Reliable camping stove

Q

Quirt

Joined
Oct 10, 2005
Messages
1,030
For car camping the family has relied on Coleman liquid fuel and now the propane stove units. They're just junk now. I own two and both broke this past week and I've bought my last one.

So I'm willing to spend some coin on a new stove and I'm looking for a rugged dependable solid two burner stove that will work on table top or free standing. I'm open to any fuel system or unit as long as I know you all give it your endorsement.
 
How old are your stoves and what happened to make them junk?
The reason I ask is because I have two Coleman stoves, a two burner and a three burner that are over 30 years old and they both perform flawlessly. I've had to replace a generator and pump over the years, but they are both still ticking.
 
I'm in the same boat. If it were me, I'd buy an old Coleman stove and then replace the generator, tank cap o-ring and pump. But that's just me. Did your stoves break or did the "free standing part" break. I've yet to see a good collapsable table that was tall enough to be stable and strong.

If it were me and I was having to buy a new stove, I'd buy two or three smaller single burner stoves. The new SOTO is getting good reviews, and the MSR series always seems to be well regarded. However, I still prefer my SVEA 123R when I want bomb shell reliability and a bit of attention as it always seems to require a fireball to start. We have flame, we have burner ignition, 5, 4, 3,2,1 we have sustained burner operation and liftoff... It does sound like a rocket engine when it's running wide open.

Hope this helps.
 
For car camping with the family, I like the idea of finding an older stove and refurbishing it.

Unfortunately, you will be hard pressed to find a two-burner stove that is better quality than the current models from Coleman.

If you have some cash to burn and want something solid that will last, a great single burner option is the Optimus Hiker

http://www.optimusstoves.com/seen/o...connect/optimus-outdoor-kocher/optimus-hiker/

I don't have one, but my Nova has the same burner and it works great.
 
Coleman still supplies spare parts for all of its huge range of products, new and discontinued, something that most companies don't. I suspect that for a few bucks, you could get your stoves back up to 100%.
 
Our local Big-5 puts the heavy duty 2 burner propane stoves on sale every sept. my friend bought one last year for about $60. He made some legs for it from plumbing pipe and it works great. We used it at 11,000 ft and it cooked like a Viking!
 
some 12 years or so back, I picked up a Wally World two burner propane stove. Small, compact.
It has given Stirling performance, never once malfunctioning. Cost me $14.95. I got my money's worth. :D
 
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