Customer Reviews

Brunton Raptor Foldable Canister Stove with Piezo Ignition

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Brunton Raptor Foldable Canister Stove with Piezo Ignition is an ingenious design incorporating folding pot supports and a piezo lighter. The entire stove, minus a fuel canister fits into an included small padded nylon case about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" and weighing only a few ounces. It is easy to light with the incorporated piezo lighter. The Brunton Raptor competes head-to-head with the MSR Superfly, but wins for pack size and price. The Raptor is $20.00 less than the Superfly with a piezo lighter. I have used a variety of Hank Roberts, Coleman and MSR canister stoves over the years, but for size, weight, price and convenience, I'm recommending the Brunton Raptor.

Although rarely factored in, fuel always adds bulk or weight to a backpacker's stove, nevertheless, this little stove has a lot going for it. The built-in piezo-electric start is a really great feature and works on the first try on mine. The burner can be regulated from barely a flame to a roaring jet blast with easy adjustment. It folds up like a 'Transformer' into a tiny unit that fits into a fabric carry case and
weighs next to nothing. Well engineered and constucted, it will definitely serve its purpose well when needed. High marks for this little dynamo!

Please note that I haven't field tested this yet... an essential component for a product like this. This, therefore, is only out-of-the-box initial impressions.

This thing is wonderfully small; it folds into a small pocket-sized wallet. I can anticipate some damage to the product if placed under significant weight (so don't).

The stability of the product, I presume, will largely depend on the gas canister (I plan on purchasing a cheaper, more readily available brand). It's worth repeating a previous reviewer's comment that the canister base does not come with the product.

Still, I'm very happy with this product largely because of the size. But I'm still bringing backup. I will certainly update if field tests show this product to be anything other than a five-star product. Otherwise, no news is good news.

Update 6/29: I didn't bring a backup. I bought three canisters, and though I used fire to cook the first couple of days, it worked well and used fuel efficiently. I ended up with maybe half a canister left. I didn't do any empirical tests, or time anything, but it produces intense flames and boils 2 liters of water in a little over five minutes.

Some drawbacks, though, is that the foldable arms do need to be cooled for awhile after use, and the ignition and flame adjustment require some dexterity to adjust when the stove is on the ground and a pot is already sitting on top. I burned myself a bit the first time. But again, a stove that fits into the palm of your hand is well worth small annoyances or a little extra wait.

I have owned my Brunton Raptor for two seasons. I have taken it backpacking in to the Colorado Rockies and prepared meals for up to seven. The Raptor performed the same at sealevel as it did at 12,000 feet. The ease of setting up the Raptor and getting right to cooking is a real plus. With the compressed gas canister there is no fussing with the gas generator or pumping of fuel bottles. The piezoelectric ignition has worked very reliably even though one must take care to keep it dry and out of strong winds during the ignition process. With the range in sizes of gas canisters, I have not had any problems with running out of fuel while on a trek. The photograph shows a tripod base which is sold seperately, and I recommend that you get it to provide added stability when cooking. I can not imagine trekking in the backcountry without my Raptor.

I just bought a Raptor and I have given the product itself 5 stars. (1) It's well constructed, (2) It really is compact. (3) When folded out for use it's quite solid. (4) The piezo igniter works BUT ONLY IF YOU KNOW HOW (more on this later) (5) It really does the job FAST. In a test run I heated two cups of water to hot-enough-for-coffee in about 90 seconds. (6) The flame control is excellent --- you can jack it up to a roaring blast or taper it down to a tiny simmer.

BTW, in case you're wondering, you don't need to use the Brunton brand of fuel canister. Also, in hindsight I would get the fold-out base for the fuel canister, but that's no reflection on the Raptor itself.

The only improvement I would make is to the INSTRUCTIONS relative to attaching it to the fuel canister and using the piezo igniter. Both require some pointers and caused me a lot of time-consuming hassle (and a good deal of second guessing myself) until I learned "the way of the Raptor".

(1) Attaching the Raptor to the fuel canister is simple, but I did encounter some unexpected and disturbing resistance. In a nutshell, in order to get it to produce gas, I had to learn to tighten the stove onto the canister in a way that (to me) feels unnaturally tight.

In my first attempt, I screwed the stove onto the fuel canister and torqued it down to what I felt was tight enough. The instructions say to screw it onto the canister "until secure. Do not overtighten." I work on cars so I'm careful about over-torquing bolts and I think I have a pretty good feel for what feels "right". Anyway, the connection felt plenty secure and I didn't want to overtighten. I then turned the control handle and --- no gas. So I tightened it some more, really hard. Still no gas. Finally I tightened it down REALLY HARD, and I mean HARD, like it couldn't physically go any further, to what I felt was way overtightening (I was overcoming the resistance of the rubber o-ring / gasket /grommet). Finally got gas... but now had a quandary: Does this need to tighten so much indicate I have a problem? And if I do, do I have a defective stove or a defective canister? So I went out and bought another canister...different brand, cheaper. But same experience as before. So I emailed Brunton and they said it sounded normal. "We tell folks not to over tighten as they could break the igniter, but you do have to mount the stove pretty snug. The rubber grommet should be depressed a bit when attached to the canister." I don't have a problem with that, but it would be nice to know in advance.

BTW, this heavy tightening may be endemic to all stoves that use the little isobutane canister with the Lindal valve, not just the Raptor, I don't know. But frankly I'm not sure an old person or someone with arthritis could do it sufficiently.


(2) The piezo lighter initially gave me fits. Using it is not intuitive, nor does it behave the same way as the piezo lighter on my BBQ grill. The instructions say "1. Carefully open the valve by turning the control handle counter clickwise so you can hear a small amount of gas escaping. 2. Press the Piezo ignition button to light the stove. 3. If the stove does not immediately ignite, close the valve... wait a few seconds and repeat the first two steps."

Instead, the directions should read: "USING THE PIEZO IGNITER SUCCESSFULLY IS NOT INTUITIVE. READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. 1. Carefully open the valve by turning the control handle counter clickwise so you can BARELY hear A WHISPER of gas escaping. THIS ISN'T FOR SAFETY REASONS; BELIEVE IT OR NOT, TOO MUCH INITIAL GAS WILL CAUSE THE PIEZO SPARK TO BE INEFFECTIVE! 2. Press the Piezo ignition button to light the stove. 3. If the stove does not immediately ignite, DON'T THINK YOU'RE NOT GIVING IT ENOUGH GAS; ON THE CONTRARY, YOU'RE TRYING TO GIVE IT TOO MUCH. Close the valve and then IMMEDIATELY re-open it but JUST BARELY, TO WHERE NOW YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR EVEN A WHISPER OF GAS ESCAPING. CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU MAY EXPECT, THE PIEZO SPARK DOES NOT IGNITE A LARGE VOLUME OF GAS UNLESS, FOR SOME REASON, THE STOVE IS ALREADY HOT."

Now that I know how to use the piezo igniter, I have found it to be 100% reliable. However, I haven't used it enough to be able to report how durable it is.

Bottom line, I would DEFINITELY recommend this product to a friend, but I would also give them the above heads-up on what to expect.

I had to exchange the first one because it didn't light. The second one was due to bad QC. One of the rivets on the arms was poorly installed so it wiggled, causing some issues with stability and closing. The third one seems built much more sturdy and works well. The item works great. It stores smaller than some of the other manufacturers and the extension of the arms (legs?) are very far. The edges are a bit too smooth so pots can still slide a bit. I found that lubricating the O-ring helped ignition. The 1 year warranty seems short compared to MSR's lifetime. One star off due to poor quality control.

I bought this stove after a friend recommended it too me before a week long backpacking trip in the wind river range. I love how small and light it is, and I have been very impressed at how long you can use it with one canister.

I have since been even more impressed with how long it has lasted with frequent use. I have taken it and used it on numerous weekend trips and it has held up great on some of my rougher backpacking trips including some sandy desert trips in southern Utah and a few returning trips to my favorite places in the wind rivers.

I have been using it for about two years now and it still lights up with the first click on the ignition button each time.

(updated.. two more trips to the week long trips to the wind rivers, at least 5 more weekend trips and still running strong)

This stove is extremely compact and easily fits in my pot set. I wish it had come with the base support shown in the picture, but as long as you find a flat spot that is not a big deal. Wind guests can wreak havoc on the flame, but as long as you have a wind break you shouldn't have any issues. The biggest complaint for me was that the piezo ignitor worked great on the first outing, and after that it no longer works. I now carry a reliable lighter and matches for backup.

I purchased this stove for a backpacking trip in the high Sierras. I worked beautifully the first time I used, it, but after 3 short days and limited use, the piezo lighter no longer worked. It's a very small, very nice design, heats water up very fast, but in my experience, not reliable. Amazon made it extremely easy to return it, and credited my account in a short time.

I love this little stove!

I bought it last year and have used it a dozen or so times. I absolutely recommend buying the canstand - its adds twice the stability.

The picture shows an 8oz can, while it only actually comes with a 4oz can (although it says 5oz) in the description.

Also: I recommend the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Soloist cook system. When packed right, the entire Brunton stove and a 4oz canister pack right into the Soloist.