User Review: Vargo Triad Titanium Stove

Vargo Triad Titanium Stove
Above: The current Triad Titanium Stove, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed December 28, 2006 by Andrew S.

Rating:
Price Paid: 30 bux

I have never used this type of stove before. Although I was infatuated with the ideal of ultralite movement, this little item goes beyond its label as an AT type, chop your toothbrush in half and sleep in a bivy sack, device. Alcohol stoves are very efficient, both in terms of fuel savings and heat generated from that brilliant blue flame.

This little puppy boiled 16oz of water in 4 minutes flat, after a 1 minute prep at 450ft elev. That's enough water for a Mountain House dinner. Not to mention it kept burning for another 10 minutes on a spits worth of alchy.

Beyond that, all you really need is a nice little squirt bottle and some foil for a wind screen, and you just saved ~2lbs from losing the white gas cooker.

Plus:
*The legs can be used as a spout to pour the leftover alchy back into your bottle.

*Cools down fast and titanium is corrosion resistant.

*Can use fuel tabs if turned upside down.

*Denatured Alcohol was 5 bux for a quart at Lowes in the paint section. This will probably last me 2 years. I typically go through 2+ Primus/MSR white gas containers in a year at around 6 bux each.

Minus:
*Made in China, err, I mean it wasn't quite level out of the box so I had to finalize the QA process to make it just right.