Stoves

[jakunen]

Very pertinent!
I knew someone who baught a gas stove, went to France, ran out of fuel and had to buy a new stove as he couldn't get the right gas cartridge.
At the time I laughed until I thought, 'Hmm I was going to buy one of those...'

 

[Womble]

Womble /Jakunen.

Where did you guys camp in the New Forest? i fancy an outing there myself this weekend. Might bit alittle crowded being a bank holiday weekend though.

I'm afraid I cheated, and got us some space at the Scout campsite in FearnyCrofts - near Beaulieu Road Station. It's got a fair proportion of woodland onsite, and we pitched our stuff in a nice clearing in the woods, just off the main field.

 

[Adi007]

For longer base camp operations go for a coleman stove that will burn unleaded fuel (the same as your vehicle) that way you never run out of fuel. Plus with a stove like that you can cook faster and excercise more control.

Coleman stoves are great ... until something goes wrong with 'em! I've got a 440 Duel Fuel that I now don't trust because it packed up on me once. There's too many parts in my opinion to field-strip and parts are hard to come by.

It ran great on Coleman fuel but packed up quick when I put unleaded through it ... but you need to be a pop star to run it on Coleman fuel (it makes petrol seem as chep as water!).

 

[boaty]

Just as a matter of interest, does anyone know how long a swedish army trangia stove will run on a litre of fuel?

If not I'll find the time to do some experiments and post the results

 

[SquirrelBoy]

I couldnt resist, have just bought (online) a new Primus Omnifuel from Field & Trek :-D
It can use any fuel inc aviation ! so I shouldnt get stuck for something to use in it...
As I mentioned it is a bit pricey but I bought it with a 20% off voucher that F&T sent me in an email flyer, oh and I ordered a Petzl Tikka Plus... came to £108 so nearly got the Petzl for free

 

[Roving Rich]

Yup. I use the Peak 1 multifuel principly.It fits in my billy can, and is ready to go.I use parafin or petrol on the whole. I also have an MSR whisperlite (also runs on petrol or parafin) but its too unpredictable for my liking and fiddley to set up.
I like having the petrol option, as its easily obtained. But generally run parafin as its far safer and doesn't stink quite so badly.
I'm looking at a gas converted trangia for my next stove. Gas is so easy and reliable. No hassle. As i have said before when your dangerously cold
and need a brew quickly its the best option IMO. A standard trangia is just too slow.
Cheers
Rich

 

[Leon]

Hi Boaty,
By coincidence, I've just been reading a chapter on stoves in Chris Townsend's book, Backpackers Handbook. He reckons the 60ml burner of a Trangia lasts for about 30 minutes which extrapolates to around 8 to 8 1/2 hours per litre (according to my maths), depending on conditions.

 

[boaty]

Thanks Leon! So it looks like a litre of fuel will last me a weekend then!!

 

[Great Pebble]

I can usually manage the best part of a week on a litre when on my own.

 

[leon-1]

Hi guys, I almost seem to have been collecting stoves over the years just trying to sort out this issue.

As a list I have a Trangia27, Peak 1 Apex, Whisperlite international, Epigas Alpine, the new Coleman Micro, the old Epigas Micro and a number of Hexi type burners.

On top of that lot I have used, No2. burners, Peak1, Peak1 multifuel, MSR XGKII and of course the disgracefull bluet stove by Camping GaZ.

When I am out and about I carry two stoves (coleman micro and whisperlite international currently). I like the coleman because if i want to stop for a quick brew, it's quick and easy and I find the whisperlie to be excellent when in a small camp, but I would prefer to have the best of both worlds and cheap at that.

So digging around on the net I found this link http://mywebpages.comcast.net/photonstove/stove/HighPerfAlcoholStove.html I haven't tried it yet ,but if the performance is what they say it is it may be worth doing.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I'm a recent convert to MSR whisperlite 600, :super: really hot, really fast the metal frame glows red hot!(you don't get that with Trangia) easy to use, low fuel consumption, cheap and easy to get fuel!
oh yeah, mine was only £3 from a surplus shop bag, bottle, and repair kit included !

the trangia/pepsi stove will be my light weight option.

and a Hexi for more "Wild" camping in woodland ect...

 

[jason01]

Primus Multifuel for carrying, great stove but fairly heavy or if Im feeling really retro 1950's Primus parrafin stove. For anyone else buying Primus multifuel stoves its worth investing in an MSR type windshield to go with it, mine will boil a pint in 3 mins with the windshield.

Never much liked Trangias, slow, dirty, smelly and heavy and Im not keen on alu pans.

If Im camping near the car I take a Primus propane triple burner hob, with a dumpy propane bottle and a big Primus 150W lantern attached.

Jason

 

[narsil]

I've got an optimus stove that my dad had when he was younger than me, its about 30plus years old and still works fine. I usually run it on petrol but it will burn pretty much any liquid fuel at a pinch. Its very hot and very efficient. Half a litre of unleaded lasts me over a week of solid use. It also uses the heat of the burner to pressurise the fuel (you need to sort of set fire to it to light it-great fun) so there are no pumps or anything to break and its really light.

 

[jason01]

Sounds cool Chris, Im very fond of the old Swedish stoves, have you got a pic or a model number? They made a few without pumps.

Jason

 

[jakunen]

Thanx for all your input guys.
A LOT of good advice there...
Baught a Trangia clone for now. Was only £23 and seems to work quite well if you use the old 'add a little watre to the fuel' trick.
I'll look at getting something abit better when I can afford it.

 

[Adi007]

I'll look at getting something abit better when I can afford it.

I dunno about this - I've gone from a Coleman Duel fuel stove to an MSR Whisperlite to mostly using a Trangia, kelly kettle and hexy stove. The MSR is fast but not as reliable and easy to use as the other, lower-tech options.
Don't be lulled into thinking that more expensive is better!

 

[NickBristol]

I use a combination of stoves - a Coleman F1 with a Coleman 100 gas tank as it's really tiny, really light and burns very powerfully. It's best for getting a brew going without any fuss but not so good for cooking so I use a trangia 23 or 27 (until I get a Swedish Army set) and just swap the stove for the spirit burner. The windshield for the trangia fits really well over the Coleman F1 for windy conditions and helps with stability too.

 

[jakunen]

jakunen wrote:
I'll look at getting something abit better when I can afford it.

I dunno about this - I've gone from a Coleman Duel fuel stove to an MSR Whisperlite to mostly using a Trangia, kelly kettle and hexy stove. The MSR is fast but not as reliable and easy to use as the other, lower-tech options.
Don't be lulled into thinking that more expensive is better!

I didn't say that more expensive was necesarily better (I used to wok in an outdoor shop and my kit was cheap as I was still at school, but I got the best I could afford. Quality/functionality ALWAYS wins out over cost as far as I'm concerned).
If I could I'd only cook over/in a real fire. You get light and heat as well as a good meal.
The clone takes up a fair amount of room, so for solo trips I'd like something that takes up less space. When I can afford it.
Without going into all the painful details (ok, I'll give just one - my ex!), lets just say money is not as available as I'd like, so I'm getting what I can afford that does what I need now.
For me Bushcraft always means practicality. If something costs 10p and is better than something for £100, I'll take the VFM, not the brand name.

 

[boaty]

I love my Tangia, and while this site was down posted this on the other place

 

[jakunen]

Nice one mate! :super:
Just wish I had a sweetie to melt chocolate for...BCUK singles forum???