Brunton Raptor Stove

Field Report

June 7, 2005

 

 

Personal Biographical Information

Name: Michael Herman
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 11'' (1.8 m)
Weight: 185 lb (84 kg)
Email: Backpackman (at) mailbolt (dot) com
Location: Northwest Indiana
Backpacking Background
I stated camping with my family in the car and the RV when I was real
young. I did a lot of camping with the Boy Scouts and then did my first
backpacking trip (three days) with my dad when I was 13. From then on I
took a backpacking trip once a year until high school where I started
going more often. Now in college I do many outdoor activities with the
outing club. I backpack often as well as other activities such as
caving, adventure racing, kayaking and climbing; however, backpacking is
my primary activity.

My backpacking style is packing light but not ultralight (yet); however,
I do not skimp on eating well. I continually want to find ways to get
better meals on the trail while not adding much weight. I also don't
want to shortchange myself with low living conditions just to save a
couple of ounces (grams); I want to find other ways to reduce weight
while staying comfortable.


Product Information

Product: Raptor
Manufacturer: Brunton
Year of Manufacture: 2005
URL: http://www.Brunton.com
Listed Weight: 5 oz (152g)
Measured Weight: 5.4 oz (153 g) for the stove only 1 oz (28 g) for the
case
Description: Butane canister stove with piezo ignition. Outputs 11,000
BTUs and has a burn time of 90 min on high.

Field Report

I have used this stove on three trips and a couple times to play around
with it in my driveway. This first place I used this stove was in my
driveway when the temperature was 65F (18C). I attached an 8 oz (227g)
IsoPro from MSR canister to the stove. I turned the knob to about ¾ full
and I pressed the piezo-ignition. The stove did not start. I turned off
the stove and waited a few minutes. I then turned the stove back on to
full and attempted to start the stove. Nothing happened. I turned it off
again and waited. When I turned it on again I put it on full and pressed
the starter a half-dozen times real quick before the stove was lit. I
then boiled a couple cups of water in a small kitchen pot.

I tested the Raptor on the trail three times during the field testing.
The first time was in Tennessee and the temperature was around 55F (13C)
when I used the stove in the evening and the elevation was close to sea
level. I used it to boil macaroni from the macaroni and cheese box. I
left the stove on the highest setting and just boiled the water, added
the pasta, and left it to boil while I stirred. I experienced that the
macaroni did not burn at the bottom of my aluminum pot. The next day I
used the stove to cook scrambled eggs. I started the stove on high
(needing to push the starter a half a dozen times to get it to light),
and then lowered the setting to as low as I could go with out turning it
off. I put the scrambled eggs in the pot and started stirring. I spent
the whole time by the stove stirring the eggs so that they wouldn’t burn
on the side of the pot. Unfortunately this was not successful because I
still had some burned on eggs on the bottom of the pot, but not much. It
is my opinion that this may have been caused because I use a thin
aluminum pot with that doesn’t have a non-stick finish so the eggs stuck
to the bottom and then burned, I do not think this would have been the
case if I used a better pot; however, this also wouldn’t have happened
if the lowest setting on the stove wasn’t so high. From this experience,

and similar experiences cooking other foods, I think that the stove
isn’t useful for simmering. The second time on the trial was in
Connecticut in April and the temperature was around 60F (16C) at night
when I cooked. The elevation was around 1,000ft (305m) On this four-day
hike I cooked Mac and Cheese two nights with the same experience as
before, and boiled water for a dehydrated meal the second night. Again I
had to push the starter several times before it would start. Other than
this the stove worked nicely on this trip. The third trip was on a car
camping trip in Indiana. The elevation was again at sea level and the
temperature at dinnertime was 75F (24C). I used the stove to brown
ground beef one night and to cook a hamburger on the second night.
Browning the ground beef was rather simple. I used a pot with a lid and
had turned the stove down halfway. I stirred the ground beef frequently
and it turned out wonderful. I used a skillet the next night to cook the
hamburgers, which also turned out nicely.

The stove has worked nicely so far. The stove has three pot supports,
which extend out when in use. These allow the pot to be very stable on
the stove while in use. The stove is able boil water quickly; however, I
have yet to do tests on how long it takes. The piezo-ignition does not
always light the stove on the first try for me. I have to push it a half
dozen times before the fuel ignites. I looked at the ignition when the
stove was off to see if it was broken; however, as far as I can tell it
is not. A spark forms every time I push the starter. The stove also
doesn’t seem to have the ability to lower the output so that you can
simmer.

Likes:
The stove is very compact.
Pots seem to be stable on the stove.

Dislikes:
Simmering is near impossible.
The piezo-electric starter doesn’t ignite the fuel easily.