Recommendations for Camp Stove
 

I'm interested in buying a small (very small) camp stove...mainly just to heat water for instant coffee and instant oatmeal. I want something small, very light, easy to ignite, safe, priced low to mid range. I notice fuel choices include propane, liquid fuel and even solid fuel tablets. Any recommendations? I'm thinking price in the $10-$30 range.
Don

Hey Don!

I picked this up at REI. I think it's called a 'Pocket Rocket'. The cup was about $8 and the whole thing packs up small. I use it to heat up water for tea/dried meals. More online at http://www.msrcorp.com/stoves/pocket_rocket.asp

I'll 2nd the "Pocket Rocket". It's light, simple, and inexpensive. I've also found that the small propane canister is the way to go for fuel.

pocket rocket not perfect.
 

The pocket rocket has two drawbacks - one is the tight blowtorch shaped flame. It tends to make a hot-spot and burn stuff on the bottom of the pan - no problem if you're boiling water, bu the oatmeal might be an issue. The other problem is that it's a little unstable. Mine fell over and spilled boiling water over my bare feet. That was a weekend ruined. I've been a little less keen on them ever since.

I've been thinking about a multi-fuel stove. No problem about carrying fuel, just get a little from the tank drain when you stop and empty the stove into the tank before you go!

I use the MSR Dragonfly (on the site Doug linked). It burns anything and sounds like a rocket engine. Awesome stove.

Butane or Butane/Propane mix is more convenient and the stoves are pretty cheap, but fuel is expensive and is not available everywhere (proprietary cartridge).

I think the MSR Dragonfly is a good choice as well as they burn just about liquid fuel. The problem I have found with butane stoves is that in very cold locations, the fuel does not vaporize enough to burn. I have had liquid butane shoot out onto my hands, which is not a pleasant thing:-)

Multi gas stoves
 

I have one of the super small compact multi gas stoves and it does work great. It will run off of white gas, diesel or even Av gas. The down side is messing with the fuel. You have an aluminum fuel bottle that you fill with the aforementioned fuel of choice. A small combo fuel line and small pump screws onto the bottle to pressurize it and feed the stove. It puts out a rocking hot flame. The down side is dealing with fuel. If you don't use white gas it can soot up the stove or cooking vessel. The ups side is its cheap and fuel is as close as your tanks drain sump drain. I plan on getting a cartridge stove in the future. Also once you're done don't have to deal with storing it and keeping the fuel from leaking soot getting stuff dirty.

What I have:
http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH

Heres a nice one.
http://www.backcountryedge.com/produ...x?Affiliate=29

Other models:
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/st...Id=40000000226

A blurb on the diff between canister and white fuel stoves:
http://gorp.away.com/gorp/gear/knowhow/choose_stove.htm

And one more
http://www.downtheroad.org/Equipment...Camp-stove.htm

Multi fuel stoves are a good deal. They are light and you are free from buying pressurized fuel containers. Down side is mess, to light them you have to pump the fuel bottle, prime, light a wick, heat the fuel (in a coil) and than light off. If all you want it heat a cup a coffee it is a bit of a pain, but it does work well.

If you use one of these I suggest using a large fuel bottle and filling it with cleaner white fuel for your whole trip, verses getting real cheap and trying to use dirty gas. I don't suggest using your Av gas unless you must. It's dirty and you may need to adjust the stove to use this fuel. It works and if you want to camp for a week it may be way more economical and efficient from a weight and space standpoint. There is no compromise in heat. It is hot blue white flame. If you don't mind fiddling than it may be a thought. Personally I am burned out on this style of stove :D :rolleyes: :eek: and looking for a container stove. If you are a bicyclist or hiker like I use to be (going off for a week at a time) I think the white gas stoves are the way to go. Plane or car camping you can carry a little more weight and can carry the empties out or you have a means to dispose of them properly.

PS Steve (below) I don't think there is any worry about fuel bottles or pressurized containers. In the case of the white gas stoves the fuel bottle is designed to be pressurized and you can bleed the pressure off if you want. Than it is just a container. The pressurized container stoves are also designed to go into the mountains. What I found is connecting the hose to stove and just handling it was a little messy. There is fuel residue on the stove and may be a little fuel dribbles out the hose when you disconnect it, but doubt you will leak when you lock it. I used the standard travel bag it cam with and than had another little plastic case I put it all in. I did carry disposable rubber gloves to keep the gas off my hands when setting up or breaking down, but than I used messy Av gas most of the time. Like the link above said white gas is better. You can carry two 0.6L bottles and have enough to last far a long long trip (many many hours of full heat cooking).

Any thoughts on which type of fuel is best carried in our airplanes? Normally I use an o-ring sealed fuel bottle. Is this sufficienct for carrying white gas in our unpressurized planes?

MSR Dragonfly
 

I'll third the Dragonfly. It burns lots of fuels - white gas, kerosene, Jet-A, diesel, even unleaded. I suspect 100LL would work in a pinch, although the lead would trigger a rebuild. Most importantly, it does something most stoves don't do - it simmers. I've found the Dragonfly to be very stable, reliable, and cheap to run.

However, it sounds like you want super light and don't need to cook as much as boil water. In that case, one of the propane/butane stoves would work great - there are many around. MSR's design is pretty cool. These stoves are also cheaper up front, but the fuel cartridges can add up and/or may be harder to find - don't expect to find them just anywhere.

If you need reliable cold weather operation, the liquid fuel really is the only way to go. The original MSR stoves were designed for mountaineering, where one of the primary uses is to melt snow for water. They are tough and reliable.

That should be fine. I that that taking the pump assembly out and using the standard cap would be best, but if you depressurized the bottle, leaving the pump in should be Ok. I would definately put the bottle in some sort of spill-proof secondary containment so that if you have a leak, it is contained and doesn't slosh over everything (fuel leak = Bad Idea). Something like a small ammo can should work.

As far as for propane / butane canisters, I don't know. If they leaked at any significant rate, you'd most likely form an explosive fuel-air mixture, and that is a Really Bad Idea.