Whats a good stove for a BOB?

I like Snow Peak's 3 oz. Gigapower butane stove ($40) for longer trips.

For shorter 1 or 2 day trips, I prefer Trangia's 6oz. alcohol burner, with bent coathanger pot stand. I like how there is nothing to adjust, fix or go wrong with this stove.
 
I really like the Jetboil, it is worth the weight and expense to me. I like that I really have a compact package that I can eat or drink right out of. Goolge it for reviews.
 
I have an old Brunton "Hiker" multi-fuel stove in the family BOB. It's a tank but works great and burns nearly any fuel. I'm not sure you can even buy them new anymore. It was replaced in my "always in the vehicle kit" with a Brunton Optimus "Nova" multi-fuel stove which is very light and compact and also burns anything. I also have Esbit stoves with 12 fuel bars and a Bic lighter in every kit we own. These are great little stoves that fold up neatly, work well and are inexpensive
 
Small butane rigs like the Coleman F1, MSR Pocket Rocket and the Snow Peak mentioned above are light and HOT. I like an Esbit stove for its anti-Murphy qualities. A foil windscreen makes them much more efficient.
 
i have a few small esbit stoves that work just fine.... :thumbup: the MSR pocket rocket is a good choice too....:D
 
I'm still wondering why nobody is mentioning the Svea 123R stove with GSI 1.25 pot and lid? This setup is light and it all fits in the small pan/pot. It's white gas instead of other fuels that might light a bit harder in cold/wind.

CZ
 
VARGO TRIAD Ti alcohol stove. TINY, burn sHOT, and will heat up a mug of water quickly. You can get by with a little 8oz bottle of methyl hydrate for about a week.

packs easily, its a few inches across. Put a Ti cup and you wont even notice the weight. Add a ti Spork (fork spoon) and some freezedried soups/stews inside the cup and you'll eat well for a few days.

An entire kit like this takes up the space of a beercan in your kit

Vargo-Triad-Titanium-Stove.jpg
 
WARNING!!!!! STOVE GEEK RESPONSE

Another vote for the Optimus 111 T ot 111C. The 111T's can be picked up as surplus ( The Marines used them as did the US Antarctica service) and parts are still available from A&H.

These burn: Gas/ White Gas/Kerosene/Deisel with no change to the set up. With a new jet and a restricter ( 2 minute conversion time) they also burn alcohol. They are used in Antarctica by most of the countries that go there and are considered exceedingly reliable.

They weigh 3 pounds and are clad in a steel armour case. Construction is brass and steel with the only plastic being on the control handle. The most common problem is the pump leather dries out and needs lubrication, or the rubber washer on the fill lid dries out and allows a slow leak robbing the tank of pressure.

If you learn to dissassemble the stove and replace the shut off cleaning needle properly and fix non return valve when it sticks every 20 years... you might have a stove that can live for ever!

Here are three of the 111B's two of which I rebuilt. The B's burn white gas only the 111 burns Kerosene only and both have the roarer burner.
270723B_s.JPG


The two burner version of the 111B the 22 B. This stove is a cooking powerhouse and 7 pounds of beautiful engineering. 20,000BTU of wonderful heat.
2707222B.JPG


Here is the 111T on a trip down the Mackenzie this summer. It has the multifuel capability and the silent burner as does the 111C. The silent burner boils water about 20% slower than the B's but can burn almost anything. The silent burner can also underburn if you start it while the priming flame is still burning. Let the priming complete itself and then turn on and light and you won't have a problem. The T's sometimes come with a o-ring pump rather than a proper leather cup. I switch them as leather is better below -20.
27072IMG_0351.JPG


To tell you how much I love these old stoves I presently have, two 111T;s a 111C three 111B's and a 22B. No longer made so I figured I needed to secure a life time supply!
 
I think the primary concern with a stove for a BOB is fuel availability. So I'll suggest a MSR Whisperlite International which will burn white gas, gasoline, kerosene or jet fuel. As N61 points out an Optimus will burn an even wider range of fuels but it weighs a lot more. Depends if you see yourself bugging out under your own power or by mechanized transport.

http://www.msrgear.com/stoves/whisperint.asp

Sierra stoves are great for burning the most widely available fuel in most of the world - wood. http://www.zzstove.com/
 
I'd choose an Esbit or two, but you can add something more elaborate to those if you feel the need. My wife and I were just talking this morning about all the Chinese people who've been stranded in the snow along their roads in cars and trucks for many days. They have been subsisting on instant noodles an article said, so we were wondering if they typically carried some kind of small stove to prepare their noodles. If they're anything like Ramen noodles eating them "raw" would not be much fun! Maybe the Chinese are more prepared to make do than the typical American would be.
 
ivan51 said:
Just would like to get ideas for a BOB stove. thanks
Click to expand...

Much like North61, I'm a bit of a backpacking stove geek myself:D

For short term, like getting home or surviving a short-term crisis (weekend/72 hour bag, etc.), I like the simple butane stove or even the smaller alcohol or solid fuel stoves like the Esbit or Vargo. The butane cartridge stoves I have, Snow Peak Giga Ti and Jetboil are fast, clean and simple...a fuel cartridge or two will last you a close to a week depending on how much you used them.

I really like the little Vargo stove, but it sucks if your pot isn't big enough for the legs...keep than in mind (I'm thinking of getting a coffee can lid as a support base...we'll see if that works any better). My Vargo Triad uses either alcohol or trioxane/hexamine/Esbit fuel tabs. This is the stove I usually have in my get-home-bag.

I did find a great combo for a compact package. The Crusader stainless cup (for the NATO canteen), will hold my older Vargo stove in the center and it works well with alcohol...great package.

For longer term, you really need to look at a few of the multi-fuel stoves. I have the MSR XGK, Burnton Optimus Nova (outstanding!) and the good old faithful Svea 123. All work with white gas (unleaded) and Coleman fuel and a some will work with other fuels. All three of these are built well, robust, somewhat simple operation and with a good windscreen, decent efficinecy. The Svea 123 and Nova are much better with a regulator, although unless you plan on serious gourmet cooking, it's not really necessary. For me, a stove is needed to boil water as fast and as efficent as possible.

Good luck!

ROCK6
 
Make a pepsi can alcohol stove. They'r really light and the fuel is cheap. Plus they'r free and a great DIY project. I made about a dozen just for fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top