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GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Four Season Stove Review
October 11, 2016





The Good
- Inverted canister design
- Boils fast
- Wind resistant
- Compact
The Bad
- Windscreen attachment process
- Stove/pot support deployment
- Long-term durability questionable
The GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Four Season Stove is a very good four-season canister stove. It boils quickly when its partner windscreen is mounted, simmers well, and will hold larger pots.
The GSI Pinnacle 4 Season stove is one of two newly released entrances into the stove market for GSI. It’s a logical product line expansion for a company that makes so many practical camp kitchen products. This stove is a remote canister design, which can invert its canister when an extra boost is needed at low fuel volume or when the temps drop. I worked with this stove over a number of trips, including a week along the Pacific Crest Trail. It cooked as it should in all conditions, simmering steadily in high winds, with windscreen attached, and boiling when connected to a cold, exposed isobutane canister. The GSI Pinnacle 4 Season stove boils fast when needed and packs comfortably in GSI’s nesting Dualist cooksets. It is best compared to the Primus Eta Spider.
Boil Time
The GSI Pinnacle 4 Season stove boiled two cups of cold tap water ten times at an average of 2:29 in sunny, calm conditions at 6,600 feet. This is faster than the Primus Eta Spider and Optimus Vega.
Wind Performance
In steady winds of 14.5 mph and gusts breaching 25, the Pinnacle 4 Season stove boiled five two-cup pots of cold tap water five times at an average of 2:47. The Pinnacle Windscreen was used.
Efficiency
The Pinnacle 4 Season stove used 2.5 ounces of Jetboil Jetpower fuel to boil ten two-cup pots of cold tap water. It is less efficient than the Eta Spider.
Cooking
The stove excelled in cooking tests, holding a 25-minute simmer in windy, wet conditions along the PCT. It didn’t scorch, cooked evenly under a small fry pan and allowed for multiple levels of control.
Weight
The GSI Pinnacle 4 Season stove weighs 5.5 ounces on its own. Packed in its carry bag, 5.9 ounces. The Pinnacle Windscreen and mounting plate add 2.8 ounces.
Guide, writer, Truckee local, pub trivia host, and inventor of TripTarp®, Craig Rowe is the Gear Institute's chief stove and insulated jacket tester.