Sorry
rarely do provincial park camping. I think they are preventing the spread of emerald ash borer disease. Not so much of an issue where I usually trip (boreal forest) of Northern Ontario.
Any idea
– Last Updated: Aug-18-13 10:53 PM EST –
on why your tuna can stove didn't work well? My current one doesn't work as well as the previous one but I finally realized I had used a slightly bigger drill bit to make the wholes with. Probably will make another one in a few weeks. The Simon stove has very small holes with a double walled construction.
Are you alone or with others?
If with my husband, we each carried a stove even though we planned to use only one.
If alone, I took a set of Esbit fire-starter cubes plus tea candles as the aids to making a backup “stove” out of gathered wood, even damp wood. I did this one time, not for cooking but for heat.
If multiple
If several people offer to bring additional stoves, we select the one that uses the same fuel. That way, if the one of them fails, you still have fuel for the other.
Yes, in the parks
probably good to have a stove or two. Don’t get me wrong, in my old age I always have two stove along. On canoe trips we even carry a big two burner Coleman. But I do think it is a good experience to go on a few trips with no stove. Food for thought.
My sincerest apologies
The stove I use is a Simon stove not a Stanley stove. No idea how I messed up the name. Sorry for the misinformation.
It kept going out
I wondered if I needed to let it burn for awhile before putting a pot on it. If I set a pot on it, the fire went out. Some issue getting enough air?
Maybe it shouldn’t have a windscreen close to the stove?
I love Coleman 2- burner stoves
I have taken the 2-burner on river trips with no portages. And car camping. All the comforts of home when there’s no portaging!
Anyway, I’m checking out the Simon alcohol stove.
An ex-Army friend takes an Esbit stove in his kayak to make a hot beverage at lunch stops. But we’re in the South!
G
Not just parks
Its a good idea to research beforehand if you will be able to find wood suitable for a twig stove.
Camping on the Yukon River on sandbars yield little wood smaller than huge dead snags. Alders on the Missinaibi are terrible fuel.
Sometimes there is no wood. We are all pretty used to paddling where there are dead trees and tree limbs, but that’s not always the case.
I do have a Littlbug stove that burns wood or alcohol and should really really use it, so you are right there.
Definitely
need to let it burn for about 1 minute before putting the pot on it or it sometimes helps to have a pot stand. The one I made with too large of holes has more trouble with going out when the pot goes on it. I can get it to work if I lower the pot really slowly. The last stove with smaller holes worked better.
No wood! It never occurred to me . . .
That there are rivers like that. You’re right: we need to do our research. (And carry stove alcohol.)
I’m a redundacy person…
In addition to my Jetboil, I also carry a Cruz as back-up.
Or my Optimus 8R plus a Windpro.
or…
The idea is that things break! things fail. Things get lost.
Exactly which two I take depends on the trip though I tryto take one decent size and one micro.
I also take my water filter & pills.
Always have a back-up plan!
I learned that in the Military doing how-many overseas tours???
But also be ready to do without.
besides that…
…there is room for such redundancy in a kayak or canoe. It’s not like we’re backpacking.
A near miss
I usually do trips with multiple companions, so if one piece of gear fails, there is usually a back-up solution amongst the other trippers.
A year ago, though, on a week long trip in the West Branch Penobscot area, on our way out of Lobster Lake on the second day, I went to pump water through my filter, and discovered that the housing was broken, and could not be reliably repaired with duct tape. We had no back-up system and still were planning on being out 5 more days.
Fortunately, the folks with whom we had made arrangements to shuttle our vehicles had not yet picked them up from the Lobster Lake take-out, so I took a drive up to Raymond’s Country Store to see if he carried water purification pills. No luck, but he did have propane, so I bought some spare cannisters and we boiled water.
In the future, I’ll either have another filter or iodine pills or some other back-up system.
-rs
No wood is rare.
I have traveled in areas one might expect would have no wood at all, (barrenlands in northwest territories above arctic circle), and I have always been able to find wood. On the other hand, the wood in that particular area can be hard to come by and it is often bad wood in the sense that it does not produce much heat. So yes, you do need to do your homework.
i do
I take the every faithful Coleman two burner with a single burner whisper lite as a back up. If they all go out, i cook on the fire.
If you are figuring in on the price
the West systems epoxy and pumps will set you back a little under a hundred bucks, and you’ll get two coats out of it. Figure your labor in on top of that
If the boat is a steal, go for it.
Jack L
I always back when paddling.
When paddle camping weight is generally not an issue so I bring a backup. Heck sometimes I even bring the two burner Coleman and a portable gas grill and my MSR Whisperlite or Pocket Rocket as a backup.
If I’m carrying it on my back I go as light as possible.
I won’t ride w/someone with one stove
and I have never carried a two burner
Coleman for canoe trips… Just the WindPro and SuperFly.
Not much difference to me canoeing vs backpacking. (or I)usually carry gear for a few miles on most canoe trips.
Portage country.