Comments on: How to Choose a Camp Stove

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 02:35:30 +0000

I’m backpacked more than 200 miles last year and have a number of different stoves (MSR Pocket Rocket, Svea Optimus 123, Kelly Kettle, and the Caldera Ti-Tri). If I had to choose only one, I’d choose the Caldera Ti-Tri hands down. The Ti-tri has no moving parts / pumps that can break, burns multiple fuels (wood, alcohol, and Esbit), and is very lightweight and compact. I’ve used it in 5 degree (F) weather and had no issues boiling. Only downside I see is that it’s difficult to just simmer or use different sized pots. In the backcountry I typically just eat meals where I add boiling water, so that’s not an issue for me. When car camping, I keep the stove in my backpack and bust out about 40 lbs of cast iron…

By: chris

chris — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:31:46 +0000

Alcohol or methylated spirits also gives off next no carbon monoxide, they use them in small boats to cook and double up as heaters , ive got a few from a turm tourer to triangia to optimus 111T.

By: Robin Noreblom

Robin Noreblom — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:12:20 +0000

Hi there! This is very interesting stuff. I would like to invite you all to visit my recently born blog on cooking: http://theonewiththefryingpan.blogspot.se/
It’s a work in progress but a lot of useful things are coming soon.

By: Arvid

Arvid — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:59:02 +0000

I’ve almost universally used Trangias for cooking in the wilderness, both on camping trips and during my stint in the Swedish Armed Forces, and I never found them lacking. I can see why people might find them a bit slow, and I wouldn’t try using one to cook for more than two people, but I find that the light weight and ease of use more than make up for it. If you’re leery about using methanol, which is toxic (for example, if you have children with you), it does well with denatured spirits as well, but that tends to impart a slight taste.

By: Ryan C

Ryan C — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:14:21 +0000

I agonized over my stove selection because I was being really picky… I wanted something I only had to buy once (durable), something that I can use anywhere I go (versatile), and easy to use.

So, before my last deployment to Afghanistan, I picked up wth the MSR Internationale. It will burn practically any flammable liquid (but it will get really dirty really quick with diesel and kerosine), and takes up very little room in my kit. It works just as well in the high and dry Hindu Kush mountains, and the low and humid Florida gulf coast.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:57:07 +0000

Dra,
The idea of being able to make a working alcohol burner anywhere is useful. Fly across country, find a Walmart (anywhere) before the hike, buy 2 sodas (or adult beverages) and a bottle of yellow HEET. I have made them on the tailgate of my truck with only a discarded pop can and my Leatherman tool. Within 15 minutes had a hot cup of tea. Throw it in a recycling bin (double recycled) when you leave.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:48:47 +0000

Good to see someone else with a good old 8R. I’ve had mine since the mid 70s. Still works like a charm. A couple of years ago I got interested in alcohol hiker stoves. It is an addictive hobby. You start looking at any new shape can and wondering what kind of stove it would make. I have dozens made from pop cans, aluminum bottles and other containers. Different sizes, burner configurations, pressurized and unpressurized. My little cook/brew kit is a cheap IMUSA aluminum mug/pot containing an old plastic mess kit cup, a little squirt bottle of yellow HEET methanol, pot lifter, a bandana, a pop can stove and coffee packets, teabags and sweetener. It all weighs ounces. Nice to stop on a hill top or by a bubbling stream and quietly make up a noodle lunch or an afternoon cup. I also have a venerable 3 burner Coleman that can be used with liquid fuel or propane, with a conversion kit. A lifesaver when the power goes out on a snowy day.

By: Dra

Dra — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 08:07:59 +0000

I have to put my vote behind the DIY alcohol stove. I’m a fond of my penny stove, and have used it for a variety of things over the past while. I prefer a wood fire while camping, but in dry wooded areas, like the vast majority of California in summer, a wood fire is not an option all the time.

A couple of sodas or beers, a small amount of skill, a push pin or drill, a ruler, and a cutting tool and you can make a highly functional camp stove that will run on a fuel source available just about everywhere. Rubbing alcohol. It doesn’t matter what country you visit, where you go in the world. You can find SOMETHING it will burn. Everclear, high proof rubbing alcohol, HEET.

Best of all, the knowledge of how to make one means you don’t have to bring it with you while flying. Travel to a new country, get two cans, and carry a single penny.

The only real downside is you can’t control the flame. It burns at a set heat, with a given fuel, and the only way to reduce the heat is to raise the pot.

By: RLF

RLF — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 08:32:27 +0000

While this is a reasonable review all kinds of very interesting stoves are left off. For example, my go to base camp stove is the camp chef, either the 2 or 3 burner. Enough heat to cook in Dutch ovens, but still has nice flame control. For backpacking stoves, the Jetboil series is quite nice, I also have and really like my Optimus crux. With the right cook set, the crux beat boil times in the field of all the other stoves on the trip.
Most important advice, know what your purpose is, look at several models and choose what works best for you and the food you will prepare.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:16:52 +0000

One downside of the canister stoves is they are terrible in the wind. Any wind at all and there is almost no heat transferred to the pot. There are windscreens available that help with this: monted on-stove and external to the stove. The on-stove ones must be used with extreme caution because they reflect a lot of the heat back onto the fuel canister. There are ways to make superlightweight external windscreens too, like this one:
http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/KiteScreen/index.html
Just something to be aware of in your planning and selection.