User Review: Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium

The lightest canister stove in the world, sounds to good to be true right? At 1.9 oz it's near a full ounce lighter than its competitors. With zero trade-off for performance. At 11,200 btu's it will boil 16 oz of water in ideal conditions in about 4 minutes.

With the new redesigned burner the stove doesn't shoot the flame straight up like the MSR Pocket Rocket, but has the right mix of side and top flame holes to prevent scorching your expensive titanium cook pot. The wire knob is not as fickle as other stoves so you won't accidentally turn the stove off when simmering.

Last weekend I had a chance to test out my new Litemax I picked up open box at adventure 16 in San Diego. I first tested the stove in my garage at sea level and 74 degrees. It boiled 16 oz of water in my Snowpeak 700 with the bottom painted black with stove paint in 4 min 15 seconds. I used that as my control for the trip up San Gorgonio Mountain.

At first camp 7,040 feet at 55 degrees I had boil times of about 7 min. with a light breeze and no wind screen.

At the summit of 11,499 feet and 50 degrees the boil time was only a minute longer, with a little stiffer breeze using only some rocks as a wind screen.

With the new style titanium pot stand with fold out arms, the stove was surprisingly stable. It doesn't feel like it will bend if I put a heavy pot on it like the Pocket Rocket and Gigapower stoves and the flat titanium added to the burners wind resistance.

All together I cooked 4 meals and 1 breakfast at 16 oz water a piece. Two 8 oz oatmeals, and four 12 oz coffees, and had fuel to spare in the small Snowpeak Gigapower canister. At 3 bucks that's is a steal for a weekend of cooking.

The best part is the stove folds down and everything you need to cook with fits inside the cook pot. Canister, stove, lighter, and bandana to keep it quiet.

I definitely recommend this stove, and will be bringing it on all my backpacking trips.