Reviews > Cook Gear > Stoves > Snow Peak GS-200D > Owner Review by Roger Caffin

Snow Peak Giga Power GS-200D Stove
Roger Caffin
4-April-2003

Product information

Manufacturer:	Snow Peak
Year of manufacture:	~2000
Manufacturer URL:	www.snowpeak.com
Listed weight:	287 gm (10.1 oz)
Weight as delivered:	284 gm (10.0 oz)
Weight in protective case:	383 gm (13.5 oz )
Dimensions (folded up):	112 * 105 * 70 mm (4.4 * 4.1 * 2.8 ")

Product description:

This is a rather expensive stove for standard screw-on butane/propane gas cartridges with the Lindal valve. It differs from the very small stoves which screw directly onto the cartridge: this one has a 300 mm (12") long thin flexible hose so the cartridge can be located some distance away. It also has a pre-heat or 'generator' tube just before the jet. There is a single valve, located on the coupling which attaches to the gas cartridge. The construction appears to be aluminium, brass and stainless steel. The model I have comes with a piezo ignition attachment: one click, the gas is lit, and I'm cooking.

The stove has three bent wire arrangements which serve as both legs and pot support arms. The arms have serrations on them. These wire bits rotate together to fold up for packing. Opened out they give a pot support diameter of 150 mm (6"). The serrations serve to prevent pots from sliding off, and are quite effective. The control of the gas flow is done by a conventional needle valve in the coupling, and is actuated by a fold-out spring wire handle. The valve stem appears identical to that on the Snow Peak GS(T)-100 stove, which I have also reviewed.

On the side of the box the manufacturer specifies the stove as having a "heat output" of 13,888 BTU or 3,500 kcal/hr. The BTU part is not a meaningful specification: I suspect it should be BTU/hr. The kcal/h specification translates to 4.1 kW. This is a lot.

The burner is of intermediate size and has the flames coming out at 45 degrees to the horizontal. It fits in between the very small burner of the Snow Peak GST-100 and the much larger burner on the Trekka stove I use on day walks. However, the power rating is greater than for the GST-100 and far greater than the nominal power rating for the Trekka. I rarely use the full power however as that tends to be very inefficient. The flames are spread out enough that burning dinner isn't a real problem.

A strong plastic case is provided with the stove. This weighs 99 gm (3.5 oz). It is just slightly larger than the folded stove, such that the stove just fits inside when folded. Some jiggling is usually needed to get the stove inside it and the lid right on. The weight of the case is such that I rarely carry it.

The instructions which came with the stove were entirely in Japanese: I have no idea what they said, but there seemed to be a lot of warnings against doing silly things, if I can judge by the pictures.

Update on availability, 2004
The Snow Peak web site now shows a GS-300 stove in place of the GS-200. The 300 has four legs and pot supports instead of three and a very small windshield ring around the burner. Otherwise it appears to be pretty much the same.

Field information

I was given this stove while writing a stove review for a walking magazine: it is unlikely that I would have bought it given the price it was selling for in Australia at the time. It was in fact being marketed as a very 'up-market' unit (that means the price was very high!). Looking at the Snow Peak web site I found that current USA price is way below the Australian price of the time, and is now quite reasonable.

However, it has turned out to be very convenient to use, and is now one of my two standard stoves for winter ski touring. It's a bit heavy for summer use compared with the Snow Peak GS(T)-100 stove. Most times I wrap it up in a nylon bag and carry it inside my cooking pot. To use it, I first check that the valve is shut, then I screw it on the gas cartridge, open the three wire pot supports, turn the gas on, click the piezo igniter and it's running. It can be turned up to a good roar for boiling water, and it can also be turned down to a very slow simmer. The pot stand radius of 75 mm (3") translates to a support diameter of 150 mm (6"): this is large. My Trangia kettle is 150 mm (6") in diameter and my normal 180 mm (7") cooking pot (for the two if us) is 180 mm (7"). The stove supports both the kettle and the pot very well.

Much is made of peak power output or boiling time by some manufacturers. This stove matches any of them, but is so much easier to set up than the liquid fuel stoves. NO priming is needed. It's up and running in less than a minute.

Snow use

Since I use this stove in the snow I should explain how and why. Ordinary upright gas stoves have a real problem in the cold, as many people have found. The problem is that butane boils at -0.5 C (31 F), while propane boils at -40 C (-40 F). A typical cartridge contains 70% butane and 30% propane, although there are variations. On a very cold day - say around -10 C (14 F), the propane can still boil off but the butane will sit there in the bottom of the cartridge doing relatively little. Carried too far, the propane gets all used up and the cartridge is left with lots of butane but not giving any gas out. This is why some people think gas stoves don't work in the snow. They simply haven't managed their stove properly.

I use this stove successfully in the snow despite the low-temperature problem, but I change how I use the cartridge. I should caution here that, while what I am about to describe is done by many users, it is not authorised by the Snow Peak company and does require a bit of care. On the other hand, the designers of the stove have included a generator tube (blue line) in this stove, so they must have had some idea in mind. The responsibility is all yours.

To make it work, I simply tip the whole cartridge upside down as shown to the right, so the liquified gas inside is fed into the flexible tube to the stove. Now I have a stove just like a petrol stove such as a Whisperlite or Simmerlight, except that the fuel is slightly different and I don't have to either prime or pump. The propane boiling inside the cartridge provides the pressure to drive the mixed liquified gases to the stove. The mixture stays essentially constant right to the end. (Actually, the physics is a shade more complex, but this explanation will do here.) Once the liquid fuel reaches the generator tube it is vaporised, mixed with air and burnt. This is absolutely the same process as with a petrol or kerosene stove. Doing this does not subject the stove to any exceptional conditions.

The big problem with tipping the cartridge upside down is that it makes adjusting the valve (green line) more difficult. I find I need two hands to do it safely. Changes at the valve do take a little longer to take effect at the stove than with a conventional gas stove, so I have to do the changes slowly. Otherwise the stove operates just as one would expect.

Other gas stoves designed to work in the snow (such as the Coleman PowerMax series) have modified the gas intake from the cartridge to draw liquid fuel from the base of the cartridge, rather than drawing vaporised fuel from the top. This leaves the valve more accessible. But the PowerMax uses a special cartridge, while the GS-200 can use the ordinary screw-thread cartridge.

Precautions

Several points are noted in my Owner Review for the Snow Peak GS(T)-100 stove which also apply to some extent here. I have to be careful to ensure the control valve is shut before attaching it to the cartridge. The O-rings need periodic attention to ensure they stay greased to reduce any hysteresis in the setting, although this does not have to be done very often. Adjusting the valve in the snow means I have to hold the cartridge in one hand (upside down still) while turning the valve with the other.

Summary

Would we buy another? I would probably stay with my Coleman PowerMax stove since the PowerMax cartridges are even lighter and a little more convenient. However, the PowerMax cartridges are harder to find.

Biographical information

Name:	Roger Caffin
Age:	57
Gender:	M
Height:	1.66 m (5' 5")
Weight:	63 kg (138 lb)
Email address:	r dot caffin at acm dot org
Home:	Sydney, Australia
Date:	4-Apr-03

Backpacking Background:

I started bushwalking (the Australian term) when I was about 14 yrs old, took up rock climbing and remote exploration walking at University, later on took up ski touring and canyoning. These days I do all my trips with just my wife. Our preferred walking trips in Australia are long ones: about a week in the general Blue Mts (east coast of Australia) and Snowy Mts (alpine) regions, and up to two months long in Europe and the UK. We favour fairly hard technical trips and prefer to travel fast and light. Our ski touring trips are usually 5-7 days long as well, with full packs and tents. In between we still do fairly long day trips: it's a form of relaxation. Having discovered that a 20 kg pack (44 lb) is no longer fun, I have become a believer in ultra-lightweight walking. Typically I carry an ultra-lightweight tent (we need full insect proofing here), a Thermarest (10 hours asleep on it!), a lightweight sleeping bag, a lightweight butane/propane stove (the subject of this review), a lightweight pack, light climbing rope (frequently used) and a very light parka. I would carry about 12-13 kg (26-29 lb) total for a week (more when skiing of course).

I am also the maintainer of the aus.bushwalking FAQ web site www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/.

Reviews > Cook Gear > Stoves > Snow Peak GS-200D > Owner Review by Roger Caffin