User Review: Optimus Nova+

Optimus Nova+
Above: The current Nova+, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed April 17, 2007 by kibrickj

Rating:

I can neither recommend this stove, nor completely pan it. However, I must sadly say it was a disappointment relative to my good old SVEA 123. It is compact and fairly well engineered. It is without a doubt, the best stove out there for flame control (i.e. it simmers like no other). H

owever, the manufacturing is a little weak (I bought two stoves, both had manufacturing issues). On both, the stove body was warped from the manufacturing process. Additionally, on both the metal legs did not flushly contact the ground (i.e. the foot of each leg was slightly off angle). It's a beautiful stove, but the manufacturing quality took away from the aesthetics and function.

More importantly, the flame control is VERY sticky. The design would probably be better if they just had the flame control AND valve at the bottle. By twisting the entire tube the stove wants to flop around too much. Better to just have the valve control at the bottle and have a small lag in the flame control. They are so close to building the best stove out there, but just miss the mark on the manufacturing quality and placement of the valve. It's a shame.