Camp stove: Looking for opinions and reviews

[Canuman]

Originally Posted by It'sNotTheBike

4) a stove which uses cartridges of pressurized fuel is quite safe, and the suggestion
that stoves might explode is the sort of misinformation I'd expect from someone's grandmother.


.

Worst rescue I've ever been on was from a gas stove explosion, thanks. Six camp kids with third degree burns on their hands and faces in the White Mountains. Your post is both rude and supercilious. I said that an alky stove was an option. I did not intend to write a dissertation, as there is plenty of info here. I spent my first full summer in a tent in 1968, and have had or been around dozens of stoves. Even when I carry a gas stove, I carry a little alky burner as a back up.

Google "camping stove explosion." You'll find evidence for both gas and cartridge stoves, as well as accident reports and fatalities.

Kiss my grandmother, and learn some manners noob.

[Little Bike]

msr stoves are good, simple and proven - just make sure to bring a few extra parts and learn how to field clean etc. (this is true of any gas stove). If you're a boil the water chef then I would check out the esbit stoves - they're tiny and easy to preplan your fuel. The time to boil water isn't that much slower than a gas stove.

If you're going on a loooong trip and out of country, go gas

[Outwardbound]

Svea Optimus all the way. You must pay attention to a few basic safety principles, but I find none better. You can get hurt with any stove, but the risks can be minimized pretty easily. (specifically: prime it properly and DON'T sit in front of the pressure relief valve)

I've owned mine for 40 years, and it still works like the day I first used it.
Wish I could say that for my crank.....

[_cy_]

Originally Posted by Twilight Error

MSR XGK II. it's the predecessor of the Dragonfly and is designed/built to be absolutely reliable. I bought mine in '95 and it's still my only camp stove.

MSR XKG purchased 1985 for a two week trip in the Tetons. has never let me down ... still performs with the latest stoves.

[jdunay]

i've used a msr whisperlite for many years. it has always been reliable and simmers well.

[der_saeufer]

I've had the Whisperlite Internationale for probably 8 years... runs on white gas or gasoline with one jet, diesel or kero (and allegedly jet fuel) with the other that comes in the package. Gets pretty dirty on diesel and doesn't like wind without using the aluminum shields that come with it, but it's simple and reliable. Fuel lasts for freaking ever; I cooked two meals a day for 3-5 people for 3 days and barely made a dent in my quart of white gas. The hardest part getting it going in the cold is getting the lighter or match to stay lit--the stove works fine, at least on white gas or gasoline.

Essentially it's a lighter, cheaper version of the Dragonfly. The Dragonfly definitely has a better flame control for low heat, though it can be done on the Whisperlite as well.

That Optimus Svea looks pretty awesome. No priming would be great.

[ontic]

Originally Posted by Outwardbound

Svea Optimus all the way. You must pay attention to a few basic safety principles, but I find none better. You can get hurt with any stove, but the risks can be minimized pretty easily. (specifically: prime it properly and DON'T sit in front of the pressure relief valve)

I've owned mine for 40 years, and it still works like the day I first used it.
Wish I could say that for my crank.....

Yep, SVEA 123 for me.
Compact and very tough- utterly simple in design with the key being the tool you need IF you feel like pulling it apart.
It works from a gentle simmer to a roaring jet that will fry a steak perfectly.
Shellite fuel is best, but it does very well on Gasoline as well.




Google these stoves, look at how long they've been around, try to find an owner that is not in love with them.
I've played with a lot of different stoves. I LOVE my Svea.

[Turkeycreek]

Originally Posted by ontic

Yep, SVEA 123 for me.
Compact and very tough- utterly simple in design with the key being the tool you need IF you feel like pulling it apart.
It works from a gentle simmer to a roaring jet that will fry a steak perfectly.
Shellite fuel is best, but it does very well on Gasoline as well.






Google these stoves, look at how long they've been around, try to find an owner that is not in love with them.
I've played with a lot of different stoves. I LOVE my Svea.

I'll jump in with a vote for the Svea 123 as well. I bought mine in 1974 so that makes it just a pup at 38 years old. Good as new.

[Turkeycreek]

Originally Posted by Canuman

Worst rescue I've ever been on was from a gas stove explosion, thanks. Six camp kids with third degree burns on their hands and faces in the White Mountains. Your post is both rude and supercilious. I said that an alky stove was an option. I did not intend to write a dissertation, as there is plenty of info here. I spent my first full summer in a tent in 1968, and have had or been around dozens of stoves. Even when I carry a gas stove, I carry a little alky burner as a back up.

Google "camping stove explosion." You'll find evidence for both gas and cartridge stoves, as well as accident reports and fatalities.

Kiss my grandmother, and learn some manners noob.

I worked in a big sporting goods/camping store back in the '70s. I was always amazed at the charred soves, lanterns and heaters that came back to the store on Monday. I was more amazed that there were not more injuries. Gas appliances demand care and respect.

[JLAW3000]

I've got one of the original (larger pot, all in one) jetboil helios styles and freaking love it. Just took it on a week long ride and went through about 1 can of gas cooking with four dudes for dinner and coffee in the morning. What space you take up in gas canisters will be made up in speed and efficiency of cooking. The all in one systems are nice because your whole kit is in one compact place (including your cooking pot) and does not have a bunch of weird little pieces... if you are like me, you loose little pieces. Boils a litre of water in a few minutes literally. The pot is SUPER easy to clean and unscratchable. I clean mine with a little water mixed with some dirt and sand and it does the trick, no weird coating on the pot to mess up.

If you cook and drink coffee daily (two stove uses per day) I would ration a minimum of a can per week.

*** i agree with the rest that the pot it comes with works best for water based meals and boiling water. If you plan on cooking steak, eggs, etc (I guess some people have space to bring coolers or time to stop for fresh food before camping ) simply line it with some foil or bring a seperate frying pan, the larger jetboil style easily supports a mid sized frying pan. ****

[Reddog*]

I went with a Esbit Alcohol burner after many years of white gas/multi fuel stoves.
I like how it works and Heet gasoline antifreeze can be found about any where.
It packs small, has a simmer plate/snuffer.

http://www.esbit.net/product-detail/...l-cookset.html

[thetourist]

Svea 123 since the early 70's. Still works fine.

For Svea users...I have figured a way to easily warm it. I use an eye wash bottle of white gas. I use a Bosche and Lombe eye drop bottle. Open the drip hole a small amount, then suction up some gas. On start up, I can just squirt a bit of gas into the ring without taking off the wind shield. This saves some messing around on startup. The 1/2 ounce B&L bottle lasts about a week.

[mouthfulloflake]

I am personally a fan of the alky stoves.

Ive carried MSR, coleman 442, and other liquid fuel, and pressurized canister fuel stoves for years.

for my own reasons ive settledon alky stoves for 99% of the time now.

the largest drawback to the alky stove is that its hard to see in the daylight, thats it, the ONLY drawback.

slx denatured alky for fuel from lowes, walmart, any hardware store. ( this is a $14 gallon can-enough for about 200 days of stove usage)



or fuel dry HEET ( about $2 at any auto store, grocery store or gas station - try finding your pressurized iso-butane cans here) these little plastic cans pour easily, and reusable and they dont leak in your bag. bottle is enough for a weeks worth of meals.



I dont care if it takes 5 minutes to boil 800ml of water, im typically not in a hurry.
but ive usually got water warming up before other folks have the stove connected, lit, or pumped up..

also, I carry 2 alkyu stoves usually, one gets hot fast, and burns about 7 minutes on 1 oz of fuel ( this will boil a quart of water, and then burn another couple of minutes.

I carry one smaller stove that will burn about 20 minutes on 1 oz of fuel, but it wont boil water, I use it for simmering, or cooking in a pan, yeas actual cooking, not just heating water.

I had a coleman 442 stove leak unleaded into my backpack one time miles from the truck, on a 2 day excursion into a wilderness area, MISERABLE mess.

for that reason alone, Ill never carry another unleaded gas stove in the same bags as anything else I have to depend on.

[Canuman]

Originally Posted by Turkeycreek

I worked in a big sporting goods/camping store back in the '70s. I was always amazed at the charred soves, lanterns and heaters that came back to the store on Monday. I was more amazed that there were not more injuries. Gas appliances demand care and respect.

Particularly with the stoves where the fuel tank is directly below the pot, don't use too large a pot. This applies to both canister stoves and liquid fuel stoves like the Svea 123, a stove that I used for many years. There's often a temptation to put a tight windscreen around the stove in blustery conditions. Both of these can concentrate heat to unsafe levels. If you're hungry and cold, there is also a temptation to over prime with stoves that need it. Make sure your stove is in good working order.

The rescue I mentioned before occurred because of a perfect storm of ignoring all these provisions with a Svea. The kids involved were cold, wet, and hungry. They over-primed the stove, and then placed a huge pot of water for spaghetti on the top. As it was kind of unstable, they circled the stove with rocks to make a pot support. I didn't find this out until after the explosion. I was the caretaker at the tent site, and it was a busy weekend.

It was near dark when this happened, and they couldn't fly the rescue helicopters to the top of the mountain until morning. It was a horrible night.

There are plenty of great stoves out there. One big decision is if you want a stove for cooking or a stove that is a simple water boiler. If your trail or road-side cooking involves heating water and prepared foods, you can get by with a lot less. I have both a Coleman single burner multi-fuel and an Optimus which is a virtual twin of the MSR. They are both very good. I used a Svea 123 from the time I was 14 until it was stolen a couple of years ago.

I rarely take the gas stoves out any more, except when I'm with a fairly large group, or when I'm in a canoe where baggage space is a relatively small issue. I simply don't cook elaborate meals roadside.

My water boiling gear is an unbranded butane stove which fits in a box the size of a bar of soap, and an alcohol burner made from a Red Bull can. I use the Esbit pot kit that Reddog* pictured above, and a piece of flashing for a windscreen. While neither rig boils water as quickly as high-end stoves, there's near zero prep involved. My total investment is minimal. A canister of butane lasts me about two weeks, and a bottle of Heet will last about five days. If someone gets sticky fingers, I'm not out that much.



An alcohol stove that I put together which is now being used by inmate Jackpiner57:

[bob393]

Originally Posted by FotoTEX

Jet-Boil has worked well for me. Compact for easy packing.

+1

Depending on how many are in your party, still works for two, this is my go to stove for solo work. small light self contained.