Camping stove

[BOOMSTICK]

the good thing about the pocket rocket is that they are only like 30.00.. I have had mine for 6 years or so. I have never had problems with it.

 

[dextersp1]

The Brunton Raptor is good also - comes with peizo ignition and they can be had for a good price at opticsplanet.com

If you are using a canister stove at altitude or colde temps look at the soto stove at REI

 

[Mannlicher]

MSR Pocket Rocket.

 

[neeman]

or my svea 123..............

A Optimus 99 in the Aluminum container cooking top in gasoline with the extra pump.
Simple to use, nothing to go wrong
I used it for years in extreme cold and never had a failure

 

[Amon81]

I've been used a Gelert Compact and Lightweight Blaze Micro Gas stove for the last couple of years Now and love it to bits. Small, cheap and powerful for it's size. I think it was £18. It'll pretty hard boil an eggg in 4 minutes.





It has has a nice solid case I keep it in, I just throw it in my billy and job done.

 

[mtwarden]

I have Ti SnowPeak canister stove that I use when backpacking with my wife- simple, works well and relatively bombproof

when I'm headed for the hills solo though I go much lighter, a small Ti Esbit stove and homemade windscreen that allows me to burn wood (with the addition of two stakes that are carried anyways for my tarp)- they weigh just over a ounce combined and fit nicely in my small SP 450 mug (along w/ fuel, lighter and spork)

 

[fujita yuji]

Hello,i have several stoves if you had to chose one for camping hiking what would it be, it would be for a small stove,it is a hard call but my enders benzin baby would get my first pick or my svea 123..............:yawn:

123 is the way to go for me, too.

my 123 working in the kitchen

 

[andrewthetuba]

I just use my Esbit stove.

 

[PayetteRucker]

I clear a neat 4 foot circle of brush, line it with rocks if I feel so inclined and build a roaring fire. I let it die down a bit to provide a useable coal base and presto! I've never camped and used a stove.

 

[XMP]

I clear a neat 4 foot circle of brush, line it with rocks if I feel so inclined and build a roaring fire. I let it die down a bit to provide a useable coal base and presto! I've never camped and used a stove.

PR, what do you do if you're above the treeline?

 

[PayetteRucker]

PR, what do you do if you're above the treeline?

Never spent the night above the treeline... came close in Rocky Mountain NP after dropping my keys off a cliff, but after a frantic 45 minute search I found em :thumbup:

 

[redpoint]

Summer: MSR windpro [isobutane]

Winter: MSR XGK or Dragonfly [White Gas]

Isobutane stoves are useless in cold weather and higher altitudes, but lets face it, they're easier, lighter and you can actually hear your friends talk. 2 weeks ago I was camped-out at 9500' in Yosemite and had to melt snow with my Windpro. It took 45 minutes to melt and boil 2 litres worth of snow [in a 2 litre pot]!!! New fuel canister, windscreen, and heat exchanger too. That said, it's fine for just about everything except high altitude and cold weather. Ideally, you should use liquid fuel stoves when the mercury drops.

A MSR windpro and or pocket rocket [or similar: e.g. snowpeak] is about as minimal as I would go with regards to stoves. One problem with direct connect isobutane stoves is that you can't invert the canister in cold weather [a nice trick to get to the liquid fuel as opposed to just the gas - better performance].

JetBoil and/or the MSR Reactor are very good at boiling water, but aren't really for cooking a meal.

 

[Skunk Ape]

older multifuel coleman peak 1. used it since 93, no problems

 

[tomcrx]

Winter: MSR XGK or Dragonfly [White Gas]

XGR is great for elevation and subzero but one thing people should be aware of is for general camping needs it has two settings ..blowtorch and afterburner, great for melting snow. Great stove, parts available anywhere but as a general all purpose ...

Dragonfly..I hate that stove.. too many parts and in my experience unreliable and finicky about cleaning.

 

[Brad "the butcher"]

Another shout out for the venerable msr Whisperlite. 12 years of use with no problems, even in snow. Easy to maintain and reliable, hate those canister stoves.

Car camping the coleman 425 is all I have ever needed.

Hey Alberta Ed, for the whitegas colemans in snow.... You have to get the stove to generate enough heat to vaporize the fuel and get pressure (blue flame) before it will work.

1 - bring the fuel bottle inside your tent or cabin to warm the fuel at night (and use a heat pad as mentioned below)

2 - pour a tablespoon or two of fuel on the burner and light holding the gas feed bar
over the flames to heat up until it burns out

3 - put another tbl of fuel on the burner, put the tank in and light the fuel. When the
flames are going pressurize the tank and let er rip.

When I camp in cold weather I bring those instant reusable heat pads.
Activate the pad and put your fuel bottle on it and wrap in a towel for 10 minutes.
With heated fuel and the above technique I have used colemans and my whisperlite in Prairie Winters and Snow at 5000 ft here in BC

This will save your sanity and get breakfast going quick.

regards

 

[mtwarden]

I should add that in addition to the two stoves I mentioned above- I also have a Whisperlite - it's used exclusively for winter camping (definitely a weakness of the canister stove)

 

[redpoint]

XGR is great for elevation and subzero but one thing people should be aware of is for general camping needs it has two settings ..blowtorch and afterburner, great for melting snow. Great stove, parts available anywhere but as a general all purpose ...

Dragonfly..I hate that stove.. too many parts and in my experience unreliable and finicky about cleaning.

Well said about the XGK - it was definitely designed by the rocket propulsion lab. Not designed for cooking delicate crepes etc.

Re dragonfly: I've had one since 1997 and it's been bomber. I've used it in minus 30 C, I've fired-it-up after being buried in fresh snow all night long, I've used it at 10,000' etc. it's been totally reliable. It has the distinct advantage of actually being capable of simmering, unlike most of MSR's white gas stoves. I rebuilt it once, just for kicks. The parts are identical to other MSR stoves, though the Dragonfly is more delicate. It's not robust like the XGK, but it's very stable and designed for cooking a meal. The plastic bits on the tank pump could be an "achilles heel" - especially in really cold weather - all MSR liquid fuel stoves sport the plastic pumps.

Isobutane stoves are more reliable mechanically, only b/c they're simpler than liquid fuel stoves. That said, they don't have the same wide latitude/versatility that a liquid fuel stove has.

 

[wildmanh]

I normally use 2 different stoves. For car camping I use an old Coleman single burner stove that uses the 1lb cylinders. It works great with my 12" Cast iron frying pan or dutch ovens. My second stove is an Optimus Crux Lite that I normally use with my Terra Weekend cook set or Canteen cup. It goes hiking and backpacking with me.

Would like to get a new 2 Burner Coleman stove that uses the 1lb cylinders, then I'd get the adaptor so I could also use 20lb cylinders with it.

Heber

 

[HeavyHanded]

I built an alcohol stove out of some beer cans (heinies work the best). Search around for plans, its fun, and it puts out enough heat to boil soups or cook an MRE in a steel cup.

Cannot recommend this route strongly enough for everything but winter camping. My homemade alcohol stove can boil a quart and a half of very cold water using just under 2oz fuel - burn time is over 20 minutes. I made a heatshield/windscreen/potholder out of a sheet of aluminum flashing that rolls up and fits in the handle of my trowel when not in use. My pot,stove, and screen weigh less than just the burner head on my Whisperlite (which is a really nice stove BTW) and fuel can be carried in an old plastic pop bottle. Light, quiet, simple, and easy.

 

[tomcrx]

Re dragonfly: I've had one since 1997 and it's been bomber. I've used it in minus 30 C, I've fired-it-up after being buried in fresh snow all night long, I've used it at 10,000' etc. it's been totally reliable. It has the distinct advantage of actually being capable of simmering, unlike most of MSR's white gas stoves. I rebuilt it once, just for kicks. The parts are identical to other MSR stoves, though the Dragonfly is more delicate. It's not robust like the XGK, but it's very stable and designed for cooking a meal. The plastic bits on the tank pump could be an "achilles heel" - especially in really cold weather - all MSR liquid fuel stoves sport the plastic pumps.

Sorry I came off as really negative in my last post. Just had a few bad experiences with that stove. Bad welds etc. I also find when you use anything other than pristine white gas it is a prima donna when it comes to cleaning. Maybe it's my old age but I think MSR took a little hit in reliability and QC when REI bought them out.

Isobutane stoves are more reliable mechanically, only b/c they're simpler than liquid fuel stoves. That said, they don't have the same wide latitude/versatility that a liquid fuel stove has.

Q.F.T. I remember the days of upside down cannisters, copperwire heat exchangers, heat sheilds, and sleeping with the darn things. It was a game of russian roulette. I remember kicking one or two out of the tent when the cannister swelled. Use of LP has helped. You have to admit they are great for hanging setups.