Brunton Vapor AF All Fuel (liquid and butane) Expedition Stove

by Brunton

Product Features

• Single jet for all liquid fuels & butane
• Precision simmering control
• Quick-priming burner
• Aluminum / stainless steel / brass construction
• Self-purging flipstop pump

Product Description

After winning about every major award, from Outside’s “Gear of the Year,” to Backpacker’s “Editor’s Choice,” and Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New,” we decided it was time again for Brunton to unleash the next icon generation of liquid fuel stoves. Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you the ultimate stove, Vapor™ AF. Not only does it burn butane, but every liquid fuel too - white gas, kerosene, diesel #1, auto fuel, jet fuel and others. With a simple turn of the burner cup, you can adjust for any fuel you want to use without replacing jets or fiddling with loose parts. The new revolutionary design makes older-style liquid fuel stoves a thing of the past. It’s convenience from a device that, until now, was never designed to be convenient. We’ve cleared off the next shelf in our trophy case for this one. Overall dimensions:4.1”x5.2”x2.3” folded, Weight: 16oz, Aprox. BTU rating: 10,000 , Burn time: Up to 2.5 hours-high output, Boil time (1 L of water): Down to 3.5 minutes, Warranty: Limited Lifetime

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 3.5 x 0.5 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000P3KHLE
• Item model number: F-VAPOR-AF
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,525 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compact and versatile, June 3, 2009

By 

ejwitt (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brunton Vapor AF All Fuel (liquid and butane) Expedition Stove (Sports)

This stove is excellent under two conditions:

1) A backpacker is willing to sacrifice a few ounces to have a stove with great fuel versatility.

2) A backpacker is willing to sacrifice a little additional pack space for that same fuel versatility.

In my case this was a sacrifice I was easily willing to make (a few additional ounces and a couple of cubic inches of space). It will be slightly larger and heavier than the backpacking stoves that screw directly onto the butane/propane can (Brunton's version is called "Bruntane"), however in some cases that's an advantage. This stove has it's own "feet" and sits relatively low. Those which screw onto fuel canisters sit higher and can be less stable when using small diameter fuel canisters. In fact, some manufacturers sell a bracket that fits under the fuel canister for those types of top-heavy arrangements.

Maintenance is relatively quick and easy, and the Brunton refurb kits (sold here and elsewhere) include enough parts to virtually rebuild the stove.

The hardest part to learn on this stove is how to get it going using liquid fuels without creating a lot of smoke and soot during warm-up (using butane/propane requires no warm-up period because the fuel is already arriving at the burner as vapor). When using fuels like gasoline, kerosene, and diesel, the stove has a small fiberglass disc that sits at the bottom of the orange cylinder on the stove. This is designed to absorb the liquid fuel so it can burn (pretty much like a wick) and heat the fuel in the burner area and line to vaporize and pressurize it. You'll want to get some fuel on the disc but soaking it is not necessary. If it starts to run out of burnable fuel, open the valve to let some more liquid fuel onto the disc until it's hot enough to vaporize and operate properly. The design is really pretty ingenious.

For short trips, I carry a small bruntane can. For longer trips, liquid fuel in a .5 or 1L canister will provide for a LOT of use. I've tested it with white gas, kerosene, and diesel. From my experience, I'll avoid diesel unless there are no other options as the burn is lower temperature and dirtier. White gas lights quickly, but I prefer kerosene (despite being a little harder to get going when cold). The kerosene burns clean and very hot and the vapors from kerosene aren't as explosive as those from gasoline. If you have an accidental spill with liquid fuel, kerosene is going to be more forgiving than gasoline around open flame.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice stove., May 11, 2009

By 

Keith Stephens "Keith Stephens" (Kalispell, MT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brunton Vapor AF All Fuel (liquid and butane) Expedition Stove (Sports)

Other all-fuel stoves require you to dig out a wrench and extra valve in order to switch from butane canisters to liquid gas. With the Brunton Vapor AF you just twist the orange cup at the bottom of the stove one way or the other depending on the fuel used, and it really does work. It simmers very well too. Very solid construction for all the external stove parts but the pump that goes into the fuel bottles is all plastic so I keep it inside the 20oz fuel bottle that came with the stove. The stand looks flimsy in the product photos but they are very sturdy with small holes on the feet at the three ends so you can stake the stove to the ground with small round stakes if needed.

So far I've tried various butane canisters, Coleman fuel, kerosene, alcohol, and diesel in this stove with good results. Cooking times vary; I didn't time it but there is a difference. I'm just pleased that it actually works with the various fuels because I'd rather have a stove that can use whatever fuel is available and on hand instead of complaining about cooking times. It's also nice to be able to leave the fuel bottle at home and just use butane canisters if I want.

Is it the best stove out there? I haven't got a clue and I really don't care because this one works, it does what I want it to do and that's all I ask. It comes with a little maintenance kit that includes extra rubber seals, a needle to clean the jet and a wrench for doing repairs. The maintenance kit fits inside a sleeve located inside of the nice nylon carrying pouch.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's not clear in the description, March 5, 2011

By 

rankar "rankar" (Wilton, CT) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brunton Vapor AF All Fuel (liquid and butane) Expedition Stove (Sports)

There is no doubt that this stove is amazing. The other reviewers have covered that and I'll leave it up to you to read the other reviewers.

What I wanted to cover in my review is what actually comes with the stove. It seems like from the picture the fuel bottle is not included, and the product description itself is not entirely detailed about what comes in the package. So here's what you get:

1. 20oz (0.6L) Brunton fuel bottle with safety storage cap (the cap freely rotates, so if you do attach it to a carabiner, it won't unscrew itself)
2. Flexible windscreen (folds flat for compact storage in your pack)
3. Select replacement/maintenance parts
4. Versatile stove tool
5. Jet cleaning tool
6. Stuff sack
7. Flip-stop pump (you screw this into the fuel bottle and notice the imprinting on it: if you see ON facing towards you, then the fuel bottle is positioned to fuel the stove, and if you see OFF facing towards you, then the bottle is "flipped" into position for turning off. For example, when the stove is running, you flip the bottle to the OFF side and the stove is fed pressurized air from the bottle, which will eventually cut out the stove flame, which is then followed by pressurized air to help clean the jet)
8. Instructions in English and French

I hope this helps in your decision in finding the right stove.