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...."