Vital stove clone

[Andy BB]

I've had a Vital stove for a while (https://vitalgrill.com/outdoors/ ) and been very happy with it. It is, without doubt, the fiercest stove I own (a claimed 20,000BTUs) - nearly 6kw) and will boil water or melt snow significantly faster than any of my petrol or paraffin stoves. the heat can be controlled either by a battery powered fan (hi/lo/off) and/or with an air damper. Works with wood scraps, wood pellets etc, However, it's not cheap. Batteries (2xAA) work for around 40 hours at full chat, and I can validate that from experience.

I've just seen a chinese clone of this on ebay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311664019010?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT . Major differences seem to be the hinges on the clone, better battery/blower connection options and a plastic container. No idea if it works as well, but at around £25 including postage might be worth a look.

 

[Big G]

Thanks for the link mate, might pick the chinese version up, after i do bit more research, look at some reviews.

They do look good little stoves, esp for cold weather camping

 

[Mesquite]

:why: You're a bad man Andy...

The kit geek in me wants one.

 

[Big G]

I'm about to hit the buy it now button, in Andys link, ( cheapest on ebay )

I can't find any reviews on youtube of the clone one thou

The original vital one, look's a cracking little stove, with great temperature control... I want one

 

[Leshy]

Dr. Jekyll:
That's pretty cool, and cheap!
... beats the exorbitant price of the bio-lite thing.
Emergency charger for phone is handy too... and it folds neatly into a box!

Mr.Hyde:

pretty gadgety though, and not totally smoke free...
Oh and what happens when you run out of batteries ?
Is there not too many parts to fail?

😵

My internal arguments are getting worse...
Schizophrenic rants ...
"You'l never walk alone..."and all that


I know you're just being helpful and not trying to sell anything but I'm a cynical mook and part of me wants to like it and the other just sees it failing...

Do I need help?

Please someone buy it and review it so I can pull the trigger on this one....

 

[Big G]

I've just submitted a best offer on ebay for one, from a UK seller... fingers crossed

 

[crosslandkelly]

Even if the battery fails or the fan packs up, it can still be used as a fire box/hobo stove.

 

[Big G]

Even if the battery fails or the fan packs up, it can still be used as a fire box/hobo stove.

Exactly mate, use my trangia burner in fire box

 

[Big G]

I've just watched another youtube vid, a bloke cooked a steak on one, using hickory wood chips for fuel

Now... i deffo hope my offer is accepted

 

[Andy BB]

Dr. Jekyll:
That's pretty cool, and cheap!
... beats the exorbitant price of the bio-lite thing.
Emergency charger for phone is handy too... and it folds neatly into a box!

Mr.Hyde:

pretty gadgety though, and not totally smoke free...
Oh and what happens when you run out of batteries ?
Is there not too many parts to fail?



My internal arguments are getting worse...
Schizophrenic rants ...
"You'l never walk alone..."and all that


I know you're just being helpful and not trying to sell anything but I'm a cynical mook and part of me wants to like it and the other just sees it failing...

Do I need help?

Please someone buy it and review it so I can pull the trigger on this one....

Can't comment on the clone, but re the "genuine" vital stove, my original biggest concern was the battery box/battery life and connection to the stove. To get round this I spent an additional $4 (I got it from Canada, yet strangely the costs were in US$) for a back-up battery box/cable, just in case the original one failed. However, after about 3-4 years to date, the spare is still unused... Interestingly, I didn't realise for a while that you could take off the ventilated base plate both to clean, and to store the battery box/cable inside - actually you can store two boxes/cables there. I don't know if the clone version allows you to do that though.

Smokiness. Well, depends on the wood. Damp wood will smoke - the nature of the beast I'm afraid. Dry wood/pellets etc don't after initial start-up. And on open damper/high fan, the flame is so hot that I'm guessing that any secondary-burn wood-gas is instantaneously combusted anyway! Don't underestimate the heat the original puts out - it quotes 20,000btu (around 5.6-6kw), double that of my Primus Omnifuels, or Optimus 111 or 45, and my own experience tends to confirm that. In tests in wintertime in Norway and Sweden, it was melting snow almost as fast as I could shovel it in. The clone claims similar heat output, but I have no idea if it will live up to this, although the burn chamber and fan/damper set up look identical from the pics.

 

[Nice65]

I haven't tried that stove, but BRS do make some impressive ones.

I use use one of these little chappies sometimes. The fins twist the flame concentrating it. It's very good, very light, absolutely tiny, and cost me about a tenner.

 

[Big G]

I haven't tried that stove, but BRS do make some impressive ones.

I use use one of these little chappies sometimes. The fins twist the flame concentrating it. It's very good, very light, absolutely tiny, and cost me about a tenner.

That's a nifty little device, very nice

 

[Andy BB]

A word of caution here folks. My clone arrived yesterday, and build quality is way below that of the genuine Vital stove. Most of the metal is what I would call pot-metal, not stainless as said in the ad. Secondly, it is a BRS stove, and has the audacity to call it a Vital stove, even copying the name of the original. The fan sounds a bit asthmatic, and the power lead containing the 1/off/2 settings doesn't work on the 2(high) setting, at least on mine. I'll try to dig out the original and try it's power cable on the clone, but can't find it at present.

 

[Big G]

In the end, i gave these clones a swerve. I thought they were to good to be true!

 

[Leshy]

Same as... I didn't pull the trigger either.
Mr Hyde wouldn't let me...
😁

 

[andyxedos]

That's a nifty little device, very nice

Where did you get that one from..looks a great size?

I haven't tried that stove, but BRS do make some impressive ones.

I use use one of these little chappies sometimes. The fins twist the flame concentrating it. It's very good, very light, absolutely tiny, and cost me about a tenner.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Big G]

Where did you get that one from..looks a great size?




Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

There you go mate : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/BRS-Portable-camping-Gas-Stove-Hiking-Picnic-2700W-MINI-lightweight-Gas-burner-Titanium-outdoor-Ultralight-Equipment/32691814987.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.364.c0n3TN&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_7,searchweb201602_2_10057_10056_10065_10068_10055_10054_10069_10059_10058_418_10073_10017_10071_10070_10060_10061_10052_10062_10053_10050_10051,searchweb201603_4&btsid=8182ee8f-adcf-4dc3-880e-235b3f2b1678

You can probably pick them up on ebay, from a uk seller, if you don't wanna wait a few weeks, for delivery from China.

 

[Andy BB]

A slight apology to BRS is due here!

I finally got around to firing this up. I changed what I thought were fully-charged rechargeables with new AA alkaline batteries, and the fan now works fine (apart from low actually meaning high, and vice versa..)

Using wood pellets as fuel, and a little meths on the top of them to start it up, this thing is pretty much on a par with the Vital stove for heat output and heat controllability. I still think the genuine stove is better built, but at the price its a bargain in my opinion. As with the Vital stove, the pan rests swivel to accommodate pretty much any size pot or pan, and unlike things like the biolite stove its very stable - not at all top-heavy.

I cannot say at the moment whether this is as good as the original for battery life (my Vital stove runs for about 40 hours on a pair of AA batteries). And although I haven't dismantled it yet, this should be very easy - remove 4 small crosshead screws will give you access to the "electronics", which appears to be basically a little computer fan running off 3volts. Easily replaced for a couple of pounds from Maplins or ebay.

In common with the genuine article, this stove will run off pretty much anything organic In Norway a couple of years ago it was the only stove I had that would run off wet wood! It will however use a lot of it on full chat - you are after all getting nearly 6kw out of it (double that of my liquid fuel stoves like the Primus Omnifuel, Optimus 111 etc, and at least triple that of the smaller Optimus 8R, SVEA 123, Optimus 99 etc). The plus side is that generating charge from my Powerpot 5 is absolutely amazing!