advice needed for petrol stove

[forrestdweller]

normally i prefer a campfire for cooking, but there are quite a few places (national parks etc.)where fires are not permitted, so i guess i'll have to get me a stove... . i tried alcohol burners- reliable but ****-poor slow; gas stove are something i do not really like- gas is not everywhere available, empty cartouches are not very environment-friendly, you never know how much gas is left +i saw gas stoves exploding... . so my best solution seems a petrol stove as petrol is available at every petrol station. problem: i have no experience with them... . can anyone recommend a petrol stove for a single person, suitable for backpacking(= light), reliable and spareparts widely available? as i'm currently travelling through asia and not all european/north american brands are available over here any info's about stoves from this part of the world would be especially helpfull... .

thanks!!!

 

[gorilla]

any of the coleman stoves are good, but unleaded petrol is so full of additives nowadays, that you no longer get a decent burn, and it will ultimately wreck your stove. with that in mind, a multi-fuel stove like an MSR Whisperlite is more the way to go, as you will have to carry your fuel or buy it en route anyway, so give yourself the most options!

 

[rancid badger]

I've seen a couple of petrol stoves go up in spectacular fashion, operated by "Bulls Clems" admittedly but I'd have thought that kerosine ( paraffin) would be easily available throughout Asia? A much safer option than petrol in my mind.

I'd ask the locals what they use and go from there.

If you can get one: ditto the MSR Whisperlite

cheers

R.B.

 

[baggins]

Likewise the MSR Whisperlite, it is a very popular stove all around the world, even in Asia where lots of backpackers and climbers seem to head. Spare parts are relativley easy to get and they are field servicable.
My only advice when using one is; not to try and rush to get them going and always away from the tent. most accidents with petrol stoves occur when somebody is trying to get the stove lit in a hurry.
Cheers
Baggins

 

[gsfgaz]

Whisperlite mate , great wee stove

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

Seeing as you're already on the ground and running you may not have a huge choice of stoves to choose from.

My experience of travel with a liquid fuel stove is the number one thing that kills them off is the quality of the fuel you put in them. Fuel quality in Asia ( depending where you are and how far off the beaten track you are) can be an issue.

If you went for a multifuel type stove than you can burn what you end up finding as long as you have the correct jet / vapouriser for that fuel type.

Unlike the others I'm not a big fan of the Whisperlite. It's ok on good quality fuel but can be a PITA when it clogs. The Internationale version which burns Kerosene as well is not really a good Kerosene stove. Also I always struggle to simmer with a Whisperlite. If you can get hold of one ( mail order / post restante) Then either a MSR XGK or a Primus Multifuel EX would make a good choice IMHO. Both are easy to service for the inevitable blocked jet or clogged up vap tube and both are true multifuel. I run my XGK happily on Jet A1 dreggs I get form the local airport and it just cracks on with no fuss. Similarly my Primus Himalaya ( the Multifuel EX's older name) like kerosene or unleaded petrol and just does what it's supposed to.

The Whisperlite I have really likes white gasoline and not much else...

The XGX and Primus EX are very noisy roarer burners with little in the way of simmer control. The do keep on going and going...

HTH

John

 

[Shewie]

My MSR Whisperlite must be over 12 years old now and it's never let me down once in all that time. I've only ever run it on unleaded too, I think I must have been lucky though after hearing what other folk have said about them. The only time I've ever had to take it to bits was this year over in France, but even then it was a five minute job and it was roaring away again like a good un.
I managed to break a piece off my plastic pump fitting a long time ago but it doesn't affect it in any way. About five years ago I bought their upgraded pump as I thought I was living on borrowed time, it's still sat in the box now.

 

[forrestdweller]

thanks for the advice so far! asking the locals wo'nt help much- i'm currently in korea and most people seem to use gas (and like bright colours for outdoors :yikes... .

msr stoves seem to be a good choice, so i keep an eye open and see if i can find one(or a good copy)... .

 

[rik_uk3]

Something like the Coleman 442 I mentioned last week when the same question was asked by another member are a good little workhorse. The Primus Omnifuel burns Petrol/Coleman, Paraffin/kerosene and standard gas cartridges, very realiable. MSR are OK but there are quality problems and the plastic pumps on most models are prone to break.

Omnifuel would seem a logical choice for you or the 442 to save a bit of cash.

You say meths is too slow? The real Trangia's are not bad and you can mount the Omnifuel burner in them but the army alcohol sets are very slow so OK for a day in the woods but not for prolonged daily use, avoid them.

 

[walker]

i wonder as you are already in korea and have access to the internet you could try looking at those chinese copys of the multi mule optimus nova that are knocking about for around 50uk pounds ish

 

[johnboy]

Have a look for a Kovea product the booster 1 made in Korea

Kovea are a decent Korean manufacturer and the Booster is a good little stove. We had one here at work as a sample and it went pretty well.

Cheers

John

 

[R.Lewis]

Firstly as stated above Unleaded contains many nasties that will not only clog your stove but are very hazardous to health. Not least is Benzine, a big Carcinogen. Not recommended at all. I used an MSR Whisperlite for bike rallies for a long time on unleaded before I knew of the health risks. It clogged loads, stunk horrible and eventually caught fire catastrophically. Runs a lot cleaner and easier to control on paraffin IMHO.

 

[forrestdweller]

i had a bit of a look around through some websites and it seem that lots of people are not happy with the plastic pump for msr stoves... . does anyone know of a metal pump (of better quality plastic) which would fit?

buying over the internet as suggested by walker is not my thing(but thanks for the advice! maybe i find one in a shop...)- i prefer to look at a product before i buy it...

 

[johnboy]

i had a bit of a look around through some websites and it seem that lots of people are not happy with the plastic pump for msr stoves... . does anyone know of a metal pump (of better quality plastic) which would fit?

I'm not aware of any metal pump that will fit the MSR stoves. MSR use a fairly unique method of connection.

The new red, red / grey 'duraseal' pumps are a LOT better than the older ones.

From memory the following holds true for MSR pumps:

Original yellow: Robust and works well decent plastic and aluminium construction. Easy to service. My personal favourite

Black + Grey: Not as robust as yellow can have problems with the bayonet lugs breaking off that retain the pump plunger in the housing. I have one on an XGK its still running well after 15 years.

Red + Blue: Can have failure problems where the neck of the pump screws into the fuel bottle which can fail while the bottle is under pressure with 'interesting results' if the stove is running...
I would not use this type of pump.

HTH

John

 

[Salix]

If you can find one the "Borde Bomb" makes life interesting..........runs off petrol, parrafin, kerosin............it's a bit tricky to get the hang off, but once you got it mastered its great, small an fairly light. Downside, you will have to carry a little fuel, but i find the trangia fuel bottles are good for that, and you can get a good few days from a full bottle...........oh and the " bomb" gets a little hot when in use so you have to let it cool before you stow it........or else :-(

 

[rik_uk3]

If you can find one the "Borde Bomb" makes life interesting..........runs off petrol, parrafin, kerosin............it's a bit tricky to get the hang off, but once you got it mastered its great, small an fairly light. Downside, you will have to carry a little fuel, but i find the trangia fuel bottles are good for that, and you can get a good few days from a full bottle...........oh and the " bomb" gets a little hot when in use so you have to let it cool before you stow it........or else :-(

No, it runs on petrol type fuels, no good for paraffin or kerosene; they are one of the few stoves I bought that I felt unsafe using and sold it (quite irrational really, just a gut feeling I had same as with the Opimus 111B petrol stove)

John I may be wrong but I believe there was a post on CCS about the Kovea stoves, they are in fact made in China, there is a guy over on the forum living there and he talks about them and Chinese made stoves in general.

 

[Sniper]

Have you considered a hobo stove instead, no problems with obtaining or carrying fuel and you do say you prefer open fire cooking. Thay are easy to make, and can be any size shape or form, I made a very simple basic thing and it works a treat.

 

[tenderfoot]

optimus are making the climber 123r again anice little petrol stove with self cleaning jet.Long term proven design.very reliable has own built in windsheild and small pan, (actually very small) but enough for a brew or whatever.
you might find a far eastern clone. There are far eastern made copies of classic kero stoves widely available too eg. the manaslu range - might do the trick
Maybe look out for russain surplus R8 ( clone of optimus 8R) again rund on petrol , not fussy about grade, tends to come with a service kit of seals.again bombproof
I love my borde bombe but they are not for everone i couple mine with a pot stand/ windbreak sourced from hong kong so you might stumble across one.

 

[forrestdweller]

Have you considered a hobo stove instead, no problems with obtaining or carrying fuel and you do say you prefer open fire cooking. Thay are easy to make, and can be any size shape or form, I made a very simple basic thing and it works a treat.

bit tricky in national parks and other places with a fire ban, i guess- it's de facto a campfire in a container... .