Camp Stove/Cooking Gear

[nickedone]

Yes, I'm looking to buy. And yes, I should probably explain my usage, etc. But that's not really what I want to know. I'd like to know what you guys use and love in whatever circumstances you'd like to share. And what that particular set-up is good at doing. Do you use one for hiking but swap it out when car camping or do you have something that is great at both? I'd like to hear your favorites on:

A) stoves
B) cooking sets
C) anything else related for which you have some love

Thanks, guys. Looking forward to learning from experience.

Yes, well, your usage and location will determine what you buy.
Lots of good advice in the above responses. I'll try to touch on some other points relevant for our state.

In California, you need to ask, where will I use the stove as well as how will I use it?

California has specific limitations on hiking/backpacking stove use in most areas, as well as other fire restrictions which vary seasonally with fire risk. Even areas used for car camping can have restrictions which will limit your stove options.

Generally you should think in terms of having a campfire permit for use with any stove, which is in fact mandatory in most NF areas; you need to know the restrictions whether the area be National Forest, Monument, Wilderness, BLM, or State Park jurisdiction.

If you are camping at a designated undeveloped campsite, or a yellow post campsite, or by use of an Explorer's permit, your hiking permit will be valid as a campfire permit for the dates of your permit only. Note that most of these areas will not allow campfires per se, but you can't use your stove without the permit.

Most folks do *not* get an annual campfire permit, which is good throughout the state, but they are easy to get at any ranger station, (including via "unfindable" online backdoor pdf from two NF supervisors--*signed*).

So, California campfire permit in hand, look at your choices of stoves which can be used almost anywhere. (If your camping will be of the car camp/beach camping--which is fun!--use whatever, including wood, charcoal, or big ol' Coleman stoves; read about that all you want ;-)

Forget about wood stoves or Esbit fueled stoves, which are restricted in many areas. Read up on stoves fueled by petroleum, liquified gas, or alcohol, your specifics of elevation, temperature, type of cooking, number of mouths/number of days/weight etc.
Here are two of the best resources:

---Hikin' Jim, a good friend of mine, for whom I can affirm tasty results from a variety of recipes and stoves he uses/tests

http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/p/who-heck-is-hikin-jim.html

and Zen Backpacking Stoves

http://zenstoves.net/StoveChoices.htm

I have used a number of other stoves, but these are the ones I continue to use:

-- an MSR International for winter multi-day use--great on Whitney in February, gee where are the summer crowds from the permit lottery?

--an alcohol cat can for warm weather ultralites

--a Primus Technotrail II which nests with canister in Ti pot, which I use maybe 2/3rds of the time, including overnight to 11K locally, in winter

-- I still have (and occasionally use nostalgically) a vintage Svea and an Optimus multifuel from the 70s

Stove use is single person; in the backcountry, 90% of the time I am solo.

I am primarily a water boiler for cooking needs; occasionally something to simmer, but water issues impact pot cleanup. With California's four year drought, some of the high country water sources (SoCal) have dried up, and one must pack in [b/all[/b] water needed.

In the Sierras, I will often will augment food supply with trout, hence water is not an issue with pan cleanup (and good flame control is important for proper cooking.

Be careful re: bears/ bear canister usage/food and cooking discipline, including in SoCal. There have been regular "food/camp-raiding" bears in a number of areas, including the San Gabriels (as well as SBNF and ANF in general). Hoegees camp (ongoing, incl. last weekend raids), looong time High Creek Camp and Halfway Camp on San Gorgonio (these parts reopened after Lake Fire --most of SGW still closed); Big Bear area; Icehouse Canyon had a bear which had to be relocated awhile back; Kern River; etc etc. Point: Many areas *require* bear canisters, e.g. SEKI restrictions, but bears are problematic elsewhere, too.

Be food wise also re: wild rodents from marmot to chipmunk--including tent advice: leave an opening, so they won't otherwise inevitably chew their way inside as part of their explorations and foraging.

Good luck with your camping, hiking, and outdoor cooking. There are so many good stove choices, you can't go wrong. Plus have some fun making an alcohol stove or two, for pennies.

kind regards,
nickedone

 

[baldtaco-II]

I've got two big peeves with cannister stoves that stop them trumping everything for me. 1] They aren't great in the cold. 2] The annoying part cannister problem leads to inefficiency.

I can mitigate some of that by running of propane rather than isobutane. I'd swap better cold weather performance for a much heavier bottle. Great.

Despite all that it is the cannister stove that is at the heart of the majority of my systems. My cannister stove still works fine for down to a bit below freezing. It's also uncommon enough for me to be out for enough days consecutively, without access to refuel, to need to reach for something better suited for that.

I'll happily run a cannister stove as a water boiler with just my mug / lid on it. A different trip might find me going all posh; separate toilet and sink, a mess tin with lid, a kettle that fits in it, and a mug. If I need to carry a lot of weight for quite a while, and water isn't a problem, I use couscous a lot. It gives massive returns for a tiny bit of fuel consumption. From a quick a simple gruel warmer to the more fun stuff, the power, controllability, and convenience in terns of weight and size is impossible for me to beat. I have to drag the cannister stove way outside its comfort zone by throwing in very cold or multiple days unsupported to put a dink in it.

Sooner or later the weight of amassed cannisters is going to exceed the point at which you could have plumped for a heavier liquid pressure stove. In my case that would be a Coleman 442. That said, I haven't reached for that for about a year. And when I didn't it was because off anticipated temperature and not concerns about fuel. The cannister stove has been taking up all the slack.

In a different direction when going uber light I do use a little Trangia system with the tredder. Essentially, the Trangia sits inside a cut down SIGG bottle [think coke can with battlements] which in turn stows inside a mug. That gives me a compact system that's just enough to boil a couple of mugs of water [without additional fuel]. I like it because it offers that bit more flexibility than a vacuum flask for a smaller impediment. Alcohol stoves are way slow though. Sure you can make them work a bit better with some rigs than others, but its a very low powered system, even in your kitchen. If it weren't for the cannister problem I'd render this obsolete too. I've happily run a cannister stove business end off tiny blow torch bottles of a size that wouldn't be amiss in a woman's handbag. You have to poke a hole in the ground to stand the up. Its a brilliant compact solution, way more effective than the Trangia. The Trangia wins only by dint of that I can keep filling it up. That feature alone is what allows it to dominate the tiny niche I have there.

Just for fun, here's the system I used last weekend: Unsurprisingly, I was using a cannister stove. Matey wanted a rematch from “the best cooked breakfast” event. This was to be a “best sandwich based breakfast”. Seemed obvious to me that at the heart of it was going be a proper pan, for best results. No pissin' about with camping pans, lids that can be a pan, just get a pan, but smaller. Don't sacrifice properties, just size. Viola, 1*5oz single egg pan, silicone handle, serendipitously a perfect fit for 3*caramelized onion and pork sausages. Eggs is the reason it exists, and well, bacon bits are just as good as rashers when in brioche buns with the egg and the sausage [and yeah next to the two bottles of cooking oil you can see ketchup]. I don't know what won it. Mebe it was his sausages being chased around a too hot Zebra billy that didn't help. Could be the eggs he was trying to flip with a tea spoon. It could have been my tongs or that I had a huge prep area to work on, or to his chagrin the seemingly endless amount of paper plates. Of course the addition of all that fruit might have been the final insult. Whatever, my kitchen all up weight was a bunch lighter than his and still optimized for the task.

A different trip will bring out a totally different kitchen set up, but the safe money is that I will have a cannister stove at the heart of it.

 

[jonnyt16]

My stove is a Brunton Raptor that I really like even better than the MSR PocketRocket because it folds away just as small yet the arms span a little wider. Unfortunetely, I don't think Brunton produces it anymore so they're kinda hard to find nowdays. Cookware is an MSR Titan Kettle, MSR Titan Cup, and MSR Flex Skillet. However, I just bought a Toaks Titanium 2000ml pot that will replace my Titan Kettle so I can actually cook a decent amount of food while out in the woods. The included bail handle on the Toaks is great and the stuff sack is nice too. Pictured last with the Spooltools.

 

[neeman]

Stabilizer

I carry a Canister stand that clips on to the bottom of the gas canister
It makes stable the very high center of gravity with a canister, head and pot
For safety and ease of use, well worth the 20 g

http://www.fire-maple.com/en/productsinfo.aspx?pid=82

 

[B34NS]

Johnnyt16 you'll have to update with how that toaks 2000ml holds up to cooking, I've been eyeing them forever, but always got by just fine on a couple 750ml's.

 

[jonnyt16]

Johnnyt16 you'll have to update with how that toaks 2000ml holds up to cooking, I've been eyeing them forever, but always got by just fine on a couple 750ml's.

Will do. Going to be a while though cuz deer season just opened up here in northern California so I'll be busy chasing blacktail for the next 7 weeks.

 

[B34NS]

Will do. Going to be a while though cuz deer season just opened up here in northern California so I'll be busy chasing blacktail for the next 7 weeks.

Amen to that! :thumbup: Just been so dry up here in the A&B zones, been seeing more and more lions, but the gas stoves will make for a great option to get that liver and heart sauteein' nice and quick!

 

[jonnyt16]

Amen to that! :thumbup: Just been so dry up here in the A&B zones, been seeing more and more lions, but the gas stoves will make for a great option to get that liver and heart sauteein' nice and quick!

Got your A zone tag? Are you able to make it to Napa? I hunt some private property loaded with deer and sometimes I can't always find a hunting partner to come along (I prefer not to hunt alone) so if you're down then email me your number or something and I'll keep you in mind.

 

[pinnah]

JWheel,

I know you've been slow to say more about where and what you'll be using the stove for. I'll add my voice to those asking for my more details, since different stoves really do better in different situations. There's also a difference in the fiddle factor and people have different tollerances for futzing with things.

Based on what I've read so far, sounds like you'll be doing some car camping in northern California, maybe some backpacking.

Right off the bat, I would recommend limiting your choice to either white gas stoves or cannister stoves, since they have shut-off capabilities and that is important to have out there. If you're more towards the coast, you might also consider alcohol.

Here is my very crude summary of the 4 main types of stoves, and where I do and don't like them.

CANNISETER STOVES - These are the easiest to operate by a huge margin. If you hate futzing with gear and just want something that will work. I recommend cannister stoves to all my friends who don't camp often. They simmer great. But as others have noted, they don't do as well in cold temperatures. And the big downside for me is dealing with cannisters. I have too busy a life to try to manage half used cannisters. I just prefer to top off my fuel bottle, as you can with white gas and alcohol. And I do enough winter camping that I'm not giving up on my white gas stove.

WHITE GAS STOVES - These burn the hottest in cold weather and on long trips are the lightest since the fuel has the most BTUs. But, white gas stoves require practice, practice, practice to learn the priming ritual. They also don't simmer as well as cannister stoves. These are my choice for winter camping. The MSR stoves are the most common and popular in the US but I like the Svea 123 much better.

ALCOHOL STOVE - I've been won over by alcohol for 3 season camping in wet, cool New England. Most my backpacking trips are 3 nights or less so the weight penalty of the fuel (they are thirsty, hence heavier fuel weights) don't kick in for me. The are all fiddly in that you have to practice and perfect managing windscreen systems and they don't simmer. But they are very quiet and incredibly reliable and after a long day of hiking, it's no fuss, no muss. Some people complain about boiling time. For me, ease of use outweighs this concern. I use these for backpacking and car camping. For car camping, I use a Trangia burner with a Mojo pot stand (search the rivertine auction site) and a home made windscreen (see? you need to make your own windscreens - arts and crafts). For backpacking, I use a Batchstovez 2.1 with a GSR pot. Insanely hot and light. Wouldn't take it to Cali though.

WOOD STOVES - I have and really like an Emberlit. It's fun to use when I have the time to futz around with wood. But when I'm car camping and it's raining and the wife and kids are restless, that's a horrible time to futz with wood. And when I'm several miles into the woods and I'm tire and spent from the hike in, well that's a horrible time to futz with wood too. The one place I use it is on long day tour XC ski trips where there is a risk of being caught out over night. These trips happen along river valleys with lots of dead fall wood and the ability to handle the ash. The Emberlit system, which requires at least a knife to split wood in the snowy woods, is lighter than my white gas stove and has the ability to be run all night long if need be.

For pots, I use an Open Country 2 qt pot for groups of 4, a GSR Dualist for groups of 2 or 3 and a Stanley pot for solo use.

 

[Turbo Tension]

The Brother In Law brought a Jet Boil out for a 2 night trip last week. Works great for boiling, not sure about cooking as we only brought dehydrated food, cliff bars, and jerky.

 

[neeman]

Pinnah,

Nice to see another Open Country 2 qt pot aficionado!

The Optimus Svea as a white gas stove simmers extremely well
Do they still make the 1.4oz Midi Pump for winter use?

I used the Optimus 99 for many many years in very cold weather in the Eastern seaboard winter camping with the Mini Pump
Never failed even in -40 weather

 

[leghog]

I was never a fan of Alcohol stoves. Cheap but still too much$$ for what you get. Then I made my own (instructions all over the net) for the cost of a couple of cans of Pepsi, and I've been won over for their sheer simplicity and near zero cost.

Bill of Materiel:

Cuts:

Assembly:

Weight (metal duct tape is not necessary - cosmetic only):

Fueled and lit:

 

[DunkEm]

I really like esbit. It's small, light and allowed in check-in luggage in airplanes.
This is my current stove, the entire kit including protective case weighs about 140 gram:

fuel holder:

Cool! What is that stove? Did you make it? Buy it?

 

[sasha]

I seen a guy use this esbit stove. It works fine if you want to boil water for a single person. But if you into making tea or boil more water then for one meal I would get something different. But for over night it would be good.

 

[milani74]

Lots of options out there and all are great stoves; depending on your style.
I've used and been very happy with the following:
For most of my family backpacking trips I use a Kovea Spider. Its a light weight pot supporting canister stove that has a low profile and can invert canisters, which I find extremely beneficial when its colder out. It boils water very well, and can actually simmer ok. It also packs down the smallest of all of the inverted stoves that were for sale at the time of my purchase.
For multi fuel or when I know I'll have to melt a lot of snow for my primary water source, I use a Primus Omnifuel. Its has many similarities with MSR's XGK.
Lastly, I usually bring a Caldera Cone with my MSR Titan pot. The titan pot hits the sweet spot for me as it can double duty as a mug and a cooking pot. The cone is able to burn wood, esbit or alcohol but I just normally use alcohol.
For summer day hikes, I bring my Emberlit. I still love how flat it folds and it's a great option for a backup stove. I did try and use it on a winter trip here and had to eat lots of cold food...so its not very dependable when everything is wet.
I've built and used a lot of the alchy stoves, but I've found they are not that great for multiple people. Solo trips are another story and work well, but there is a point of diminishing returns. Hikin' Jim's site posted above is a really great place to look. Also the zen stove site is packed with DIY projects.

 

[B34NS]

Got your A zone tag? Are you able to make it to Napa? I hunt some private property loaded with deer and sometimes I can't always find a hunting partner to come along (I prefer not to hunt alone) so if you're down then email me your number or something and I'll keep you in mind.

Thanks for the invite! I'll definitely get in touch! :thumbup:

 

[mec003]

So, I'm thinking about purchasing a small stove for making a cup of tea while hiking once the weather cools. I'm leaning towards an esbit ultralight folding stove. It's pretty cheap, but I'm not positive that I want to invest more until I know I'm even going to bother to make a drink when out on the trail. Anyone have one of these little guys? I won't be in a rush to boil a lot of water. Probably just 8-12 ounces at a time. Any other good options for under $20?

 

[cardo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKAFAsPfC4s

http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/fancee-feest.php

 

[sideways]

You could make a DIY alcohol stove, DIY woodgas stove, and probably get a few esbit tablets and still have change from a 20.

Or you could take a thermos flask.

 

[basb]

Cool! What is that stove? Did you make it? Buy it?

It comes from Trail Designs. If you're crafty you could make it yourself.
Brian Green has a tutorial for the esbit tray here: http://briangreen.net/2011/11/titanium-foil-esbit-tray-stove.html.

I seen a guy use this esbit stove. It works fine if you want to boil water for a single person. But if you into making tea or boil more water then for one meal I would get something different. But for over night it would be good.

It's my hiking stove. I took it on a two and two one week trips. For solo hikes it is great since i only need water for breakfast crunchies, coffee, and freeze-dried meals. For two people it would probably be good too, since you can boil 700ml in one go.


The photo above was taken on a winter hike in Dalarna, Sweden. Temperatures varied from -1 to -20c during the day and the stove worked fine. The efficiency was good at 3 blocks(=12g) for 350ml at -9C.