Optimus Vega

How much it adds to your pack. 5: Does the job. Average for wild-camping gear.

Katadyn (Optimus's owner) and the Vega manual both give 178 g, in the 120-179 g band, 2 g under the 180 g line. Live for the Outdoors weighed 186 g (band 2); Alpinetrek says 180 g and Ultralight Outdoor Gear 174 g.

How much room it takes in your rucksack. 5: Does the job. Average for wild-camping gear.

Katadyn's manual gives the folded size as 130 x 70 x 65 mm (its web page gives the same three figures as 130 long, 65 wide, 70 high), worked as a box: 13 x 7 x 6.5 = 592 cm3, 0.592 L, in the 0.2-0.59 L band, just under the 0.6 L line. Live for the Outdoors measured about 14 x 10 x 6 cm in its bag with the ground shield.

How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in still air. Wind slows every stove: see Wind performance. 4: A bit below average.

Katadyn's page says 4-5 minutes for 1 litre and the manual 4.5 minutes in efficiency mode, with the canister upright. We use the slowest, 5 minutes (300 s), in the 300-479 s band (4.5 minutes, 270 s, would be band 3). Optimus says the inverted 4-season mode is about 20% faster. Live for the Outdoors timed 0.5 L in 4 min 36 s.

How well it keeps boiling in a breeze, as sold, without an extra windshield. 7: Better than most.

Nobody timed it in the 3-6 km/h breeze. Live for the Outdoors: it outperforms most screw-in stoves because it sits low; in a stiff breeze in Snowdonia the flame moved but never blew out, and with a windshield it is pretty much windproof (4). The Great Outdoors: only a design remark, that the low burner is ideal with a windshield and the tester used it on open hillsides, behind rocks and dug into snow, with no verdict on wind itself (3). Gear Institute (the reviewer was sent the stove by Optimus): the low stance and windscreen make wind almost a non-factor over ten days of windy camping (4). Scores 4, 3, 4: average 3.7 out of 5, so 7 out of 10. The Vega does not come with a windshield, only a ground reflector.