Let's talk backpacking stoves

[bretto]

Camp Chef 2 burner. You just can't get out of sight of the truck. LOL

bretto

[NWoklahomajacob]

I like my Coleman duel fuel 533. It's a little bigger but bomb proof.

[Biathlonman]

Triangia alcohol.  Bombproof and can find fuel anywhere.  Also have a backcountry boiler that will see use this year.

[jhg]

SVEA 123. Get an old one, rebuild it. Never will fail any altitude any conditions but heavier than some by a small margin.  Like a good friend, you got to know its likes and dislikes.

I will never replace mine.

J-

[adkmountainken]

Jet Boil all the way. worked great in 5 days of rain on my Co elk hunt.

[widow sax]

I have a soto micro regulator and love it it boils water very fast and is good on fuel.   Widow

[kirkbow]

I love the Mini Bull Designs alcohol stoves.

They are small lightweight, well designed and MADE IN THE USA to boot!

I have one and can even use it in the winter provided it's not blustery. Check them out...

If you plan on doing any serious winter backpacking the MSR white gas stoves such as the wisperlight or the international kick butt.

Kirk

[eflanders]

Consider what you are cooking and for how many people.  If all you are making are MRE's for yourself, then a small burner base will work fine. But if you plan to use a small fry pan or cook a meal for multiple people, you will need something with a larger and more stable base.  Next consider where you are going to use it. Certain fuels are hard to find in some areas and some fuels do not like high altitude either. So I personally like the multi-fuel units as they work most anywhere.  Last but not least, consider your cook utensils.  Good utensils are light, strong and help make your cooking and camping more pleasurable.

[kirkbow]

I must say the key to alcohol stoves is to be sure to get the right kind of alcohol. The right stuff is close to pure ethanol or methanol you can get.

AVOID isopropanol alcohols. They burn horribly.

I use HEET in the YELLOW bottle (methyl alcohol). It works great! Again, avoid the red bottle as it is isopropanol and burns poorly in the stoves.

Hope this helps
kirk

[donalcorn]

Jet boil boils water at 11 000 feet In about 3 min.

[Steve O]

Originally posted by akdd:
If you are just boiling water the Jet Boil is great very efficient. But like said earlier it is not good for real cold weather or high altitude.

No kidding. I spent over 30 days hunting sheep in Colorado between 10,500 and 13,000' and I never experienced one issue with my Jetboil.  I've got three of them. I like just boiling water in the backcountry.  No mess and no smell to attract undesirable critters.

[PeteA]

I 2nd the Trangia. Great little stove, works great with HEET yellow bottle as fuel. Made a pot stand wind screen out of flashing. It all folds up and goes into the pot.

[John Krause]

How about Esbit stoves? Pros / cons. Thanks

[Gdpolk]

Snow Peak canister stoves are great for a canister stove.  MSR Whisperlite International is the king of multi-fuel stoves and durability.  Woodgas stoves are the king for DIY stoves.  Emberlit stoves are my favorite of all because they fold flat and weigh less than almost anything in their Ti version, plus I never backpack where there isn't wood so why carry fuel when there's plenty around already?

[Richard in OK]

Svea 123R +1

[bearsfeet]

Originally posted by John Krause:
How about Esbit stoves? Pros / cons. Thanks

Cons: they suck, messy, a pain to deal with, take a long time to boil.

Pros: cheap, small

I have tried one for kicks because it sounds like a decent idea but not worth it except for a back up or emergencies IMO. Cheap to try out though so worth throwing in your rig if you want to try your self.

[Geezer]

We used two JetBoils in AK in early Sept.  First time for me and I was pretty impressed with them.

[Dan Adair]

Yeah, I'd say your best bet is a canister stove, that runs some variety of Isobutane for fuel.

I only ever use two models these days.  I have a Jetboil Flash that sees use mostly in the summer on fishing trips, because I LOVE the french press that you can run with it, which solves the coffee issue.

Fall, when I'm hunting, and really pare down the weight, I run a SOTO Micro Regulator.  It's a great stove with impressive specs, and it'll net you a couple more boils than the Pocket Rocket and Crux stoves.  I run that with the old tried and true Titan Kettle from MSR (and if you use the lid, you'll net as many boils as a Jetboil.

Jetboils are crazy efficient with the pot design, especially the reluctor ring they run.  It also does very well in the wind.  It's crazy heavy and bulky too for what it is.  But you can usually get 17 2 cup boils on a 100 grammer.

The SOTO micro regulator, on a 133 grammer is usually 17-19.

Those are conservative boil numbers.  I figure that's my "bank on it" numbers.


Then there's plan C......
 
Stickburning in your tarp/tipi.  That's usually how I get dinner ready.  I've been eating the crap out of Quinoa and brown rice Seeds of Change hippy side dish stuff from the healthfood store.

Admittedly, I'm a gear geek, and enjoying F'ing off in the backcountry

[achigan]

I'm 12 years out of the loop on this. That being said, my Coleman Xpert has never failed me. It uses a dual fuel that can function in very cold temps, unlike a lot of fuels. No carbon/soot build up. When I heard they were going to discontinue(don't know if they did) I bought a few xtra bottles of fuel. Still works great the occasional times I use it.

[khall1]

Definitely look into the jet boil or this one I use from  http://www.sierratradingpost.com/primus-eta-solo-camo-stove-09l-pot~p~4954w/?filterString=outdoor-cooking~d~78%2F