SOTO Amicus Stove Discussions | Drop

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SOTO Amicus Stove

FULL DISCUSSION

Msilverhammer

327

Aug 22, 2017

The Soto Amicus, and its older big brother the Soto Windmaster, (both made in Japan, think Lexus, Acura, Honda, and Infinity) are probably the two best canister stoves on the market today, with the MSR Pocket Rocket 2 (MSR) made by Kovea of Korea (think Kia and Hyundai) coming in at third place.
I currently own the Amicus, and highly recommend it due to the price point of around $35 to $40, as compared to $70 for the Windmaster.
It has more pot stability with four legs compared to three legged pot stand for the MSR, and it has other features not found on the MSR such as brass fittings versus aluminum, a Stealth (Piezo Electric) Igniter, a higher BTU output, and a much better built in wind screen.
Try to boil water with the MSR and the Amicus in a windy environment, and you will see what I mean.
So if you have the extra money purchase the Windmaster, but for the best value in the $30 to $40 price range, the Amicus is the way to go!

Aug 22, 2017

Stepbystep

549

Aug 23, 2017

MsilverhammerTake the marketing kool-aid with a grain of salt. BTUs being a good example there. Primarily a function of the fuel used, there is only so much you can do to alter that with these stove designs and Soto isn't really doing anything different. There are differences in how the output is measured as well (think: Japan vs Korea). Real life output is really close to the same, hard to measure unless you can define the fuel flow rate precisely. Operate your Amicus or any other stove without a windscreen and it's penny-wise, pound foolish.

Aug 23, 2017

Msilverhammer

327

Aug 23, 2017

StepbystepOf course any experienced stove user will try to find a somewhat sheltered area to operate a canister stove in order to use their fuel as efficiently as possible.
However, at least the owners of an Amicus "can" operate their stove in a windy environment if need be!
The owners of the MSR Pocket Rocket 2, and most other stoves except the Soto Windmaster will be SOL, and hiding behind whatever wind block that they can find; or perhaps playing "Russian Roulette" with a windscreen, which as we know, can potentially cause the fuel cylinder to explode due to heat buildup.
I forgot to mention that the Sotos will also simmer better than any stove too.

Aug 23, 2017

Stepbystep

549

Aug 23, 2017

MsilverhammerI actually own both of these AND live in a very windy region. :) The Amicus and Windmaster both can be snuffed out - they are not windproof like, say, a Reactor or a trusty Whisperlite - and when used with a screen other wind-wimpy stove models do just as well as the Sotos. I think that while the wind resistance of the Soto models is good, it's still not a solution. In open air they do a bit better than the MSR three-pocket-series, which are all the same basically, topside. I'm not bashing the Amicus - I do own and mostly like it - but I think people play up the wind thing way too much. It's not that great of a feature, imho and doesn't absolve the need for a screen. I also don't find it to simmer appreciably any better than other stoves. One would think that the slightly wider burner diameter would cover more area at low throttle, but it still puts up a conical flame so the surface contact area is fairly small just as it is with the PR stoves, etc. I do note more thermal feedback down the stem on this stove than I have with any others I own, but it doesn't seem to transfer to the canister. Other niggling thing, at least with the unit I received, is that I seem to lose more gas with each connect/disconnect compared to the other stoves I have/have had, but it's not a biggie to me. If you want low power simmering efficiency, the Crux/Gnat type are the way to go, for a canister top style, but if you are fond of using small diameter pots then you will need to run those stoves at lower throttle all the time or else the flame will clear the pot edges easily. Tradeoff there. I think the Amicus is very good as is, but if Soto wanted to do a version 2.0 and tweak it a bit, maybe shave some grams, they would be onto something great.

Aug 23, 2017

ElectronicVices

2937

Jan 9, 2018

StepbystepI sure hope you aren't using one of those wind screens that fully surrounds the canister stove (those are made for alcohol stoves). If you are, congratulations you've just made a fuel air bomb with an indeterminate countdown timer. In all seriousness it's very dangerous to use any canister stove with a windscreen that surrounds the fuel canister.

Jan 9, 2018