Coleman Xtreme Stove

I've got three or four canisters left and then I guess it is a paperweight. BUT, I will say I hope they reissue these because this is hands-down the easiest, fastest, hottest burning, and most adjustable backpacking stove I've used.

coleman xtreme stove

I've used my stove for many years and it has far surpassed my expectations. It performed flawlessly on a winter camping trip when the temps dipped to minus 18 and many other people's stoves would not work.

I would never have considered "COLEMAN", purveyor to car campers as a maker of backpacking stoves. But then a friend of mine pulled out his Coleman Exponent, got the water boiling in half the time it took me assembling pumping, priming and firing up the MSR, and it also did a superb job frying trout.

Is the current multi-function Jetboil better than the Coleman today? Yes, and no. Jetboil's fuel efficiency and heating speed are tops--but only when used with Jetboil's FluxRing-welded pot and pan. You can't cook with your old pots and pans without converting the Jetboil to a slow-heating, low-BTU stove.

Operation: Take stove out of storage-bag, attach fuel canister by pushing into fitting and giving a quarter-turn to lock into place. Spread the legs while putting down on to flat surface. Turn valve until gas sound can be heard. Light stove. Adjust flame and use. No pumping, no priming, no flare ups, no servicing or replacement of parts, no varnished parts from liquid fuels.

Performance: I generally boil about three-liters of water in a one-gallon aluminum pot, which takes about six to seven minutes or so depending upon water temperature. With outside temps above about 60 degrees, cannisters run nearly full-blast till over 95% exausted (nearly empty). At around 40 degrees, stoves will run nearly full-blast till around 2/3 expended, but remaining 1/3 still useable if cannisters are allowed to rewarm between uses (just let them sit for five to ten minutes, or warm them in your hands if impatient). Below freezing, cannister performance is still excellent for first six minutes or so of use, until rewarmed. Cold-weather performance increases with altitude.

I have been using a trio of these stoves for close to ten years as a backpack-trip leader for a local group of Sierra Club. With these stoves I have lead an average of six trips a year ranging from weekend-jaunts with ten participants up to eight-day back-country trips with twelve. I use the stoves for boiling water for morning hot cereal and coffee, and evening dinners, soups and hot drinks. You can simmer them, but they require constant attention to keep the flame alive.

All together my trio of little-workhorse stoves have cooked for upwards of over three-thousand meals (per person, per meal). And except for an early, manufacured defect that was replaced, these stoves have not needed servicing EVER--not once.

The only drawback is the proprietary fuel cannisters. But, nearly all compressed-fuel stoves have this issue. I have been able to find this fuel everywhere I have gone in the lower 48. Almost any outdoor-recreation store will have them, but call ahead to identify your supplier if flying somewhere.

I'm not really a review guy.. sorry. But I felt compelled to write this.I've had this stove for almost 7 years now and it always performed flawlessly. I'm both a backpacker and an expedition kayaker up here in Canada. The stove went from extreme marine environment to january -30 winter outings without one moment of hesitation. Simmers beautifully but requires a wind screen to be consistent at low power. Then again, all stoves require wind screens to be truly effective. There is a time lag when adjusting the flame (the control knob is at the canister, not at the burner). So, don't bring it down too fast, it could die out on you.The fuel could be hard to come by if you're out in the regions. I'm in Montreal and have plenty of retailers that carry the powerMax fuel, so, it's a non issue for me. But it should be taken into consideration.At 13 and some ounces, it's a bit on the heavy side. It's a trade off for a stove that has the capacity to handle big pots and quite a few hungry team mates. I do have the Snow Peak Giga Power for my easy condition, light hiking trips, but, unless you have something like the Markhill Stove base adapter which permits to turn the canister upside down and transforms it into a liquid feed stove, it's pretty much useless in cold weather (as all pressurized canister stove are). The Xtreme is a liquid feed to begin with, thus the great cold weather performance.Do keep an eye on the little rubber "O" ring that seals the canister to the stove. Carry some extra if you plan on being out for long. It's the only part that's susceptible to loss and/or wear. Resist the temptation to leave the canister hooked up over night. It puts useless wear on that little gasket. You might also want to tie the "green key" to the bag somehow. Although it's a good idea, it's also very easy to loose (a tent stake does the job of piercing the empty canister so it can be squished flat).So, all in all, all the advantages of a liquid fuel stove plus all the advantages of a canister stove; not a bad deal!Éric G.

2016 Update:I almost never use this stove anymore as the need to carry the adapter for it makes it EVEN HEAVIER. This WAS a great stove and the two burner model I have still gets used when camping or backpacking with large groups, but it's sure heavy. Any more I usually only take my homemade alcohol stove or, on rare occasions, my PocketRocket-like Coleman F1 ultralight that runs on standard canisters and I still LOVE.

It's been a good stove and has served well, but 1) I don't simmer very often, 2) I can't drive 50 miles every time I run low on fuel, and 3) I'm getting older and don't want to carry any more weight than I have to.

If you've been carrying a Peak 1, Feather 440 or similar stove, this one will blow you away. If you'd like to be even more blown away, go ultralight. After all, all you really need to do is boil water, right?

I'm sure they are available all over eBay and Whiteblaze now for a song. I've got 4 1/3 cans of fuel left. Will save them for trips of at least a week long in winter weather. I switched to a titanium Esbit stove with the Coughlan or Esbit solid fuel tablets for most of my backpack trips.

The Coleman Xtreme canister stove is arguably the best winter canister stove on the market, outperforming almost any liquid fuel stove around. It is very easy to use, highly reliable, emits negligeable carbon monoxide, and does not die in the cold. Its only downsides are that it requires the special Powermax canisters (though they are superior to other canisters) and the weight - more than an upright canister stove but still less than for other liquid feed stoves.

Roger, it is getting very hard to find this stove in the states anymore. REI doesn't list it on its site, and I rarely see it in the other outdoor stores where I live (Sacramento, CA.) There is one store close to me that still has the fuel, but not the stove. I suspect that Coleman might be phasing out this stove, which is a shame.

I'm sure if they changed the "Coleman" label to North Face, or MSR, and doubled the price, these stoves would sell like hotcakes. And I think you can order them direct from Coleman. At a discount if you have a non-profit connection.

> Are there any fuel canisters that will work nearly well as the Powermax canisters in cold weather, assuming the cartriges are inverted?Coleman say the Powermax stoves will stay on the market, but I agree the canisters are increasingly hard to find in many areas. A Shame!But they now have an alternative: the Coleman Fyrestorm (Ti). This uses conventional screw-thread canisters. You should look at the Fyrestorm seriously as an alternative if you can't get the Powermax canisters. It works just as as well and has low CO emissions too.The adapter Tony Beasley shows is an neat alternative if you already have an Xtreme.

I'm wondering if you might have an estimate as to how many ml a 300g Powermax canister might be able to hold. I'm doing some write ups right now on stoves, and I'm trying to compare the weight of a Simmerlite to the weight of an Xtreme. The Simmerlite of course can't function without a bottle, so I want to include the weight of the bottle. The question is, which size bottle would make a fair comparison? I'm thinking the 22oz (0.6 l) is about the same size as a 300g Powermax canister, but I'm not sure.

about 15oz for 420gram. Soo, basically he is stuck with a 22oz bottle.As far as I know, the only certified fuel bottles for a presurized stove are the 11oz and 22oz bottles. I may be out of touch, though.

James, interesting that the Simmerlite is so inefficient. I haven't taken into consideration the efficiency of either stove yet. It would seem like the Simmerlite would have to be grossly inefficient to wind up being heavier overall than the Xtreme.

The most efficient WG stove I have run was the old SVEA. In a lab, I got .17-.18oz per liter (averaged over 10 runs, best was .13.) In the field, closer to .26-.33. The Simmerlite gave about .43(2 runs) in a lab and about .55 in the field(4 runs.) Even the Whisperlite gave somewhat better results at .42 in the field (3 runs.)(In Lab: Water temp 50F, air temp 68F, no wind under a hood, of course.)

That said, both units have their place. For longish canoe trips or hiking trips, I bring my SVEA. It saves weight compared to other stoves and does a decent job for two. But at 4700BTU it is too small for larger groups. For three or four people, the Simerlite is much easier.

Hey, so how does your Svea 123 do in wind? Yeah, it has a windscreen, kind of, but it's not really effective. I'm very hesitant to use an external windscreen on my Svea 123 because if they overheat, things get really ugly. I guess if you were really attentive you might be able to get away with it, just like using a windscreen on a canister stove. What are you using if anything in the way of a windscreen on yours? 041b061a72