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Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System

$59.95

(15)

Item # 769473

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This wilderness-ready cooking system includes an ultralight Optimus Crux Lite stove, pot, fry pan and mesh storage sack.

Hard-anodized aluminum pot and fry pan (doubles as the pot lid) disperse heat evenly, are nonstick, durable and scratch-resistant and clean up easily
Fry pan and 0.6-liter pot conveniently store stove, fuel canister and utensils (canister and utensils sold separately)
Ultralight stove weighs in at 2.7 oz.—perfect for ounce-counting adventurers
Two-inch burner head spreads the flame evenly; flip-out pot supports provide a 4.5 in. cooking surface and directional windscreen
Spring-tensioned flame-control valve adjusts flame from steady simmer to rolling boil; control wire is sized for glove-friendly operation
Pot and fry pan together weigh 5.6 oz.
Pot and fry pan together measure 4.8 x 4.1 in.
Includes a mesh storage bag

Specs based on manufacturer's information. Please note: Optimus products can only be shipped to U.S. addresses.

Please note: Optimus products can only be shipped to U.S. addresses.

Imported.

Item 769473

$11.99

with coupon code ANNV13
May 17-27 Details

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Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System Customer Reviews

REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

by PowerReviews

Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System

4.1

(based on 15 reviews)

93%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Pros

Compact (14)
Lightweight (12)
Easy to light (10)
Easy to clean (9)
Good power output (9)

Cons

Poor temperature control (5)
Unstable (3)

Best Uses

Backpacking (13)
Hiking (8)
Car camping (5)

- Reviewer Profile:
- Avid adventurer (13)
- What Is Your Gear Style:
- Survivalist / minimalist (9), Comfort driven (3)
- Was this a gift?:
- No (5)

Reviewed by 15 customers

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Displaying reviews 1-10

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Nov

2012

5.0

What you see is what you get

By TheAussie

from NSW - Australia

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy To Clean
Easy to Light
Lightweight
Powerful

Cons

Unstable

Best Uses

Backpacking
Hiking

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

As above.

Compact, lite, powerfull.

You aren't going to make a three course baked dinner in it, but to knock up a quick meal at the end of days walking or climbing - its ideal

Comment on this review

Oct

2012

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

A different point of view...

By Active BSA Dad

from Georgia

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy to Light
Great temperature control
Lightweight
Powerful
Stable

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
Car Camping

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

Sturdy and light. Not quite as awesome as my Snow Peak Titanium LiteMax...but very good.

I wish that people would understand the need to make incremental changes to the gas flow and not blame it on the unit. Half of the people reviewing this thing have taken off a star for poor flow control, when it is the PRESSURE CHANGE INSIDE THE CANISTER that is to blame...not the unit. As you use fuel, pressue inside the canister will drop and your flame may slowly fade. People should expect this. Its not that the unit is getting clogged or that the valve is mysteriously closing...its a normal part of using a depressurizing fuel canister. Please stop blaming the stove for no reason!!!

Comment on this review

Aug

2012

4.0

Powerful, wide burner

By MN NtrLvr

from Minnesota

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Cons

Best Uses

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

If you want a rapid boiler, this is your stove. Despite the specs saying three minutes for a half liter, I just boiled a whole liter in my HAE kettle in two and a half minutes. Rolling happy boil. I was not using a wind screen and it was still super fast. I love how wide the burner is and how close your pot is to the burner due to the low profile supports. I agree you will want a windscreen for very windy areas and the stove may be susceptible to blowout if you wanted to simmer. But, for an insanely quick boil to make dinner and a coffee you cannot go wrong with this one.

Comment on this review

Feb

2012

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Optimus Crux Stove, lightweight compact

By N The Pursuit of Happiness

from Huntington Beach, CA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy To Clean
Easy to Light
Lightweight
Powerful
Stable enough

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
Car Camping
Hiking
Tailgating

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

This thing is amazingggggg. It's super compact and lightweight, and with the 8oz isopro fuel canister, it's very stable. This lasts me 4-5 days boiling 2 cups of water, 2-3 times daily. There have been complaints of corrosion when exposed to water, but I'm not using this as a snorkel. The adjustments are touchy, but easy to find the right setting. Just like any small stove, the pot stand isn't as stable as you would want at home, but we're far from the comforts of home when this beauty is put to use. When you light it, hold your hand well below the burner and let the flame of the lighter reach up and ignite this mini jet engine.

Comment on this review

Mar

2011

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

The stove is the BOMB!

By NEOScout

from Tampa, FL

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy to Light
Great temperature control
Lightweight
Powerful
Stable

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
Car Camping
Hiking

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

I am keeping my comments to the stove because it's the item I own and I really love it. It was a gift from a buddy and I am very pleased with its performance.

We took some older boys from our Boy Scout troop to Ocala National Forest over winter break for a 50-mile trek and it turned out to be one of the coldest weeks of the year. Over night it got in to the mid-teens. Mornings, around 6:30, it was in the upper teens and low 20s. Dinnertime it got to be around 30-35. We had great success in the cold with this little stove, heating a quart of water in almost no time, and often faster than others with Coleman or JetBoil systems.

The three sawtoothed stabilizers worked well with my MSR mess kit, keeping my pots firmly atop the flame. As an alternative to the JetBoil kit, this is a great buy, especially the stove!

Comment on this review

Nov

2010

(3 of 3 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Excellant product

By Beach

from Columbia, MD

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy To Clean
Easy to Light
Lightweight
Powerful

Cons

Best Uses

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

I bought this for a recent hike of the MD section of the Appalachian Trail, did not disappoint. I only used it to boil water for Ramen noodles and coffee but worked great. One thing it doesn't show in the photo's is the measurements inside the 16 oz mug, very handy.

Comment on this review

Sep

2010

(0 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

3.0

Its nice, but it could be better.

By lucas triana

from BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy To Clean
Easy to Light

Cons

Stability
Too much fuel consumption

Best Uses

Backpacking

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

I bought this stove about a year ago on a rock trip to Coopers Rock WV. It cooked good enough, I little slow but for suck small size you couldn't ask more.
The fuel consumption is a problem. Each pipe last only a couple of uses. You also need a flat camping spot to cook, it can tilt out of the bloom when boiling water or similar.

I recommend it, if you are a casual camper who is not demanding too much from a stove. However you can find better stoves in the market for less.

Comment on this review

Sep

2010

(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Thermonuclear stove

By laggy311

from Big Sky, MT

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy to Light
Great temperature control
Lightweight
Powerful

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
Car Camping
Hiking

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

First off, I only have the Optimus Crux Lite stove. I paired with the Terra Weekend HE (has a heat exchanger ring and larger size).

I chose this stove over the more convenient, compact-able Optimus Crux only because the regular Crux has more moving parts and a plastic piece = more chances (technically) of breaking in the field.

I do not have a windscreen and I have not used this at altitude, but I was in cold temps (~35). Simmer was easy to adjust. Boiled a liter of 40 degree water in probably 2, maybe 3 minutes.

Comment on this review

Sep

2010

(1 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

3.0

Ok solo but unstable; bad heat control

By T W M

from Flagstaff

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy to Light
Lightweight
Powerful

Cons

Poor temperature control
Unstable

Best Uses

Backpacking
High Altitude
Hiking

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

I used this stove for three weeks in the Arctic and on various bikepacking, backpacking and car camping trips.

This stove has good heat output and is compact and light-weight. But it has poor heat control. It is hard to run on lower heat settings, and as others have noted, it often backs off when at lower settings. Simmering with this stove is a matter of constant attention. Similarly, the support structures are relatively small. This makes the stove unstable and subject to to heat loss during wind.

All that said, this is a great solo adventurer stove for heating water quickly for coffee and freeze dried meals. It is very compact and light. I would recommend it for those uses. I would not recommend it as a primary stove for more intricate cooking that requires lots of heat control.

Comment on this review

Aug

2010

(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

tiny and mighty

By elguaposweater

from Arkansas

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Easy To Clean
Easy to Light
Lightweight
Powerful
Stable

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
Car Camping
Hiking

Comments about Optimus Crux Lite Cooking System:

I converted to canister stoves after about 6 years using an MSR Whisperlite. I'm sold. I can't imagine a simpler more elegant design. All you have to do is unfold the valve control, turn it to the off position (**this is an important step and easy to forget**), screw it onto your fuel canister, turn it on and light it up! No pumping, priming, or flare-ups.

I haven't had problems with stability, but I have used it in places where I've had a flat surface on which to cook and I've used small pots. With regard to stability, I found using a fuel bottle stove that requires pumping action to maintain pressure scarier. There is also a product available from Brunton called the "can stand" which is a three legged stand that clips onto the base of standard sized canisters. I suspect this might help with stability if you aren't on a flat surface.

Also, I do much (any) gourmet cooking on the trail or at the campsite. I boil water and pour it on my noodles or oatmeal and this stove boils fast. That's all I need and this stove functions perfectly.

I've also seen the model that folds. Seems like a nice feature that would make the stove even more compact, though I wonder if it weakens the structure of the stove.