Product
Description
The Brunton Vapor AF is noted by the
manufacturer as being an all-fuel expedition stove.
This is a multi-fuel stove that can not only burn many
types of fuel but can do it with just a single jet.
This eliminates the scenario of possibly needing to
change the jet in the field due to being forced to change
fuel type. It can not only burn all the liquids normally
associated with a two-jet multi-fuel like my old backpacking
stove, but it can also burn butane and every type of
liquid fuel (white gas, kerosene, diesel #1, auto fuel,
jet fuel, and others) and, with a twist of the body
it will even burn from butane (mixed gas, isobutane
/ propane) canisters found in many outdoors stores.
Components of the stove
with the Vapor AF attached to the bottle and pump.
It came with everything seen above:
the stove, an empty liquid fuel bottle with stopper
cap, folded aluminum windscreen, and a black nylon stuff
sack. A plastic bag contained a jet cleaning needle,
spare O-rings and a maintenance tool that besides having
everything needed to work on the stove, has a bottle
opener. I am sure my husband will like that. The fuel
bottle reminds me of the Sigg aluminum bottles I have
seen in retail stores.
This stove has three angled steel leg
/ pot supports. The legs swing around the burner from
the folded position to make the base for the stove and
the pot support. They have a saw-tooth pattern on the
top to keep pots from sliding around. They also have
the Brunton name cut out of them along with a few oblongs
to cut weight.
The stove is made up of an orange aluminum
burner cup with a brass inner burner cup nested inside
of it. A steel flame spreader cup sits on top of the
inner cup. It will fall off if not kept in place with
a wire keeper that is attached to one of the legs. A
control valve comes from the bottom of the inner burner.
A folding wire handle at the end of it controls the
flame. By holding the burner cup and moving the control
valve stem either left or right changes the stove from
butane (right) to liquid (left). It is marked "G"
or "L" to indicate the gas or liquid setting.
Coming from the side of the control valve is the braided
steel fuel hose. At the end of this hose is the canister
valve with another folding wire handle.
An orange plastic pump fits into the
bottle for use with liquid fuels. It screws onto the
canister valve and is placed with the word "on"
facing up. To burn liquid fuel the pump is worked about
20 times to pressurize the bottle. A little fuel is
allowed to go into the priming wick and then lit on
fire. After the flame gets small the control valve is
opened up and the warm vaporized fuel burns normally.
When finished using the stove the bottle is flipped
while still burning over so that the side marked "off"
is now facing up. This puts the fuel pick-up pipe at
the top of the bottle now letting it draw air in and
push the left over fuel out where it burns off. This
keeps it from spewing fuel when I am done with it.
To burn gas the canister valve is screwed
onto a butane/propane mixed fuel canister. The canister
valve is opened and then the fuel control valve is slightly
opened until the hiss of escaping gas is heard. A touch
of a match to the burner and the stove is going. When
finished a twist of the valves turns the stove off and
the canister may be removed.
Stove in canister
mode.
Brunton recommends using the included
jet cleaning needle before each use to keep from have
problems from dirty fuel or junk introduced from outside.
Vapor AF stove and all parts
packed in the storage sack next to the bottle.
There was an instruction
manual included in the packaging, but I am moving
and I somehow misplaced it. I went to the manufacturer
website to see if I could find the operating instructions
on the Vapor AF stove. I easily navigated through
the website to find the information that I was looking
for. I downloaded the PDF file of the instructional
manual. There are safety warnings, fuel types, operating
instructions, cleaning instructions, and a parts list
on the two page file. The website listed the stove
specifications, and a picture of the Vapor AF stove.
The website picture does the actual stove no justice.
I am very impressed with the looks of the stove and
the craftsmanship. The Vapor AF appears very durable
and rugged. I did not get this impression from the
website.
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Field
Report
April
1, 2008 |
Testing
Locations
During the past two months the Brunton
Vapor AF stove was used on two overnight trips in the
following locations:
San
Jacinto State Park, California: The elevation
at Round Valley was 9,100 ft (2,774 m). There was snow
on the ground with clear skies and no precipitation.
The temperatures were 33 F (1 C) for a high and low
of 19 F (-7 C). Base snow: over 3 ft (0.91 m).
San
Jacinto State Park, California: I went back
to this area for another night of backpacking. There
was still snow on the ground. We camped at 9,100 ft
(2,774 m) and the temperatures were a mild 50 F (10
C) for a high and 25 F (-4 C) for the low. Base snow:
2 ft (0.61 m) and less.
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Performance in
the Field
During the past two months the stove has
been used on two one-night backpacking trips. On each trip it was used
to make breakfast, hot apple cider after setting up camp,
and dinners. The first trip entailed using the fuel bottle
with white gas for fuel and on the second trip I used a canister.
I found that using the stove is pretty straightforward. I
just had to make sure the control valve stem on the burner
cup was moved to the correct setting for the fuel I wanted
to burn. I had no issues with keeping the stove lit during
the testing period. There was no need for me to melt snow on either trip because there was water near by.
During the first backpacking trip the Vapor AF Stove was used with white gas fuel. The flame spreader cup was
not attached and was inside the stuff sack. This was because the wire keeper became dislodged and
was no longer holding it in place. After fiddling with it
I got it back into place. Placing
the flame spreader cup correctly can be tedious and I was
not successful with gloves on.
I pumped the liquid fuel bottle about 20 times to pressurize it for cooking. I screwed the bottle's canister-type valve and placed it with the word "on" facing up. I turned on the fuel control valve and turned the small control valve closest to the stove on for a few seconds. After turning off the small control valve I lit the stove with a match at the base of the orange burner cup. After about a minute the flame began to get small and I opened up the small control valve. For the meals on this trip I used my Snow Peak Cookset and boiled 16 oz (0.47 L) of water each time. When I was finished boiling the water I flipped the fuel bottle to the off position. I was surprised to see how long it took the fuel to burn out of the line. I waited two minutes before turning the stove on high flame to remove all the fuel.
On the second trip I set the stove up to
use the canister fuel method. I used a Snow Peak brand butane/propane mixed fuel canister. I could not find
any of the Primus canisters in my local retail stores. I am
also new to the California area so I may have looked in the
wrong places. But, my husband did tell me he has two of the large size. The legs were easily placed into the proper
position and snapped into place. Again I had to fiddle with the flame spreader cup and fasten it to the wire keeper. This seems to become dislodged when stored in the stuff sack. So after finally attaching the flame
spreader cup I was ready to attach the canister. I held the
burner cup and moved the control valve stem to the setting
marked "G" for gas. I attached the canister to the
end of the fuel hose by screwing the canister valve to the
top of the canister. I turned the canister valve on and ignited
the stove at the top with a match. On this trip
I cooked two meals inside the vestibule of the tent so no windscreen
was necessary. I used a titanium pot to cook the meals and boil water in. I was able to simmer my food by turning the control valve. I was very surprised how the flame was steady and not spurting. Plus I was able to get the flame exactly the way I needed it to simmer my food.
When packing the stove up for storage I found
that it is best to wait until the stove is completely cool.
The bottoms of the legs/pot supports are cool to the touch immediately after
cooking. However, the orange burner cup and the upper half of the leg/pot supports are extremely hot and
does take some time to cool. I picked up the stove and started
to collapse the legs while the burner cup was still hot. Ouch!
I would like to see an igniter included with
this stove. I think that would be a nice addition to this
stove. I determined this after using several matches to light
the stove. Some of my matches were faulty and sometimes I
was too slow trying to ignite the stove.
I really like the canister attachment and the fact that the same attachment works for the fuel bottle. The fuel bottle "on" and "off" feature is great for getting all the fuel out of the line.
I performed a boil timed test at 101 ft (31 m) above sea level using the canister, white gas fuel and a 1.5 L (51 fl oz) titanium pot. The amount of water tested was 1 L (34 fl oz). The first test was with the canister fuel, at 3:25 bubbles were released and at 7:37 the water was at its maximum boil. The second test was with white gas, at 3:08 bubbles were released and at 6:47 the maximum boiling point was reached. I also tested how long it would take the fuel to empty out of the fuel line with the bottle in the off position with a high flame. The line was emptied at 1:51.
Brunton customer service is great. I had an issue with the fuel bottle and the pump that would not be generally covered under a warranty. But, they covered it and sent me out a new one very quickly.
Things That Rock:
- Versatility to use several types
of fuel including canisters
- Not very heavy for a beefy stove
- Boils water quickly
Things That Are So So:
- The flame spreader cup slides out
of place when stored
- There is no igniter
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Winter camp kitchen
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Remarks
This
concludes my field report. My long term report will be posted
in early June. Please check back then to see how the Vapor
AF is performing in the field. Thank you Brunton and backpackgeartest.org
for providing me with the opportunity to test the Vapor AF
all-fuel stove.
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