Used an International
MSR for years, followed by a Dragonfly, and just changed to a Simmerlite last year.
Cannister stoves are nice and easy to use and simmer very well but I don’t trust 'em in the cold and at altitude - both common factors in my reality.
My biggest beef is not being able to tell how much fuel I have left.
Love the cannister stoves for base camps or other apps where the stove is not the critical primary unit. I usually have a little MSR Pocket Rocket as a second stove for base camping while I’m playing Rocky Mtn Wonder Chef 
Love the Simmerlite. Quiet for a liquid fuel stove and simmers rather nicely.
Primus
– Last Updated: Dec-27-05 4:00 PM EST –
I have the primus Gravity (actually the older version of this new stove). I love it. actually heated 2 gallon pots of chilli on it. With any of these stoves you have to watch the tippyness. As far as ability to pack the stove, it stores about the size of your fist.
Alcohol is for drinking. My 123 runs on
white gas. Great design. I have two, plus one Sigg Tourist set. Eat your hearts out.
3 Stoves
I have 3 backpacking stoves:
Coleman ApexII - Liquid Fuel, remote bottle, multifuel stove. It burns great on white gas or unleaded, it simmers very well (at the time I bought it the Whisperlites were the only thing out there). I have a Kerosene adaptor that worked very well when I was in Norway and Finland. Issues: I have to clean the jet every year. I always forget about the old fule thats in there. I think white gas’s shelf life is about 2 years.
ZZip Stove - This is a wood burning backpacking stove. I carry it paddling as a backup stove, and its the only stove I can fly with (airlines get REALLY testy about backpacking stoves). THe only downside, you have need to carry fuel (I use charcoal, the non-briquet type) and your pots get black (I have a set just for this stove). Its a great little stove and I’ve had it for 3 years and am on my 8th battery (I use it a lot in the summer)
MSR XGK - My cousin gave this to me after he came back from working in Antartica. This is the stove they used and he loves it. I don’t like the solid fuel line, it makes it hard to pack.
My $.02 YMMV
LK
Single Burner Propane
I’ve used a single burner propane for years. Sits on top of a one pound propane bottle. Backpacking, car camping, whatever. It simply screws onto the top of the propane bottle, turn it on, light the match, and you’re cooking. I took a new bottle one a six day backpacking trip. It was enough for two of us for the week. We were climbing Mt Whitney from the south. Everynight was above 10,000 feet, and the evenings when we were cooking, were in the 40’s-50’s. I would think it would be ideal for canoeing and kayaking trips.
The old nearly empty bottles get piled in the car camping box, and burned down to the last drop. The coleman brand stoves seam to simmer better than the cheaper brands. The bottles are avaliable everywhere white gas is, as are the stoves. The stoves and fuel are cheap. The fuel lasts forever in the bottles. Doesn’t spill or stink.
The white gas offer more BTU’s per pound, but have some draw backs. White fuel will get old and not burn well. Pouring it is subject to spilling. It stinks. The 1 gallon cans it comes in can leak, and has a tendency to get onto everything. Makes the car it’s sitting in stink. The stoves are harder to fire up, and subject to plugging. The white gas stoves have more parts that are subject to plugging, as the fuel must be vaporised prior to burning. Some people do like fiddeling with their stoves, I don’t. I have an old Peak 1 backpacking stove that I never use anymore. Required all sorts of pumping, especially when nearly empty, and turning of different levers.
Regarding throwing away of the bottles, white gas is just the same. You have a steel can to throw away, either the small propane bottle or the one gallon white gas can.
Here’s a link to Campmor’s stove. Mine is simular, but my Dad’s coleman simmers better.
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=13903&memberId=12500226
Third vote for Dragonfly
First thing to do is to identify what kind of cooking you prefer. If all you want to do is boil water, use the Jetboil or something else really simple.
I know the canister stoves are easy to use, but the environmental impact of the empty canisters just gets to me. The second reason to stay away from canister stoves has been mentioned a number of times - they don’t work real well in the cold. The other reason to use the Dragonfly in particular is if you like to do outdoor cooking. Note I said “cooking” not boiling water! I happen to be someone who really likes to cook outdoors, and I need something that will simmer well. Since I frequently camp with (and cook for) 6-7 people (including some teenage boys!) I also need a stove that will hold a big pot safely. If you like to astonish your trip mates with a 3 course meal on a 1-burner stove, get the Dragonfly.
My Dragonfly goes to the Boundary Waters with me, goes backpacking with my son and his friends, and is used for my morning coffee even when car camping with a 2 burner Coleman stove.
Pam
Thanks fellows!
Never thought a question about camp stove got so many replys so fast!
Or is it because it’s winter and everyone is stuck inside dreaming about camping?
Anyway, I don’t even know why I asked. I guess I was happy with the liquid fuel and am going to get another liquid fuel stove again. I had the Colemen Peak One, which was very easy to use. So the “no fuzz” ‘advantage’ of canister is a bit of a hard sell for me personally. Thanks for the recommendation of the other qhite gas models. I’ll go check them out tomorrow.
Is this for paddling trips?
– Last Updated: Dec-28-05 1:32 AM EST –
If so, then the fears about cold-weather performance might not matter.
I use a tiny stove imported by Vaude. I forget what it's called but it fits inside my one-person Snow Peak cook kit. At REI today I saw a folding Snow Peak canister stove that looks a lot like it. The Vaude boils water fast, without any priming, and it has a pushbutton igniter (will also work with a lighter or match). It's incredibly light and compact, very important to me with my limited packing space.
I use it on kayak camping trips, which have all taken place in spring, summer, and fall. Elevations from 6,000' to 9,000'. Nights have gotten as cold as a little below freezing, though usually in the 40s and 50s. Temperatures have never been cold enough to cause a problem with the stove.
There may be differences in fuel blends that affect operating temperatures. For example, when I car-camp, I use a $20 single-burner propane stove that screws onto the top of those dark green Coleman propane canisters sold everywhere. I have used that stove in temps down to the teens without trouble. Elevations all the way from sea level to 12,000'. The big drawback with this unit is that the propane canisters are bulky--not an issue when car camping.
I love canisters because they don't leak and the canisters themselves can be very small, depending on which stove you buy. My Vaude uses at least two different sizes of canisters, giving me packing flexibility (Divide and Conquer is my motto for packing my kayak). After having a white-gas fuel cylinder leak in the back of my truck (inside the topper), I got rid of the stove that used it. I hated priming it anyway, and it was much bigger than the Vaude is.
The two drawbacks to canister stoves that I consider important are the lack of refillability and the higher cost of the fuel. But obviously I don't consider them important *enough* to override canisters' advantages. I have carried enough canisters in my kayak to go for two weeks.
My husband replaced an ancient Optimus with an MSR (can't remember if it's the Whisperlite or Dragonfly). So now we are covered, no matter what the fuel situation. We use the MSR as the primary stove because the fuel is cheaper, but I bring the Vaude as backup because it is so compact that it'd be stupid not to do so. And on my solo trips, I use the Vaude as primary stove, with Esbit fuel starter cubes as backup.
trangia
any of the coleman stoves are bomb proof as well as the optimus line like the svea123,8r,99,or the 111 hiker but if I was going somewhere for several days In my kayak I’d probly take my trangia 27 alcohol stove 2 pots,skillit tea kettle,wind screen,pot handle and burner in about the size of a country crock butter bowl less than #2. the swedih army surplus set are close second and there 1/3 the price.BTW I have about 30 single burner camp stoves Including msr and other brand names
Wood Stoves
For years I used my single burner Coleman gas stove. Recently on many sites (mostly backpacking sites) there is a trend toward small, light, homemade alcohol stoves. I have built some myself. I don’t like them. I do however recommend the wood stoves! I think someone allready suggested the “Zip” stove.
I like the homemade “Nimblewill’s Nomad Stove”. It’s a fold up wood stove that doesn’t use a battery. Think of a fold up “Hobo” stove. Works like a charm. Folds into 6" x “5 x 1/4” package. Great for kayaks and canoes. No fuel to carry, spill or buy. A slightly bigger stove could be made for a larger pot if you wished. You can boil, fry and simmer with this stove. My Coleman has been demoted to car camping. Cheap to make in a couple hours and free to use.
Enjoy,
Chris
Many beautiful things about the trangia
nice to use in a vestibule on a 5 below morning when the wind is howling. Quiet. Lightweight
3 minute boil time??? Perhaps. But that’s for about 1 cup of water. I’m looking at about 12 minutes fron the rei facts page. Stats here:
http://www.rei.com/product/4332909.htm?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC
scroll to bottom right
Have One
I have a folding wood stove. It’s use is very limited. You have to constantly feed it and it takes quite a while to boil water. I thought it was a good idea when I first bought it though.
MSR Simmerlite on SALE $74.95
at LL Bean.
canister fueled stove for me
I had a liquid fuel leak once while hiking. ever since used a canister for packing and paddling. For cold weather use, put the canister under a jacket to warm it up before use.
brunton
optimus stove.
the pro’s include -
multiple fuel sources - burns white gas, kerosene, diesel, gasoline…whatever. since you can’t fly with your fuel when you have a canister stove, you are dependent on finding canister fuel once you’ve flown into a location. with a stove that you can fill and will burn from multiple sources you have better odds of finding a fuel.
can be field stripped,repaired.
comes with additional o-rings that can be switched out and has a magnet/wrench that you can use to strip / clean out the fuel filter when you burn anything a bit dirtier than white gas.
quiet.
one of those MSR stoves sounds like a dang jet engine taxiing to the runway. at whitney base camp, we were embarrassed to crank that bad boy up at 4am lest we wake all of the other thru-hikers. the optimus is quiet.
the con -
it ain’t cheap.
retails for about $150
That stove is similar to mine…
Atleast the stove part… the cook pot & wind brake are totaly different. Mine boils 1 quart of water in “roughly” 3 minutes, but DEFINATELY less than 10 minutes.
Goto www.cheaperthandirt.com and look under stoves. It is not “titled” as a Trianga, though… I think it is titled as a “5 piece military stove”??
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Stick with what you had
Just for peace of mind and ease of use, the pump up dual fuel(white or unleaded gas) single burner stove just can’t be beat. They are available in at least 2 sizes. You don’t have to worry about finding fuel canisters or using buring paste, refueling is as close a general store with a gas pump.
My only problem is finding a new carry case for my full size coleman dual fuel. Coleman no longer makes the case and I have had little luck finding one. I did find that those new Folgers plastic coffee cans work pretty well though.
Thanks!
>My only problem is finding a new carry case for my full size coleman dual fuel. Coleman no longer makes the case and I have had little luck finding one. I did find that those new Folgers plastic coffee cans work pretty well though. <
That’s a neat one!
I think I distroyed my Coleman by NOT protecting it while in transit. Most people carry their stove inside the cookset. The Coleman is so big that it doesn’t fit inside my largest pot. So over time, the pushing and squeezing of the other stuff while in the pack finally took its toll.
I had the Whisperlite long times ago. But I didn’t like it doesn’t simmmer well. So I’ll look into the other MSR like the Dragonfly and such. But if I ended up with another Coleman, I’ll look into the coffee can as a carrying case, at least for kayaking (can’t stomach the “idea” of extra weight when backpacking).
Perfect example
This past mid-November, a bunch of us camped in low thirties-high,high twenty’s night temps… N.T.'s Whisperlite worked like a champ as my Canister stove ran, but would hardly heatup a litre of water…
Great stove!!
If my Whisperlite goes missing one day I’ll have to think long and hard about whether to replace it with the Brunton. Great design (it was love at first sight) and it simmers well.
The de-pressurizing takes some getting used to… if done wrong you end up with a shower of gas.
Lyn