Nobody knows stoves better than TGO’s Gear Editor Chris Townsend. Here’s his lowdown on the latest models. On test Alpkit Koro Stove
Very light, fuel efficient and compact this low profile titanium stove is extremely good value for money. Stoves like this usually weigh quite a bit more and most are much more expensive too. Part of the reason is of course that you can only buy it direct from Alpkit, but that’s the only real disadvantage.
The Koro has three fold-out legs and pot supports and is stable with large pots. The wide burner spreads the flame well, which is also useful with large pots. It works fine with smaller pots too, as long as they’re quite wide rather than tall and narrow.
There’s a preheat tube so in cold weather the cartridge can be inverted to turn the stove into a liquid fuel one. The control knob and cartridge attachment rotate so there’s no need to twist the fuel tube when doing this. There are no supports for the inverted cartridge so it needs to be propped against something or held in place with a couple of tent pegs. The control knob is on the side of the cartridge attachment and so can still be used, though doing so is a little awkward as it’s at ground level.
The Koro is quite powerful and fuel efficient. No windshield is provided though and one is essential. Alpkit offers the Concertina folding aluminium one at £10 and 110 grams. I’d rather have a foil one at less than half the weight though. The old one I used with the Koro weighs 53 grams (and could be shortened to shave off a few grams) for a total weight of 179 grams.
The Koro is light enough for solo use year round and strong and stable enough for use by two or three too. It really is an excellent stove at an amazing price.
Reviewed in June 2015 Issue
