Choosing a Camp Stove

What do you need?

Unless you are backpacking, you will want a two-burner, propane fueled stove with wind deflector. Cookware with nonstick surfaces is convenient, and Lexan utensils are virtually indestructible, withstanding temperatures from -200°F to +265°F. In addition to the traditional soft or hard sided cooler (48 quart size minimum for family of 4), you might want an inflatable sink or portable kitchen, a collapsible water container, and a lantern. (Shop Camp Lanterns)

Pack fuel bottles in zip-lock freezer bags, away from food. Protect your stove, and keep it clean, with cloth shoe protectors, or trim off a pair of 2 liter soda bottles to make an armored travel case. Also take a cleaning/maintenance kit that includes a jet-cleaning needle, pipe cleaners, and thin wire for cleaning debris out of hoses and other hard-to-reach areas. (Shop Stove Maintenance Kits)

Always operate your stove outside, never inside a tent, or anywhere else where poor ventilation could lead to asphyxiation. Place a stove base (a small square of closed-cell foam wrapped in duct tape, half of a license plate, or a piece of plywood) under your stove to improve stability and help conserve fuel. A stove base takes no room with a little planning. Pack it against the back of your pack, first in a box, or with anything else that is flat. Once you are sure your stove is stable, check all fuel lines, valves and connections for leaks before lighting. (Shop Camp Stoves)

Camp stoves and fuel

Whether you are hiking the Sierras, rafting the Colorado River, trekking in Nepal, or camping with your family at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, you will need to eat. Stoves, made specifically for camping, come in various sizes and weights, with assorted features. To determine the type of stove, fuel, and features that will best fit your needs, start by answering the following questions.

• What will you be using it for?
  • Backpacking?
  • Travel?
  • Ice fishing?
  • Vacation cabin?
  • Family outings?
• Where will you be using it?
  • United States?
  • Europe?
  • Africa?
  • Asia?
• How many people will it be used for?
• What kind of weather and temperatures will you be using it in?
  • Backpacking?
  • Family or group camping?

Backpacking requires appliances that are quick to set up, easy to light, stable, fuel efficient, dependable, durable, compact and lightweight. The availability of fuel in other countries, and its performance at various altitudes and temperatures, can be a deciding factor, if using the stove for trekking or touring. Plan ahead, ask questions in advance.

Family or group camping allows more leeway in the weight and size of stoves, since they don't need to be carried in a pack. Comfort and convenience, while cooking for a larger group, is usually the most important. Fuel efficient, dependable, durable, stable, easy to light, and quick to set up stoves are still desirable.

What's Important to You?

Choosing a stove

As you can see, size and weight are the two biggest factors in choosing a stove. Many manufacturers provide ratings to assist in your selection, such as the BTU output, burn time, and fuel capacity of the stove. Other requirements, such as ease of use and packing, can only be judged from actual use and recommendations.

Weight is particularly important when backpacking. As a rule, the smallest stoves range from 15 ounces to 36 ounces (with fuel) and the family camping stoves can start at around 8 pounds (without fuel) for the lightest. The type of fuel and size of the container also impact the overall weight of the system, as their weight will vary.

Size, both in use and packed away, is almost as important as the weight of the unit. A well designed single or double burner stove will be easy to set up and will fold down into a compact shape that also protects the components. Single burner stoves are generally the most portable, although some are considered too heavy for backpacking. The most common fuels are white gas, butane, and unleaded gasoline. Double and triple burner stoves are good for family camping or trips that provide baggage transportation. The most common fuels are propane, white gas or unleaded gasoline. Pocket stoves, for emergency situations, consist of a small tray to hold your pot or cup, and burn a small, compressed cube of fuel.

Ease of use and packability is important to both user groups. Who wants to spend their trip trying to outwit a stove? They should be simple, with few parts (fewer to lose and easier to maintain), and store compactly. Electronic ignitions eliminate the need for matches (dry or otherwise) and make lighting a snap. Stability, of both the stove and your pot on top of it, is more difficult to achieve on lighter weight stoves. Adjustable legs can help compensate for uneven terrain and surfaces. Bringing along a small metal plate, maybe the size of a car license plate, can give your stove a stable base

• Boiling time is a rating that indicates how long it takes the stove to boil water. The results are not concrete, since manufacturers don't all start their tests with the same amount of water at the same temperature. Remember that water (and everything else) comes to a boil much slower at high altitudes!
• Burning time is the length of time that a stove will burn on a full "tank" or cylinder. This rating is subject to altitude, pressure and temperature changes among others.
• Capacity is the amount of fuel that a stove with a fixed container will hold.
• BTU is the maximum heat output. The higher the number, the hotter, more efficiently the stove cooks. Flame adjusters regulate the speed that fuel is released in order to control the size of the flame, and thus the temperature that you are cooking with. Though most 2 and 3 burner stoves can be adjusted, like your kitchen stove, some single burner stoves are either on or off.

Types of fuel

Weight, availability, price and temperature responsiveness should all be looked at in relation to your intended use. Dual Fuel or Multi fuel stoves (developed to run on 2 or more different fuels) are helpful if you are traveling to other countries, or are using the stove in a variety of climates.

• Butane (pressurized) is sold only in disposable cartridges. It is one of the more expensive fuels, but the cylinders are considerably lighter than propane, convenient, available in most places, and burn clean and hot, so maintenance is rarely required. Due to evaporative cooling, cooking time is limited to 15-20 minutes before output starts to drop. As fuel changes from a liquid to a burnable gas, the temperature of the remaining liquid in the cylinder drops, and condensation or frost forms on the outside. When liquid butane's temperature drops below freezing, it will not vaporize, or burn. Isobutane has a lower evaporation temperature than butane (12°F versus 30°F), which extends the cooking time on one canister.
• White gas (Coleman fuel or camp fuel) is not sold in bulk and is the most widely available fuel in America. It burns efficiently in all temperatures, providing a lot of cooking time for its weight, occasionally needs priming, and is one of the cleanest burning fuels, which means minimal stove maintenance. If spilled, it evaporates quickly leaving no residue.
• Unleaded gas is sold in bulk, but should be used only when absolutely necessary since it is volatile and emits fumes. It is readily available here and abroad, and costs about that of white gas, which is why the multi-fuel stoves (which accept unleaded gasoline) are popular.
• Propane (pressurized) is sold in disposable cylinders or bulk supplies. The cylinders are heavy, making propane more suitable for family camping. It is not greatly affected by cold weather and burns very clean so stove maintenance is rarely necessary. Propane stoves operate on a high or low pressure system, and each have different parts and fittings. High pressure propane stoves are set up to run on disposable tanks and use no regulator. They can usually be converted to use a refillable tank. Low pressure propane stoves use a regulator for pressure, and deliver a more constant flame. Some can be converted to natural gas, and often serve as an inexpensive stove in vacation cabins.
• Kerosene is sold in bulk throughout the world, and burns efficiently. Slightly heavier than white gas, it will not ignite as easily, and requires priming. It is messy to handle, smelly, and leaves an oily residue so doesn't burn as cleanly as other fuels. This means more frequent maintenance.
• Alcohol (Denatured) mixes with water and is safe for use on boats since, if spilled, it will evaporate and won't ignite readily. It burns cleaner, quieter and with less odor than white gas, but has a low heat output, and is expensive. It is often used to prime stoves using other fuel.

Operation and use

Pack fuel bottles in zip-lock freezer bags, away from food. Protect your stove, and keep it clean, with cloth shoe protectors, or trim off a pair of 2 liter soda bottles to make an armored travel case. Also take a cleaning/maintenance kit that includes a jet-cleaning needle, pipe cleaners, and thin wire for cleaning debris out of hoses and other hard-to-reach areas. Test your stove before you leave and check your fuel canister to ensure it's full and intact.

Operate your stove outside, never inside a tent, or anywhere else with poor ventilation which could lead to fire or asphyxiation. Don't fill the fuel tank up to the brim. Leaving a small air space will help prevent spills and ensure that the stove holds pressure better. Place a stove base (a small square of closed-cell foam wrapped in duct tape, half of a license plate, or a piece of plywood) under your stove to improve stability and help conserve fuel. Once you are sure your stove is stable, check all fuel lines, valves and connections for leaks before lighting.

Practice using your new stove at home. Camp stoves are pretty easy to use, but you don't want to be learning how to operate the thing when it is getting late and you still have camp to set up. Camping is fun and relaxing, so find out the little tricks to your stove when you have good light and can get the instructions or Google hints.

Keep the instructions, you might want to refer to them later. In fact, it is a good idea to review the instructions if you haven't used the stove in a while, there might be an "aha" moment when you realize you were about to leave without something you had forgotten you needed.

Pressurized butane cylinders require special care. Do not change or unseat cartridges when a stove or lantern is burning. Check to make sure detached cartridges aren't leaking before striking matches inside a tent. To help reduce or control evaporative cooling, you can:

• Place the canister (while in use) upright in a pot filled with an inch of cold water.
• Warm the canister with your hands while cooking. (Don't wrap anything around it though, that will just keep the cold in.)
• Alternate between 2 or more canisters when cooking.

Priming is necessary with some fuels in order to preheat the burner to a temperature at which the liquid fuel will vaporize. This can be done with your regular fuel, or a different one and simply involves burning off a small amount of the fuel in a priming cup located near the fuel jet.

Store your fuel in airtight containers, and empty the fuel tank/canister after your trip. If exposed to air, fuel will degrade, discolor, and produce sediment that will affect stove performance. Leave at least 2 inches of air space in the container to allow for expansion. Uncap the empty canister so condensation can evaporate.

Transportation of fuel and fuel containers is generally not allowed (filled or unfilled) by the airlines.

Stove accessories

• Windscreens help to keep a stove burning strong in all kinds of weather conditions, reduce fuel consumption and the chance of flaring, and can decrease the boiling time by 20-50%. You can make your own by cutting them out of disposable aluminum pie tins or cookie sheets. (Store them wrapped around your fuel bottle.) When using full-coverage, wraparound windscreens on tank-under stoves, be careful to monitor how much heat reflects down onto the fuel tank or cartridge because overheating is dangerous.
• Heat exchangers (MSR) traps and redirects hot gases up the side of the cook pot to increase cooking efficiency by up to 25%, and is particularly effective in cold and wind.
• Power booster (Primus) transfers heat from the burner to the fuel cartridge, shortening your cooking time and conserving fuel.
• Heat pad (Primus) is a non-toxic saline solution that can be recharged by immersing it in boiling water for 3 minutes. It warms the fuel cartridge which provides better fuel efficiency.

(Shop Stove Accessories)

Rules of the trail

• Carry out all garbage.
• Hike on marked trails, not across fragile alpine growth.
• Use existing campsites or sites away from water and trails.
• Respect and protect the wilderness.
• Tread lightly and only carry home photographs and memories.