Customer Reviews

Coleman Exponent Multi-Fuel Stove

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My Platoon of Cavalry Scouts in the us army, here in Iraq, spend weeks at a time living out of our trucks at various locations away from most forces. We have a wide variety of multi fuel types of personal stoves in our platoon, and by far Coleman brand has proven to be the best. The most reliable, even in high winds, the fastest and most effective at heating our water for coffee and food, and the most compact and travel friendly out of the five other brands we have with us.

I just love this stove and can't praise it enough. I bought mine 20 years ago after reading a rave review in Backpacker magazine (It was called Peak 1 Multi-Fuel at the time, but it is the exact same stove as the Exponent Multi-Fuel). I use it mainly for cold weather backpacking (butane/canister stoves perform poorly in the cold); for summer I use lighter/smaller stoves. I have used this stove heavily over the years and it has performed flawlessly, reliably, and impressively.

The fuel economy is amazing and is the key to this stove. One tank of white gas (10.3 oz.) is rated for 1 hour 23 minutes burn time at full blast and 7 hours on simmer! You probably won't ever have to use it at full blast, as the flame spread is quite big at that setting (with a pot on the burner). Even with a large one gallon pot I didn't have to use it at anywhere near full blast; I usually only use it at about halfway between simmer and full blast. I also use the rectangular aluminum Coleman storage/cook pots that were specifically made for this stove (weight = 8.5 oz). They fit this stove perfectly to give you a nice compact & complete cook package (I'm not sure if Coleman still sells this, but highly recommend it if they do).

The weight of this stove (21.6 oz. empty) really isn't bad when you take into consideration the excellent fuel economy and that you won't have to take an extra fuel bottle with you unless you are on quite an extended trip. Most other white gas stoves are nearly as heavy, but don't have the fuel economy or power of this stove, so you will be lugging a lot of extra gas.

The flame adjustability is excellent too; no problem to simmer.

I have only used white gas with this so I can't comment on its kerosene performance.

The stove has been absolutely bombproof. I haven't performed ANY maintenance on it at all. Every time I see someone with a Whisperlite, it seems like they are always having to make repairs or trying to clean the jets in order to get it going again. I have even let my Coleman sit around with old gas in it for long periods of time (not recommended) with no problems at the next lighting. I do recommend that you oil the pump cup every now and again.

Lighting this stove is easy - just pump and light - no priming required. It takes a minute or two to go from the initial high yellow flame to the tight blue cooking flame as it "self primes". Lighting a Whisperlite is a minor ordeal, sometimes major.

The stove noise is only moderate; not nearly as loud as a Whisperlite.

The integrated windscreen works pretty well. In high winds though you should still use a separate windscreen to save on gas and boil times (use caution if you do this so you do not overheat the gas tank - it should never be hot to the touch).

I own many different backpacking stoves; but would probably keep this if only allowed to own one. It's probably a little heavy for warm weather backpacking but is ideal in the cold where a more robust stove is required.

I would love to see Coleman do a lightweight redesign of this stove and shave some weight off. For instance, Coleman could use the excellent legs on their Exponent Feather 442 stove on the Multi-Fuel and get rid of the plastic legs and "leveling ring", which isn't very useful (I removed the ring from my stove). It's easy to level using other means. The gas tank seems thicker than need be. Coleman could save more weight here by making it to the same specs as a fuel bottle, if regulations permit.

As of this writing, Amazon isn't selling this stove anymore but it is still available at many other retailers.

Another excellent white gas stove is the Optimus Nova. It burns many different fuels without having to reconfigure the generator. A new Nova will cost you well over $100 though. You can get the Coleman for as low as about $55 new, and much less if you are lucky enough to snag one on Ebay.

**Update; November, 2009**

Great to see Amazon selling this stove again. After owning it for 20+ years I finally had to replace the pump cup as a result of it not pumping air into the tank very well. If I would have oiled the cup every now and again like you are supposed to, I'm sure I wouldn't have had to replace it. Another nice thing about this stove is that spare parts are readily available if needed. Also after I wrote the original review; there are now butane/canister type stoves designed for cold weather; I haven't tried them yet, but have heard good things about them. And finally, if you are looking for the Coleman aluminum nesting cook pot for this stove, you will see it occasionally on Ebay. Happy trails.

I purchased this a few months ago after the power at home went out for 6 hours and I could not heat up any dinner. My thought was you always have some unleaded gas around the house (in your car or for the boat).

I forgot about it until we had the 6.1 earthquake Sunday here in Hawaii - I opened the box, found some unleaded gas - filled it up, pumped the tank up a few stokes, and lit the burner - hot coffee in no time. This burns very hot and heated a tea kettle of water in about 5 minutes - burns clean with no soot or smoke.

I'd highly recommend one for your emergency kit - you never know who long the power might be out.

This is a Coleman 550, also known as a 'modern' Peak 1 stove. It will burn Coleman fuel (naptha), unleaded, and if you change out the included generator (a short brass tube) - kerosene. I purchased this stove to primarily burn kerosene, as it is a safer flammable, plentiful in my area, and is also used on my 70-year-old antique Optimus No. 1 'roarer' stove.

The 'Exponent Multi-Fuel' stove came in a small box with a set of instructions and a spare generator. The naptha generator is installed at the factory, but if you want to use kerosene (found at Wally World in the blue plastic qt. bottles), READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Changing out the generator to kerosene was simple and quick by first undoing a thin bolt at the top center of the burner. After undoing the generator nut at the valve, remove the burner plate and the generator. Replace with kerosene generator - but don't forget to turn the valve to low after connecting the funky 'L' hook of the stainless wire in the generator.

Here's where there are some problems with this stove (not deal-killers, mind you). Priming kerosene stoves (and lanterns) is best accomplished using denatured alcohol (SLX from Homeless Despot, etc.). Although Coleman states to use a 'paste,' such material is not readily found everywhere, unlike alcohol, and is messy to boot. This stove will prime just fine with alcohol, but you have to be careful to not pour too much into the INNER burner ring. If Coleman had made the inner ring one-eighth of an inch deeper, this would be a kick-butt kero burner! Too much soot is an indication of a low-temp prime, BTW. After nearly a dozen firings, there are just two spots of soot on the opposite side of the burner head from the kerosene jet - IOW, this stove burns clean (you will get a little stink after shutdown, but it goes away).

Minus one star for poor priming design. But kudos to Coleman for offering a nice little plastic priming bottle with a brass spout on-line for a few bucks (check out the kerosene lantern parts listings).

Next bad point: The valve knob is made of plastic. It is too close to the burner head. It is covered with an adhesive label (just like the main body of the stove). Why Coleman didn't at least choose to use one or more painted indents to indicate OFF, L, or H is beyond me. Also, the valve goes from off directly to high and THEN low, unlike any other stove designs i've experienced. I predict we'll see many of these stoves with melted valve knobs and missing labels in the future.

Minus another star for cheaping out on parts. For Gawd's sake, Coleman, put a nice folding wire knob on the valve or use painted indents!

Other than these failings, this is a decent performer on kerosene. I fill with Coleman kero, pump a dozen times, pour a half-ounce of alcohol into the inner ring, prime, and then blast on high until a nice blue ring appears. My stove is a bit 'twitchy' on settings, but it is easy to find the sweet spots of low blue flame and a roarer setting without too much orange. Combine this performance with easy availability of parts, and you'll have a nice little kero burner for camping or the back deck.

This was a great piece that we were actually issued prior to leaving for A-Stan, but I would buy one if I had to go back or go to another lovely 3rd world country. The brass line is easily swapped to use JP8, which is all we had. A great work around for the "warming gel" is simply to use hand sanitizer. The alcohol is the key ingredient and the gel form keeps it burning until the unit is properly heated. Small, lightweight and easily packed along with a plastic water bottle or two of fuel make a GREAT morale boost when (yes I know instant sucks but...) all you have is instant coffee and it's in the high 20's at night and the sun won't come out fast enough while your freezing your A** off while standing post. Definitely recommend also to cook Ramen in a canteen cup or the newer cups issued with the 32oz Nalgene bottles. AWESOME PRODUCT! If your significant other, family or friend is deploying to a small COP or OP then I would definitely recommend buying a cooking kit including camping utensils or just mismatched metal utensils.

Coleman's Exponent stove is a great performer...rather a hidden gem! I have used it at sea level to 5000 ft to the top of 14000 ft peaks and it has proven to be flawless in operation. Bypassing the priming stage with this stove is great unlike other competitors which I have used (kerosene will require priming gel). In some sub-zero F (-22 and -18 were the temps)conditions, a little priming paste/alcohol gel under the gen-tube does help it along faster....not necessary at all for stove to operate but sped things up a little prior to lighting. Stove WILL work fine in sub-zero, just takes a minute longer. Weight is heavier BUT when you include the fact the tank is attached, no hoses to wrestle with, fuel bottles rolling away, minimal seals to go bad and a weekend of fuel is already inside...the stove just can't be beat. A rotating bezel on the bottom slides around to adjust the feet high/low for uneven ground. Very stable on ground with 2 L pot on the burner with ~1L of water in it - since the fuel is in the base it is much more stable - center of gravity is low on the stove. High winds (~40 mph+) had little effect on the burner since the designed wind screen does its job magnificently. Well thought out design and with fuel it comes in around 2 lbs. Filter fuel (I use only coleman white gas) putting in about 10 oz and primed the pump with about 40-50 strokes. When it turns on, "HI" comes first and reduces in intensity as you rotate it so be prepared for a larger flame initially. Really had no issue with "monster flame ups" upon lighting. I usually light as I am turning PAST high to somewhere in the MED to LOW range and this technique works great. 15 to 30 seconds later the yellow disappears in the flame and a nice blue color settles in as the generator heats up to help vaporize the fuel. Excellent burner control from simmer/cooking eggs Sunny Side-up to wide open "blowtorch" high for melting snow for drinking makes it indispensible. You will have, when cooking, little need to have it on "HI" as the flames wrap up around the pot(even my 2 L titanium pot) making it hard/unsafe to repressurize the fuel tank. If you have to, it is best to remove the pot, lower the flame to "LOW" THEN repressurize. Another trick is to follow the Coleman instructions to the letter and pressurize by using the maximum number of pumps. eg- fill fuel cold, pump 50 times, light, and when burner settles down and goes blue, turn flame to low and pump 30 more times THEN do your cooking. I can run it for 20+ minutes without having to repressurize it again. Most often all the cooking will be done by then anyway. For deeper snow or powder get a decent metal snow pad to support it from sinking when heavier pots are on top. I have not used it with kerosene but the kerosene gen-tube comes with it (has a groove on the generator nut to ID it) in case you can't get white gas (overseas). Replacement parts for the pump etc are readily available all over the U.S. BUT if you disassemble it you lose the Coleman lifetime warranty. Check the stove before you leave so you have time to send it to Coleman for R&R and still maintain your warranty. The tether on the filler cap is nice so it doesn't get lost as it would have many times with me. A drop or two of oil into the hole on the pump will help it slide much easier...good thing to do pre and post trip to keep it sliding nicely.

My brother has one of these. We went on a five day backpacking trip with it, and it worked out pretty good. Try to keep it dry, because if water gets in the top, it'll be hard to light, and will flare. We used White Gas, which worked excellent in the stove, allowing excellent simmer capability.

After we got back from the trip, we were curious to see how well Kerosene would work in the stove. We switched to the Kerosene generator, and poured some Kerosene in the tank. Results: The stove will run on Kerosene, but only burned clean at full blast. The flame will turn yellow, and sooty at any setting other than full blast, and will blacken your pots. If you are just using the stove to boil water, Kerosene will work, but I recommend sticking to White Gas if you can.

We have not tried Unleaded in it.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I've owned lots of camping equipment over the years and generally am willing to pay a few extra dollars for items that will stand the test of hard use in the field. I'm pleased to add the Coleman Exponent Multi-Fuel Stove to the list of items that will stay a part of my outdoor kit. It's not a featherweight, like some of the little butane stoves that seem to be made of mostly coat-hanger wire and tin foil. Filled with fuel, it weighs about 2 lbs. and will run for anywhere from 80 minutes to 7 hours depending on the heat setting (from high to simmer).

It's simple to operate, requiring just over 10 ounces of fuel to fill the tank. So, that gallon of Coleman fuel that you bought for $9.95 will operate this stove for anywhere from 16 to 99 hours of cook time. When you compare that with the costs to operate a propane stove you will see that this is very inexpensive to operate. Filled prior to leaving home, you can easily spend a weekend with no additonal fuel required. If you choose to use unleaded gasoline (make sure that yours doesn't contain ethanol) the costs are even less. And, if you find yourself traveling to areas where kerosene is the preferred fuel you can change out to the supplied generator in about 3 minutes and use kerosene as your fuel. This truly is an "international" stove with the ability to operate wherever you find yourself.

One of the other nice features built into the stove are the fold-out legs which add additional stabability to the unit when you've got a full skillet of food cooking on top. Immediately above the legs is a small black ring that circles the base of the stove. Sliding it from one direction to the other allows you to level the stove when it's placed on an un-even surface. There's a surprizingly large amount of adjustment available to make your pan sit level. The other item that I find handy is the small lanyard that holds the fuel filler cap to the stove when it's unscrewed. You don't have to worry about setting it down and losing it because it got knocked off the table where you're working.

The single burner is adjusted via a rotating knob which has clear markings for the burner settings. I found the burner to be appropriately sensitive to adjustments, allowing the full range of heat from a gentle simmer up to its full rated output of 7,500 BTUs. That's more than enough heat to take care of any pot you'll be putting on a backpack sized stove. The good people at Coleman even integrated in a very efficient wind-screen as part of the basic stove design. I've seen so many small stoves where you had to either buy or hand-make a wind-screen to be able to use the stove.

This stove is a little heavier than most back-packing stoves but then it's all there and you've got a peice of equipment that will provide years of trouble free use with minimal maintenance. And because it's a Coleman, if something ever does break, you can obtain repair parts rather than having to replace the entire stove. These products are designed for long term use, and it shows!

I recommend the purchase of a small filter funnel to make fueling easier. Coghlan's and Coleman each have their own. It will save you from spilling fuel and makes the whole process a no-brainer.

I got one of these as a British Army surplus product. Only came with the paraffin (kerosene) generator so I bought a Coleman fuel generator tube separately. Followed the instructions and it lit up and settled down to a nice blue flame in 10 seconds or so. It does require very frequent repumping if you run it at the highest power, especially with a full fuel tank; pressure drops quickly in the small airspace. At medium or simmer settings (it simmers beautifully), it doesn't really need re-pumping. Incidentally, I found that a total loss of pressure just caused it to burn yellow/sooty and then flame out, rather than sucking the flame back into the tank.

It's a tiny bit heavier than a good solid butane stove plus gas canister but won't go all weak as the canister cools down and will run for way longer on a full tank.

Disadvantages: the pan supports get red hot and it takes 5-10 minutes to cool down enough to pack away. The tank and controls can also get pretty warm, although no doubt this all helps with pressurisation and vaporisation. The flame control knob is very close to the hot heat shield - you can easily burn your knuckles. The top section is also made from pretty thin gauge steel although I suppose it would be even heavier if it wasn't. Wind resistance is reasonable but a wind screen will speed boiling times a bit. I couldn't do better than 7.5 minutes for a litre of water on Coleman fuel, which isn't as good as some butane stoves. It's pretty rare to need a whole litre when solo camping though.

This stove occupies a useful niche. If you want ease and convenience, nothing beats a butane/isobutane/propane canister stove (not this product) - if you are a casual camper, choose a canister stove, whether car camping or packing in. For car camping where space is not an issue, the larger gas stoves or large propane canister stoves are more useful. This stove is in a category in between - probably too bulky and cumbersome to pack in, but still compact. It is handy for car camping, situations where space is an issue, and emergencies.

PROS: Reliable, high heat output, good fuel economy, and no expensive and environmentally-unsound propane containers to discard. Size can be just right for some situations, and it is somewhat easier to use than the lightweight, liquid fuel stoves used by backpackers - and less expensive. In an emergency this stove can use unleaded gasoline or kerosene (but not advisable most of the time because of fumes, sooting). Also works fine at high altitude and extreme cold (canister stoves often do not).

CONS: Not nearly as easy to use as canister stoves. Needs to be pumped, primed, filled with fuel (can be messy), and too bulky for backpacking. Flame not as controllable as canister stoves.

One other issue: the base (fuel tank) gets rather warm with use. Though I don't think this is a safety issue, caution is in order. Be careful what surface the stove is on during use, and remember that the contents are under pressure. Don't refill it when it is still warm, and be careful opening the fuel cap at any time.