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The best single burner stove?

 

Soto Stove WindMaster with 4Flex - Making tea on a rainy day in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales

Soto Stove WindMaster with 4Flex - Making tea on a rainy day in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales

The Soto WindMaster Stove with 4Flex (OD-1RXN) is possibly the best mini single-burner stove on the market. It’s the perfect travel companion due to it’s small form factor, ease of use, weight (or lack of), reliability and excellent build quality.

In the box you’ll receive: the WindMaster stove, 4Flex pot support, safety instructions and a draw cord pouch. If you get your hands on an older generation WindMaster (OD-1RXC) there will also be a TriFlex pot support, which can still be purchased separately (OD-1RX3).

Adequately named; it holds up to the toughest conditions thrown at it and can boil 2 cups of water in under 2-1/2 minutes even in strong winds and gusty weather. It features a micro regulator valve system which helps maintain constant output even in varied conditions meaning it demonstrates the same burning time at -5°C as at 20°C. The WindMaster is also equipt with a piezoelectric igniter⁽¹⁾ that’s very reliable; lighting pretty much every time and is serviceable / replaceable if needed. The base of the stove is fitted with a Lindal valve (B188) so works with numerous EN 417 gas canisters on the market and although it advertises a use of 70/30% mixture, SOTO’s stoves will work with any combination of butane, isobutane and/or propane gas mixtures. (Never use with 100% Propane)

 

In Final

We highly recommend picking up one of these if you’re looking for a stove, and for just over £50 you can’t go wrong. £50 may seem expensive for such a small device but it is similarly priced to it's competitors and has excellent build quality & reliability.

Compatible Gas Canisters

  • SOTO power gas Triple Mix 105, 250, 500

  • Coleman C100 XTREME, C300 XTREME, C300 PERFORMANCE, C500 Performance, C500

  • Optimus Gas Canisters 100g, 230g, 450g

  • Primus Power Gas 100g, 230g, 450g

  • MSR ISO PRO 110g, 227g, 450g

  • JetBoil JetPower 100g

  • Cadac Propane/Butane 500g

 

⁽¹⁾Piezo ignition uses the principle of piezoelectricity, which, in short, is the electric charge that accumulates in some materials in response to high pressure. It consists of a small, spring-loaded hammer which, when a button is pressed, hits a crystal of PZT or quartz crystal. Quartz is piezoelectric, which means that it creates a voltage when deformed. This sudden forceful deformation produces a high voltage and subsequent electrical discharge, which ignites the gas.

No external electric connection is required, though wires are sometimes used to locate the sparking location away from the crystal itself.
Source: Wikipedia