Soto Amicus Stove + testing (Level 1: Early Impressions) 

Interesting. I've tried starting it with the valve open at different points but haven't found a guaranteed way to get it to go on the first try. I think it usually helps if I wait a few seconds after opening the valve. If it's windy, it'll catch on the first click if I can shield the stove from the wind and if I open the valve more than halfway and wait a few seconds.

The ignition very consistently produces sparks but those sparks don't seem to ignite the gas until there's a certain amount of gas. It's faster at lower elevations but worked for me at 12,500'. What I do is put the pot on the stove, give the gas valve a half turn, wait 2-3 seconds, then hit the ignition every second until it ignites. Usually it'll catch on the first try if I wait long enough. But I prefer to start igniting sooner because then I avoid having too large of a flame catch near my hand.

Hiking Nerd thanks. Your experience seems to mirror what I'm finding.

I bought it a few days ago,but UPS hasn't delivered it yet. Looking forward to using it.

I replaced the BRS with the Soto Amicus for a few reasons: 1) It was hard to overcome the open burner design of the BRS and having to use that windscreen/reflector setup was kind of annoying. Sometimes it's hard to manage the wind when it's whipping around, even with a windscreen. 2) The primary reason I bought the Soto Amicus was because my BRS pot support fins started to bend. I was already considering other systems that would hold up better in mountainous conditions (for less windy environments, I can consider using my alcohol stove). Didn't want the BRS fins to break off during the middle of our JMT trip. Ended up losing our stove anyway.. oops. 3) For an extra 1.7oz, I'm happy with a stove that has better pot stability and wind resistance. I've knocked over my food before while cooking on the BRS and I've also had to wait 30 minutes in windy conditions just to boil 0.5L of water. Both can be avoided but it sucks losing a meal. Also the fuel savings over the course of a longer trip can be enough to offset the extra weight. I was surprised to find that we consumed less fuel on the JMT than I planned! 4) For two people, I wanted a stove that could output some serious heat so as to minimize waiting time. I've been contemplating an integrated system like a Jetboil Flash Lite even if it's a little heavier, but we normally cook and simmer our food in the pot (which doesn't seem to work well in a Jetboil).

interesting and concerning to hear. I just got a brs. I had a snowpeak litemax. I thought I was clever saving 1 oz. But if it's not going to work, the 1 oz won't help. I'm a boil water guy, so i'll never lose a meal, but if it takes 30 minutes to boil, that's bad. Guys like Joe Brewer on youtube seem to be having more luck and haven't mentioned having issues (yet). I wonder if my litemax has better wind performance, I haven't had to test it in very windy conditions yet. Also, concerning arms bending, I only boil 0.5 L at a time in a 1.5 oz pot, so I'm sure the BRS would handle that fine.

I think the arms bent in part because of windscreen usage (which traps more heat in the fins). I would boil up to 1L of water at a time in a 1.1L pot. The bending was gradual over the 15-20 times I used it. I always had to carry a windscreen with the BRS to make it work. But I sometimes find myself in conditions where even if I'm in my tent and using a windscreen, the wind can still be too strong for the stove and it'll take 30 mins to boil the water. I don't think most people camp in these types of conditions because it's not that pleasant. The BRS is still great value for being $15-20 in my opinion. Heck I've used it in the winter to melt snow. But it's not a do-it-all stove and there are specific circumstances when it works well over other solutions. I would expect that you'll be disappointed with the performance of the BRS when moving from the LiteMax, weight aside. If you want to feel better about the situation, go play with an alcohol stove and you'll appreciate any canister stove's performance :)

Ha, I've had plenty enough warnings to not go the alcohol stove route despite the allure of lower weight. I certainly don't doubt your experience but it's interesting that joe brewer (do you know who i'm talking about?) hiked the triple crown and that's the stove he uses. So, arm being aside, it seems like it should work for the JMT if you were using a smaller stove. I guess I'll just have to do some more field testing. The first 10+ minute, 0.5L boil I experience, I'll head back to the litemax and trudge through the burden of an extra ounce ;). I think we've got a couple of things in common, you seem to be cut from a similar cloth. I live not too far from you (near thousand oaks, ca) and work a nerdy job (bio-engineer at Amgen) so I think that's why I enjoy your videos. Thanks for the feedback!

It's true, my experience with the BRS is just another data point. Who knows how much more I could use it until failure? But once you go to a more wind-resistant stove, it's hard to go back...

Not sure, I don't have a GSI bowl

Yup

nice, thanks

Digiwolff I haven't used it in enough conditions to give a better assessment but it performs much better in the wind than the BRS stove or Zelph fancy feast alcohol stove (with a wick). I like how lightweight you can get with an alcohol stove setup but for the time and fuel saved in less-than-ideal conditions with the Soto stove, I'm thinking I'll be using this even on really fast and light trips. I enjoy the quietness of the stove too, which is one of the reasons that an alcohol stove appeals to me.

Besides weight, are there any other benefits to this type of stove over a jetboil?

I'd say that depends on what Jetboil you have. Amicus has better flame control so it simmers better than most Jetboils. But the Mo-series from Jetboil are probably equal in that regard. (I had a older Jetboil before, now have an Amicus. GF has the MiniMo) And of course you don't need an adapter to use other pots.

It’s not fully stainless steel. The support fins look and feel like titanium and magnets don’t interact with them. Most of the rest of the stove has stainless steel and interacts with magnet due to iron content. This whole thing would be lighter if there was more titanium but then it likely wouldn’t be such a good value on price.