Stove of the Week: MSR XGK II (Pre-Shaker Jet)

Stove of the Week: MSR XGK II (Pre-Shaker Jet)

This week's stove is the pre-shaker jet version of the MSR XGK II.


HJ

Jim:

Once again, great review!

How does the XGK compare to the Primus Ominfuel Stove? The Primus is very popular here and many of my fellow hiking friends swear by this stove as it will run on just about any fuel....anywhere in the world.

Great summary of the development of this family of stoves. Thank you very much.

Thanx Jim! Top-Knotch info on a Stove I've only seen Rarily,& Usually only the Fuel line,Protruding from a Pack!Now I don't have to wonder as to, What Gadget dares to Mess with the Uniformity of a Well-Strapped pack!Necessity without a Doubt,:)!

You got to many stoves...I only has a pocket rocket I havent used yet (relatively new item of mine).....Imma one up you and review wood! Next weeks wood will be some kinda tree in the woods with big leafs! Then the week after that will be some other kinda tree with smaller and rounder leafs!

That is a very interesting question. I have a Primus Omnifuel, and it is just one fabulous stove. If I were to try to compare the Omnifuel to the XGK, I might say that the Omnifuel is like a very fine high precision automobile like, say a Porsche. It's beautiful. Just running the plunger up and down is enough to give a machinist wet dreams. I mean the thing is a work of art. The XGK on the other hand is more like a Sherman Tank: nothing fancy, but tough as nails and able to keep on coming when everything around it is down for the count.

Which would I choose? Well, it depends. What trip am I going on, what are the conditions under which I will operate, and what kinds of things will I demand of my stove? For "real" cooking, the Omnifuel with its ability to simmer wins hands down. For convenience, again the Omnifuel with its ability to run on canister gas wins hands down.

But take me out in the boonies where there's fuel of questionable quality or only "make do" fuels are available, and I'll take an XGK. If I'm going to be in some remote village in South America burning God only knows how crappy fuel oil #2 or some other such abomination, then there's no other stove I'd rather have than the XGK.

The Omnifuel, like I say, is a precision work of art. But don't try to run dirty third world kerosene through it. Run that same fuel through an XGK, and it won't run perfectly, but it will run.

Backpacker and author Colin Fletcher relates the story of how on a trip to the Grand Canyon, he grabbed the wrong fuel bottle. Instead of Coleman fuel, he grabbed the fuel intended for his chain saw, a fuel consisting of 30 weight motor oil and automotive gasoline (leaded I assume). Fletcher reports that he feared for his supper, but the XGK ran. The XGK didn't run quite at 100%, but it did run and got him through a week's worth of backpacking until he got to his next cache.

I would not even think of running a 30 weight motor oil and auto gasoline combo in a Primus Omnifuel.

HJ

lol. I'll be looking forward to those reviews!

HJ

Thanks for the review, I really dig your work

The robust fuel slurping capabilities should make it the ideal choice for a vehicle emergency stove. However, you really don't want those nasty fumes from ordinary car gaz or diesel in your passenger compartement.


One idea I've been pondering is to combine Canoedog's concept of box heater (ETS thread here)with a 4' roll-up steel foil pipe that runs out of your window.


A roll-up pipe is a rectangular piece of very thin stainless steel that is rolled up along the shortest side to to store it and rolled up the other way to become a pipe. Kifaru use these with great success for their lightweight tent stoves: http://www.kifaru.net/stoves.html (Yes, I really do want one of those Kifaru stoves...)


The draw back of this idea is that with less than optimum fuels you really want to monitor the stove's performance and probably de-clog it rather frequently. Which may or may not be feasible when the burner is inside a box heater.

HJ,

I have never wanted, needed, carried a stove. With the exception of my big Coleman camp stove, I've plied the prairies, woods, and waters of the Northland for decades without one. Your detailed reviews and great photos are starting to interest me in getting a small pack stove.

May the ticks of a thousand bull moose........never mind, I'll just go get my checkbook.

Ha! Good old smilin' Hikin' Jim has lured you to the Dark Side! Pretty soon your garage will be full and you will say, "Just one more, I can quit buying stoves any time...."

Jim, does your omnifuel have cleaning cable inside fuel line? I've seen one reference on classic camp stove forum that there is one, but either the author is mistaken or I'm too stupid to figure out where is it.

i lucked out and bought one at a yard sale many years ago not knowing what it really was.it's the yellow pump model with the cup and sparker,i tossed out the can lid not knowing it was part of the set--a simmer plate--nice stove and it really throws out the heat which is a problem when you want to cook stew or bannock and not melt snow water up in the mountains.i never took it on a canoe trip because i thought that solid pipe would bend during the "bag toss" at the portages.
Byrd..i like a fire myself but i also like hot,fast meals when i paddle into camp.


the only thing i use the MSR for now is heating up a camp oven,with all that heat i can cook biscuits and pie in this Coleman oven.the fuel bottle and pump are from a Whisperlite that was filled and ready to go so i used it..if the power went off at least i can still cook!

Cracking the windows on the leeward side should get you by for carbon monoxide, but I'm less sure about the fumes from the combustion/partial combustion of anti-knock additives. I'd want someone with some more sophisticated equipment to run a test on this. HOWEVER, given a choice between hypothermia and risking fumes, I'd take the risk.

There is also a significant fire danger from priming a liquid fueled stove, a risk that can be to some degree mitigated by priming with alcohol. Even with alcohol, priming a liquid fueled stove in a passenger car poses a significant risk.

Yes.

HJ

Most remote burner liquid fueled stoves fall into two categories: 1) valve at the pump only or 2) valve in-line in the fuel line (some stoves in category 2 also have a valve at the pump)

CATEGORY ONE
Take a look at an XGK.

There's no valve on the fuel line. The valve is part of the pump. Since there is no valve to block or impede the fuel line, a cable can be run down the fuel line. The cable can then be pushed and pulled back and forth to scour the fuel line to remove "lacquer" and carbon deposits. For these purposes, I'm considering the pre-heat loop/generator to be part of the fuel line.

CATEGORY TWO
Now, take a look at an Omnifuel.

There is a valve in-line in the fuel line. This valve is what gives the Omnifuel it's wonderful simmering capability (and why the XGK doesn't really simmer). Now, please show me a valve that can both shut off the fuel and have a cable running through it. I don't believe that a cable can be run through a valve. My Omnifuel doesn't have a cable, and I doubt that any Omnifuel does.

I have four liquid fueled stoves that I would consider category two stoves: an MSR Firefly, an MSR Dragonfly, an Optimus Nova, and a Primus Omnifuel. All have the in-line valve; all simmer wonderfully; none have a cable down the fuel line.

My contention, based on my knowledge of how stoves operate and my personal experience is that category two stoves are not as reliable as category one stoves. I'm not saying that it's like night and day, but in general the simpler category one type stoves will require less maintenance and have fewer problems over time.

As in much of life, you are faced with a trade off: the ability to easily simmer on demand is fabulous, but in choosing simmering you give up some reliability. For a "bug out" stove, I'll take reliability and choose foods accordingly.

HJ

lol.

Hey, don't give up on wood fires just yet. They're great, and it keeps your survival fire building skills up to speed. In areas where it's safe, legal, and practical to have a cook fire, go for it.

BUT let me tell you a little story. One time I was out backpacking. I ran into unexpectedly heavy snow. I not only had to slog through the snow, I also lost the trail. By the grace of God and a bit of ded. reckoning, I found my night's camp, but I was completely wiped, and it was 11:00 PM -- full dark in other words. Did I want to dig in the snow to gather wood, prep a fire, get a fire going with snow-soaked/wet wood, burn it down a bit to get a good cook fire, and then start cooking? HECK NO. I was starving and exhausted. I wanted a full belly and to crawl into my sleeping bag. I reached into my pack, pulled out my stove, and in less then ten minutes had dinner on the "table" and a cup of steaming hot tea. Sometimes, a stove isn't such a bad thing.

HJ

Dark side? Dude! This is the light side. There you are in your woodsy camp in the evening, your glowing, warm stove radiates heat and light, and supper is on it's way, baby! Hot stove on a cold night = a good thing.

HJ

Did someone say pie? And where did you say you're going camping next?

Nice set up.

HJ

Thanks, I figured as such, maybe whoever wrote that got different stoves confused.

The inline valve can be easily removed though to clean the straight pipe and generator. I thought maybe the flex pipe could be also removed for cleaning, but it doesn't unscrew.

True. Just make sure you bring something to clean it with.

BTW, I don't want to make it sound like Category Two stoves are some disaster waiting to happen. They're not. They will take a bit more fuss, but if you are prepared for that, no big deal.

In a small baggie, I usually take, depending on the stove, a minimum maintenance kit consisting of:
-A pricker for clearing the jet.
-The wrench/tool for removing the jet and servicing the stove
-A spare fuel filter
-A safety pin (the tip of the pin is useful for removing fuel filters and "O" rings)

I will sometimes also add an "O" ring or two although I don't consider that quite as essential for field maintenance. A pipe cleaner for Category Two stoves isn't a bad idea. Coleman fuel can be used as a cleaning solvent.

For more remote trips, I take more maintenance supplies.

HJ

Et tu Brute?

Beware the ides stoves of March!

Now, not that I'm trying to start trouble or something, but, have you considered the Svea 123? That would be the little stove that's smaller than a Nalgene in the below photo.



They're very simple: tank, burner, needle valve, pot support. Operates via thermal feed back. No pump. No moving parts other than the valve. Very reliable. Very packable. About the size of a mid size coffee can. This one was built in the 60's. A little battered but still runs great.




Click on this one and switch to full screen mode (F11 in Windows usually):


HJ

I have two Svea 123 stoves and a 123R still in the box. Very nice stove and easy to use.

That said, in an earlier post you made a good argument for the XGK. I passed on the XGK and purchased an MSR Dragonfly because of its ability to simmer; being able to simmer is good. However, the XGK would make a great stove for a car kit where all that's needed is to boil water for coffee, tea or a freeze dried dinner). Then when the time came that all I had for fuel was already mixed, 2-stroke chainsaw fuel, I'd have a stove that could actually burn it Any excuse will do . .

HJ,

Another great review, but now about my second love -- then my first! I started with a 123 and kept it in my day bag for many years. It served me well many times, some when I really needed it. It was suppimented (certainly not replaced) by an XGK with the yellow and black pump. The XGK also served me well throughout the world, mostly on white gas (in AK and the south 48) but lots of avgas and jet fuel (there and lots of other places around the world). It was a savior more than once. It died at the hands of an air freight shipment where they appear to have used the crate as a spear target for the forklift forks. I hope that my new XGK EX will be as good a stove. Unfortunately, the 123 was also lost in transit. I guess I should stay home more - my wife would sure like it!

Thanks again,

Jerry

the 123's and the R version are a real workhorse,you can boil and simmer and they always seem to work.the only drawback is the small pot/cover which i call a "mush on the mountain" cooker.

The point being that the XGK will burn darned near anything and keep running. Not a bad stove to have in a tough spot.

HJ

Jerry,

They still produce the Svea 123R to this day. The Svea 123R is the only stove from that era still produced today, a testimony to its design and continued popularity. The designers at AB Sievert in the 1950's really got it right with this one (the Svea 123). It's a small, compact package that puts out more heat than other stoves in it's class (Optimus 8R, Primus 71, Optimus 80, Optimus 99).

The Svea 123R's produced today are made in China. Supposedly they're not as good as the ones produced in Sweden. The original type 123's and Swedish made 123R's are pretty available on eBay.

HJ

Yeah, the little aluminum "pot" (a cup, really) that comes with the 123 isn't all that useful. I leave it at home a lot. It does protect the burner if that's a concern, but for a pot, I bring something else.

HJ