camping stoves

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ive got a peak 1 for packing, pretty decent for the amount ive banged it around.

for car camping, id go with a coleman two burner stove. we found the coleman tailgater stove on sale, and bought it. I would not recommend it as its a pain to clean, rusting, etc.etc. either that or one of those cast iron flame jobs that you can hook up to a big propane tank :)
 
I have both the wisperlite and a coleman. The wisperlite is definietely better for backpacking IMO since it's so much lighter.

In my experience though, the wisperlite always gets sooty when you first start it up since the tubing has not yet heated up enough to vaporize the fuel (white gas, kerosene...doesn't matter). So I took to carying a small Nalgene bottle of alcohol (in warm weather) or lighter fluid (in cold weather--like freezing or below). When starting the stove up, I just fill the cup with the alcohol or lighter fluid rather than using the fuel to heat it up. When the alcohol is just about burned up, I crack the fuel open and it switches over nicely without ANY soot. Only need to carry a few ounces of alcohol to last over a week. :D
 
Car Camping

For car camping in a small group 2-6 people, I have a this Coleman Grill Stove. I just line the grill pan with foil and its easy to clean.

For my large camp groups, my 90k btu Campchef stove works very well. I can boil water very fast and sear meats with no problem. I used to cook for 20-30 people on a small two burner coleman and it would take forever.
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I second the trillium base for the whisperlite...BASE

For car camping, 2-burner coleman-type propane is the way to go. You can use the small bottles, or go with the larger, refillable ones. Add to that a distribution pole, and you can run lanters, etc, and be really stylin'! :bounce:

Nial
 
I've always used the old school Svea123 http://www.rei.com/online/store/Pro...te=rei&source=14175&cm_pla=na&cm_cat=datafeed
it's over 25 years old, used by many and has never failed. This stove has been around for ever and has years of great reviews. Not the coolest stove out there but it is truely the LC of backpacking stoves. :grinpimp:

I also agree with others, get a cheap 2 burner Coleman or comparable for car camping, buy used if possible to save money.
 
On a pound for pound basis white gas puts out more BTU's than propane or butane. I preferred it in my backpacking days. I still have my old school optimus stove. After hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of hiking and thirty years it still works great.

I would shop garage sales and pick up a $5 colman two burner propane for car camping. No need to restrict you meal plans to one burner un-nessasarly.
 
surfpig said:
I second the trillium base for the whisperlite...BASE

For car camping, 2-burner coleman-type propane is the way to go. You can use the small bottles, or go with the larger, refillable ones. Add to that a distribution pole, and you can run lanters, etc, and be really stylin'! :bounce:

Nial
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Nial, you've got a great point on the car camping stove. Can hardly beat the 2 burner. Easy to assemble, quite and cheap.
Still love my Dragonfly.
:cool:
 
Well you all seem to love the MSR stuff but I've had great luck with my Primus Stove made in Sweden I think. It runs on any type of liquid fuel and comes with all the jets to do so and a METAL fuel bottle pump...however it also runs on Primus fuel canisters. These canisters are a hybrid propane-butane mixture and are awesome for convenience and work almost as well as liquid fuels at altitudes up to 8-10,000 ft unless its negative temps and high alt. I have a fuel bottle for liquid fuel but to be honest have not used it that much in the 8 years that I have owned this stove. The fuel canisters are only sold under the primus name in the US but I found identical canisters in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and all over Europe that are the same hybrid fuel mixture and less of a hassle than trying to buy and gallon of white gas a store the damn thing or throw out at border crossings while traveling. A tube to a gasoline tank is always an option though with this stove and a fuel bottle. I have used it a ton with next to zero maintenance, no clogging, suet or anything. Another nice thing is that the newer models have an push button ignition which is a great feature in windy conditions and Primus also makes a bad-ass little lantern that runs on the same fuel canisters and comes in a pretty stout little square case. There are few things I feel as strongly about this stove and Primus products. Landcruiser quality in my opinion......that's all.
 
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Oh yeah if you are really cheap there is always the tuna-fish can with holes poked around the rim and some denatured alcohol. This is actually one of my favorite quick and easy stoves to use and easy to rig up for about $0.75. The fancy version goes for a little more and is made by Trangia. Great product also but not so great above 10,000 feet.
 
snowcruiser said:
... There are few things I feel as strongly about this stove and Primus products. Landcruiser quality in my opinion......that's all.
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Like I said my optimus (made by Primus in Swedan) is thirty years old and still works great, the only maintainence I've done in that time is clean the jet on occasion and trim the wick once. And it has seen a lot of use.

Never thought to compare it to my Cruiser but there it is, I bought the stove in 74 and my Cruiser is a 75.
 
rusty_tlc said:
Like I said my optimus (made by Primus in Swedan) is thirty years old and still works great, the only maintainence I've done in that time is clean the jet on occasion and trim the wick once. And it has seen a lot of use.

Never thought to compare it to my Cruiser but there it is, I bought the stove in 74 and my Cruiser is a 75.
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I've heard they're great. Colin Fletcher used one when he hiked the length of California in "The Thousand Mile Summer".
Though about getting one but ended up with the Dragonfly which I totaly love.
:cool:
 
I've got an Optimus I bought in 1975 to hike the Appalachian Trail. It still works, even though I have not used it to cook food in 20 years. Built like Land Cruisers!
 
Cruiserdrew said:
I've got an Optimus I bought in 1975 to hike the Appalachian Trail. It still works, even though I have not used it to cook food in 20 years. Built like Land Cruisers!
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Bust it out on your next trail run. The "fireball" start gets everybodies attention. :D
 
Cruiserdrew said:
I've got an Optimus I bought in 1975 to hike the Appalachian Trail. It still works, even though I have not used it to cook food in 20 years. Built like Land Cruisers!
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I believe you that it works but how do you know? What else do :flipoff2: you use it for?
 
stayalert said:
I believe you that it works but how do you know? What else do :flipoff2: you use it for?
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It sits on my workbench in the clutter of old stuff that I have. I last lit it up 3-4 years ago just to see if it would work. Amazingly, it did. It still has 20 year old white gas in it! I live in the meth capitol of the world, no need to brew it at home.
 
Just an update. I ended up getting an old MSR XGK. It is an awsome little stove. It will burn any fuel. It is easy to light, operate and its lite. Thanks for all the advice.
 
I have been using the Whisperlite since I was tenderfoot in boyscouts. I love it pound for pound! I use a Coleman 426A 3-burner whitegas stove for car camping. Whitegas has a learning curve to feel comfortable using it.

later
Ryan
 
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