In this review I’m looking at the 360 Furno Stove for motorcycle touring, kayaking or hiking. It occurred to me a number of years ago, when camping at Harry’s Hut on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. Maybe it was time to invest in an easy, light weight camping stove.
I had travelled down from North Queensland and met up with my brother for a couple of days kayaking the Noosa Everglades. I took my Coleman Dual Fuel stove which I had relied on for the past 30 years for all my camp cooking needs.
Dual fuel stoves require you to heat up an atomising tube which helps vaporise the fuel. If you don’t do this the fuel just pumps out of the pressurise tank and all you get is flames. I found that out the hard way when on top of Mount Warning in New South Wales, I almost started a forest fire.
It usually takes some time to heat up and requires a small solid fuel tablet. While I was waiting form my stove to come up to temperature, my brother bought out his new gas stove. By the time I had got my stove going, he had boiled water and was sitting back in his camp chair enjoying a coffee.
The right stove for the right adventure
Don’t get me wrong, in the right situation my dual fuel stove would have kicked his arse. But that situation would have been on a mountain top at about 10,000 feet. Not on the water line of a sandy river bank. I was impressed with the stove and the kit that went with it. When I saw it on sale at my local Anaconda store, I brought it and added to my kit of camping equipment.
Type of stove
Th 360 Furno Gas Stove is a low cost butane (LPG) powered hiking stove. It is designed to be screwed to the top of a small disposable gas cylinders.
The kit has everything you need to cook on your weekend road trip or as I did on my month long motorcycle adventure. While I didn’t use it for any complicated cooking activities, it was adequate for boiling water. And the occasional cooking of a can of baked beans.
What’s in the kit?
Included in the kit is a burner unit and two small pots, (one just under a litre, the other about half that size). It also contains a set of legs that attach to the gas bottle, two small pads to protect the pans from being scratched. Conveniently, it also contains a round scouring pad for cleaning and a mesh bag to keep it all together in you pack or panniers.
Functionality
I filled the almost one litre pot full of water, hunted around for a lighter and fired it up. With no wind on a warm tropical day it took just over four minutes to reach boiling temperature.
The 360 Furno Gas Stove consists of four components; the body, main upright shaft with breather holes, the support arms and the burner unit. Other than the body, the rest of the components are zinc plated mild steel. Generally, stoves in this price range have some compromises. For example, decisions as to how big the burners can be, if the legs have to fold over them in order to fit into a small package?
The arms and breather component are not particularly finely made, but they do the job reasonably well. The aluminium body is well machined. The gas volume knob/wire is adequate, and best of all the thread on the volume needle is quite fine. This allows for a relatively accurate flame and as such heat control.
The pots themselves are robust and are well plated to prevent scratching. The pots are made of aluminium. They also have solid handles that are firmly riveted to the pots with large rivets. This means I doubt they will break anytime soon.
Efficency
The efficiency of a LPG stove is based on how well the gas burns, the type of fuel being used and if it is impacted by the wether (i.e. wind). Most Liquidfied Petroleum Gas (LPG) such as Propane and/or Butane will burn clean providing the are mixed appropiately with oxygen before they get to the burner. Hence why the volume of air in the tube leading to the burner is so important.
The amount of fuel used by a stove is best ascertained by weighing your gas cylinder before use and then weighing again after use, to determine the weight of the fuel you use. Likewise, measuring how long it takes to get 1 litre of water to boiling point at sea level is a good test of efficiency.
It takes 4 minutes and 20 seconds to boil water, when there is no wind. The ambient air temperature also plays a part in the stove’s efficiency. When I tested it the temperature was 25 degrees with approximately 90 percent humidity. It used seven grams of fuel, so that means from a 230 gram canister I could get 33 litres of boiling water. Dividing that by four cups of coffee per day, the canister would last a minimum of 8 days (of course I don’t drink a litre of coffee each time I make a cup).
To do a comparison between this stove and a Jetboil. The Jetboil used 3.5 grams under the same conditions. That’s half the amount of gas. This test didn’t account for any wind or the ambient temperature. That equates to 11 litres of boiling water for a 155 gram canister. If you want to read my Jetboil Flash review click on the following link:https://digitalswaggie.com.au/jetboil-flash-gear-review/
Pack Size
The total height of the packed kit, including putting the gas canister on top is 130 mm diameter and 230 mm height. The kit weights 560 grams.
Price
There are many gas stoves on the market, from cheap $12 dollar K-mart specials to complex high yield, light weight titanium models that will cost in the hundreds of dollars. The Furno Gas Stove is a small compact gas stove designed for low altitude cooking.
The burner head can be purchased separately for around $29.99 or you you can purchase the complete kit for between $49.90 and $79.00. I was lucky enough to get a really good deal and purchased the kit for $49.90. I regularly see it advertised for this price. To compare it to one of the leading brands the MSR Pocket Rocket is priced at $160, although from time to time I have seen it cheaper.
Conclusion
The 360 Furno Gas Hiking Stove is a great entry product. At sub $50.00 you can’t really go wrong, and for many people who just want an occasional light weight camping stove, this is as good as any. I wouldn’t say it is the best made product but who cares if it gets your food hot.
If heating water for coffee or dehydrated meals is your thing, then I wouldn’t recommend it. This is why I bought a Jetboil. I carry less gas, boil water fast and I have a fully contained cooking system. Does this mean I wouldn’t use the 360 Furno stove again.
No way, if I’m going on a long trip I’ll take it as a back up or if there is a group of us I’ll take it as a secondary stove for cooking.
If I was a serious back packer traveling around the world, I would look at the more efficient MSR high technology titanium products. They are stronger, lighter, smaller and more efficient. There are a number in this market segment starting a $100 and going upwards from there.
I often get comments from people that there are cheaper K-Mart or Aldi brands that do the same job. “Why pay $150.00 when you can spend $40 for the same thing. I believe if you’re a discerning buyer you will realise that most times you get what you pay for.
This products is a good lower to mid range product, suited to a specific audience. I like it and it does the job. If you liked this review please make comments in the box below. Safe riding and hopefully I’ll see you out there. Cheers……:)
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Thanks for a good review comparing the Furno 360 with the Jetboil. I own the Furno 360 and am very happy with it. I am interested in minimizing weight for longer multi-day hikes. So I may consider the Jetboil in order to conserve gas usage. Is the overall weight more or less with the pots, etc.?
Thanks, Jacques for your comment, the Furno definitely has a greater range of uses for cooking. You just need to protect it from the wind. If you’re just boiling water the Jetboil wins every time.
Cheers
Gary