Coleman Exponent Xtreme Stove
and Maintenance Kit
Long Term Report
February 27, 2006

Reviewer Information                                                                                     

Name: Jerry Goller
Age: 58
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ' (1.8 m)
Weight: 220 lb (100 kg)
Email address: jerrygoller@backpackgeartest.org
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah


Backpacking Background:

I started camping with my father at age 6 or so. I’ve backpacked, off and on, all of my life. Even in the Marine Corps, I was in the Infantry. I consider myself a light weight backpacker with an average dry pack weight of 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 to 7 kg), depending on the season and terrain. I backpack year round.

Most of my trips are 2 to 5 days long and in Utah. I also, from time to time, take much longer trips lasting one to two months or more. These trips are usually on the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail.

 Basic Product Information

Manufacturer: The Coleman Company
Website: http://www.coleman.com
Product: Xtreme Stove
MSRP: $59.99
Listed weight: 11 oz (312 g)
Weight as delivered: 12.1 oz (344 g) including stuff sack.  11.1 oz (314 g) without stuff sack.

 

Product Description

The Exponent Xtreme stove is a remote tank canister stove. It uses a three legged design and a fuel canister with a fairly flexible hose in a braided mesh sheath connected to the stove. The stove has an unusually wide stance of about 7" (18 cm) diameter at the base of the legs. The stove folds down to 7" x 4" x 4" (18 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm) so it is a bit larger than other canister or white gas stoves I've used.

The pot stand portion of the stove is curved, as opposed to straight as on most other canister stoves, to provide a level rest even for smaller pots when on uneven ground. Bench tests indicate that this feature is reasonably effective at allowing leveling of smaller pots.

The fuel canister attaches with a 1/4 twist to the valve assembly. This is much easier than the more normal screw-on arrangements. It has locked quickly and positively during bench tests.

Long Term Test Results

I have continued to use the Extreme throughout the test period. This has included temperatures down to -12 F (-24 C). It has gone out virtually every weekend except one through the 2 month period. All long term testing was conducted in the Uinta or Wasatch mountains of Utah. It was generally used at an elevation of 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2435 to 2750 meters). I did not have a opportunity to use the maintenance kit during the test period.

Through out the test I have taken no special steps with this stove or its canister. It has set outside, in the snow, assembled, all night for most of the tests. At no point did I take any steps to warm the canister or stove before lighting it.

The stove lit instantly, every time. Even on the -12 F (-24C) morning it had no trouble lighting. I let it run for about an hour that morning and it had no freeze up or diminished performance.

This is the best winter stove I’ve used yet. It has all the advantages of a canister stove with virtually none of the disadvantages. In the temperature ranges I use winter stoves, -25 F (-32 C) or above, it performs as well as any white gas stove I’ve used.

It has proven to also be very economical on fuel. See my Field Report for detailed fuel consumption testing.

I found that an additional windscreen didn’t seem to be needed with this stove. Toward the end of the test period I switched to a 7” (18 cm) pot with a built in heat exchanger. I don’t know if the heat exchanger helped protect the flame from wind but the built in windscreen did seem to work. But I must add that I tended to use the stove in a tent vestibule with the door open (Coleman does not recommend using this stove in a tent). On the only occasion the stove was used outside the wind conditions were calm.

It has proven to be the easiest stove to deploy and use that I have ever used, of any type. One quarter turn locks the canister on and the stove lights. It’s as simple as that.

I have noticed that simmering, or low temperature snow melting, at temperatures below freezing require a certain amount of fiddling with the gas valve. The flame will start to slowly diminish over the course of a minute or two. Open the valve a little wider. Flame slowly diminishes. Open valve a little wider.
I dealt with this by setting the stove at a little higher burn setting than I would have normally used. This stopped the requirement for periodic flame adjustment.  

Even as highly as I think of this stove I still see areas for improvement. At 11 oz (312 g), I’d like it to be a bit lighter.

I love the wide stance of the legs but this gain in stability is lost with the curved cooking grates. I understand that the curved grates were designed to stabilize small pots for lightweight backpackers but I doubt this stove would be the first choice of a lightweight backpacker. But it may well be the first choice of a winter backpacker or group camper. Winter backpackers usually have to melt snow. Melting snow requires a fairly wide pot to be efficient. Group cooking also requires a larger pot to be efficient. Wide pots set on three thin blades on this stove. They also, in my experience, slide off fairly easily. It required a fair amount of attention to not inadvertently destabilize the pot and watch it slide off the stand. The stove needs better support for the larger pots that will mostly likely be the most common used on it.

Over all I am extremely pleased with this stove. It has become my default winter stove.