occur.
The Raptor will see use with my little titanium pot/mug, a 'Wal-Mart Grease Pot,' a selection of small aluminum pots, and a 2-liter titanium pot for family trips. I'll also conduct some tests at home to see how much wind affects boil times. I'm very interested to see how well the smaller burner head handles different sizes of pots.
Because the brand of fuel can affect the output of the stove, I am going to try to use only one brand of fuel canister, the MSR IsoPro. This may not always be possible, of course, especially when we have to resupply on our section hike, but I will note in the test results when I had to use different canisters.
These tests will see how well the Raptor's claims -- small, light, hot, and simple -- translate into the real world.
Thanks to BackpackGearTest and to Brunton for the opportunity to test the Raptor.
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