View Full Version : Backpacking Stove Ideas
2009ThruHiker
11-11-2005, 14:04
IF you were going to buy 1 stove to take on a thru hike, NBO, starting in Mid March, which would you choose and why?
2009ThruHiker
11-11-2005, 14:04
AND the weight of the stove as well please?
SGT Rock
11-11-2005, 14:30
I would make my own alcohol stove.
i made my own "sgt rock's ion stove". but you can buy one too. it burns alcohol. weighs less than an ounce, potstand is about the same. my stand is made from a cat food can, and i trimmed away a lot of unneeded metal. i usually hike solo, don't mind taking my time cooking, and the light weight offsets the fuel weight. it will heat my morning cocoa/oatmeal, lunchtime cupasoup, or evening noodles/ramen/meat thingy just fine. runs a little slower when really cold, but that's why god made lunch and early dinner... you don't have to cook when it's coldest during a day... another good, sorta lite, option is the msr simmerlite... stove is about 10oz alone, i think, and i forget what the required bottle and pump weigh empty, but they're about 25 oz full... i might use that for the first month, if you're leery of using alcohol when it's relatively cold...just my .0194 cents worth... (i dunno... just a random fraction).
man, i'm two for two today... just stepped on mouse's post too... sorry rock...
Footslogger
11-11-2005, 14:58
If you're not indudtrius enough to make your own ...I'd tell you to go with my old standby ...the Trangia Alcohol stove. A little heavier than the home made models but very durable and dependable.
Left on my thru on 3/29/05. Carried the Trangia all the way to Katahdin and never had a moments trouble with it.
'Slogger
the goat
11-11-2005, 16:36
i would forget the stove & go dry.....cooking on the trail is a pain in the a$$.
SGT Rock
11-11-2005, 17:49
i would forget the stove & go dry.....cooking on the trail is a pain in the a$$.
Easy for you to say. First off you could eat a raw hemp rope and ask for seconds.
Second off, any type of stove would be an inconvenience for someone with no thumbs.
And third.... Well, I am sure there is a third thing, just give me a little while to think one up.:p
justusryans
11-11-2005, 19:48
I use a titanium Sierra zip stove 10 oz. because I tent to cook complicated meals and I like the flexability it gives me.
MyFeetHurt
11-16-2005, 10:54
Footslogger, I plan on taking my trangia but wanted to start on March 1. What were the main problems during the cold? I've only had the stove for a few months, and thus haven't used in cold temps yet. Did you encounter any days when it wouldn't light? Do you just need to pre-heat the stove itself before lighting the fuel? Thanks for any help.....
Footslogger
11-16-2005, 12:15
Footslogger, I plan on taking my trangia but wanted to start on March 1. What were the main problems during the cold? I've only had the stove for a few months, and thus haven't used in cold temps yet. Did you encounter any days when it wouldn't light? Do you just need to pre-heat the stove itself before lighting the fuel? Thanks for any help.....
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I had absolutely NO problems with the Trangia from start to finish ...and I had some very cold weather at both ends of the hike. I used wooden stick matches. I found that most simple butane lighters don't shoot a long enough flame to reach down into the stove bowl and if you have to hold them there for a while you end up burning your fingers. I would fill the reservoir of the Trangia to about 1/2" from the top. Then strike a match and hold it right at the fluid level. I never had a single problem getting the alcohol to light regardless of the temps. Now one thing you DO need is a good windscreen. The 3 piece potstand/windscreen that comes with the Trangia Westwind is nice but not really adequate in terms of controlling wind and concentrating the flame from the stove. You need something that extends upward more and shields wind to the level of your pot. I experimented with making my own and had reasonable sucess but then I stumbled into this set-up. The entire stove/potstand and windscreen fit nicely into my 0.9Liter Evernew Titanium cookpot.
http://clikstand.com/
I won't use anything else now. Check out this site that reported on the performance of most of the available alcohol stove/windscreen combinations.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/ssn/GearDB/pc/Backpacking%20Stoves/Lightweight%20Alcohol%20Stoves/
You'll see that the Trangia with the Clickstand did quite well. Let me know if you have any more questions.
'Slogger
soulrebel
11-16-2005, 14:24
jetboil
I like the way it packs into it's own cup and my pack.*** High-efficiency.
Built in/comes with-cozy, windscreen, lid, ignitor, has a second measuring cup for prep or eating.
The main reason---My wife can use it!!!
The only downside IMO is you can't create any "skillet creations aka fried fish" in a cup--you'd have to carry an extra fry pan and the 1 oz pan holder adapter...
JetBoil System
lid1.3
neoprene sleeve w/ handle1.3
cup (3 cup, heat exchanger, windscreen)5.5
stove(built-in ignitor)6.1
plastic basecover/dish/measuring cup1.0
Total base system w/o fuel15.2
Additonal items
3 way plastic base1.0
pan adapter1.3
Fuel container (full)6.3 good for 24L
***Actually, our packing system is made up of several small BMW/oware bags the same size as the jetboil cup. The hard cylinder adds additional support behind the foam pad in my frameless pack. In a GG Virga with the pad unfurled, it fits perfectly as a "cross member" w/ a tarp stuff sack stuffed behind it.
Blissful
11-16-2005, 15:03
How about a stove for two and the possibility of a third joining later on the trail? We have used the alcohol stove for our family but it uses a lot of fuel for a one pot meal for three people it seems.
How about a stove for two and the possibility of a third joining later on the trail? We have used the alcohol stove for our family but it uses a lot of fuel for a one pot meal for three people it seems.
Alcohol is great for heating a couple of cups of water to a boil. When cooking for more than one, you usually want to heat more water, or cook better/ differently. Consequently, I'd suggest a gas stove, like the whisperlite or simmerlite.
Footslogger
11-16-2005, 17:40
How about a stove for two and the possibility of a third joining later on the trail? We have used the alcohol stove for our family but it uses a lot of fuel for a one pot meal for three people it seems.
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Not sure if an alcohol stove would meet your needs when cooking for 3 people. You'd probably want a cannister (propane) or white gas stove for that. I was on my own in 2003 and when my wife joined me she brought her own Trangia stove. Our appetites are different and we tend to eat at different times.
'Slogger
that is the best way to do it - each person has their own cookset and alcohol stove - maximizes flexibility
SGT Rock
11-16-2005, 17:49
How about a stove for two and the possibility of a third joining later on the trail? We have used the alcohol stove for our family but it uses a lot of fuel for a one pot meal for three people it seems.
Blissful, there is a curve in the need for fuel in any system that rises more expodentially than in a linear fashion. For example: it may require 0.5 ounces of alcohol for 16 ounces of water, but it may require 1.25 ounces for 32 ounces, and it may take 2 ounces of fuel for 48 ounces of water. Since alcohol has about half the BTUs per pound as butane, then it would be more dramatically noticed than with a canister stove. Gas stoves (like a Whisperlite) has about 10% less BTUs per pound of fuel than cannister stoves.
Anyway, I personally still use alcohol for group camping, but we all carry our own less than one ounce stoves and small pots so each person has the ability to cook to their own preference. But if I were to cook for a group, I would most likely look at the Coleman Exponent F1 Ultralight that uses the same canisters as all the others and is slightly cheaper than some of the other canister models. But another reason I would pick this model is that BPL found the speed, fuel economy, and overall performance very similar to the JetBoil without adding all the weight and drawbacks. With the F1 you could pick your own pot and come up with your own cozy system (if you want one) to add to a 2.7 ounce stove.
Stove: http://store.everestgear.com/110367.html
A good pot to use for two: http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm/MSR164
Just replace the grabber.
Jack Tarlin
11-16-2005, 18:37
If you're not going til 2008, then I suggest you borrow any number of stoves from other folks and try them all out to see what works best for YOU! Like a lot of other gear, if you ask thirty people "What's the best stove?" you're gonna get 30 different replies, and they all might be perfectly valid. Even if you leave before 2008, you still have plenty of time to check out all the different options....if you can't make your own alcohol stove, I'm sure someone here at WB would lend you one so you could check it out. Also, have a look at White Gas stoves, such as those made by MSR, Primus, etc., and also have a look at the various "cannister" stoves such as the MSR Pocket Rocket, Snow-Peak Giga, Jetboil, etc. By trying different models out, you'll figure out which works best for you.
And while I agree that it generally works best if everyone has their own stove, it's possible also to cook for an extra person by simply carrying extra fuel and a larger cookpot (as well as extra food,obviously). The extra weight of these items can be negated by splitting them up amongst all the users. Just make sure you all end up at the same place at day's end or you won't be happy!
alalskaman
11-17-2005, 03:47
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the legendary Grandma Gatewood used for a stove? cooking, food etc? With her tennis shoes and her plastic shower curtain shelter, methinks she wouldn't have carried any 2 lb whitegas wonder....
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the legendary Grandma Gatewood used for a stove? cooking, food etc? With her tennis shoes and her plastic shower curtain shelter, methinks she wouldn't have carried any 2 lb whitegas wonder....
I have no idea, but suspect she may probably cooked over a campfire. Backpackers didn't start carrying stoves until around 1970 or so.
Ed Garvey's book about his first thru-hike in 1970 has a discussion of the merits of using a fire vs using a Svea or Primus stove.
SGT Rock
11-17-2005, 09:14
One could always make a Nimbilwill Nomad wood stove or one of the other wood stoves. They don't have the blower that the Zip stove does, but you can certainly build a stove that does the job of boiling water and remove the need for fuel. I made a titanium wood stove that only weighed a few ounces and could double as a windscreen and stand for an alcohol stove if one wanted to cook with one. Just carry that and a few fire starters for wet conditions and you could cook as much as you want to as long as you can find combustibles.
MyFeetHurt
11-17-2005, 12:26
thanks Footslogger, good to know you didn't have any trouble. i've made a windscreen for it out of some foil, but it's a little heavy. I'll check out that link you provided. thanks again....
Footslogger
11-17-2005, 12:53
thanks Footslogger, good to know you didn't have any trouble. i've made a windscreen for it out of some foil, but it's a little heavy. I'll check out that link you provided. thanks again....
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You're welcome ...and as an added note I'll tell you that I found some really light (thin) aluminum flashing type material at ACE Hardware and made my windscreen from it. With that "Clickstand" device the windscreen doesn't have to be as "high" because it sits off the ground (rests on small hooks that are part of the potstand) which is one of the reasons it works so well. It blocks the wind that would otherwise affect the flame but allows air in from the bottom which improves the efficiency of the stove.
'Slogger
You're welcome ...and as an added note I'll tell you that I found some really light (thin) aluminum flashing type material at ACE Hardware and made my windscreen from it. With that "Clickstand" device the windscreen doesn't have to be as "high" because it sits off the ground (rests on small hooks that are part of the potstand) which is one of the reasons it works so well. It blocks the wind that would otherwise affect the flame but allows air in from the bottom which improves the efficiency of the stove.
'Slogger[/quote]
i used a hole punch to make holes in the bottom inch or so of my windscreen... looks like a collander now! but found that it helps the stove breath a lot better.
Footslogger
11-17-2005, 13:19
i used a hole punch to make holes in the bottom inch or so of my windscreen... looks like a collander now! but found that it helps the stove breath a lot better.
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That's what I did on my initial windscreens too. But what I like about this newer approach is that you can easily take 3/4 to one inch off the height of the windscreen which makes it fit much better into my cookpot along with the stand and stove.
'Slogger
soulrebel
11-17-2005, 15:48
grandma gatewood didn't cook, she ate canned ham for protein and ate regular grocery store fare.
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That's what I did on my initial windscreens too. But what I like about this newer approach is that you can easily take 3/4 to one inch off the height of the windscreen which makes it fit much better into my cookpot along with the stand and stove.
'Slogger
let's see if i can post this one without screwing up the formatting....you have a good point there... i have to fold my windscreen, or at least bend it really hard, to fit inside mine... i'll also have to figure in the weight of the stove and clickstand vs my ion and pot stand... thanks for the info.
Blissful
11-17-2005, 20:44
The only concern I have about canister stoves is trying to find the canisters enroute on a thru hike. How is resupply for them? I know I could get them at towns with outdoor shops, but how about at hostels, etc? And what about disposal?
2008 Thruhiker
This stove might give you some ideas on how to make your own.
Boil times look good, weight and size also.
oooops!!!!!
Here's the link
http://hikinghq.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1471
Ramble~On
11-20-2005, 04:20
:-? By 2008 there will probably be all sorts of NEW STOVES and new stove designs. All types of fuel might be easier to find along the trail as well.