View Full Version : Backpacking Stoves.
I was looking at all the stoves in a store the other day, and recently online. I noticed so many varieties to chose from.
What do you have, and what made you chose that one?
I have and use a jetboil for years. I love it and it does what I need it to and have no desire to replace it.
Just curious.
flemdawg1
08-10-2010, 13:19
Out of the 5 types (wood, esbit/hexamine, white gas, alcohol and butane canister) I own 4 (no esbit stove...yet). Mostly I carry my Optimus Crux Lite (butane canister stove).
It works for me in many ways:
versatility (I can cook practically anything on it from low simmer to blow torch hot)
lightweight
simple to use (screw on canister, turn valve, light, turn off when finished)
couscous
08-10-2010, 13:24
I have multiple stoves for all 5 types listed above. Normally I use a titanium alcohol stove & caldera cone, my oldest son grabs the Jetboil, and my youngest son grabs the Brunton canister stove.
Mountain Wildman
08-10-2010, 13:33
I have an MSR Dragonfly(liquid multi fuel), A PackaFeather XL Alcohol (Adjustable) and a Littlbug Junior(Wood stove).
The Littlbug can be used with an alcohol stove as well as wood.
I bought the Dragonfly because it has very fine tuning of the flame which makes it ideal for anything from slow simmering to rocket blast boiling.
The PackaFeather XL because of it's 1.5 ounce weight and it's adjustability, Although it is not as adjustable as the Dragonfly.
And the Littlbug Junior wood stove to carry as a back up in case I run out of fuel before a resupply point.
The Dragonfly is heavy at around 15 ounces but it is the one I grab when I just want to get my food cooked without having to mess around with the other stoves which are not as precise and easy to use as the Dragonfly.
But, If all I need to do is boil water, then any stove I have will do just fine.
It all depends. What are you doing? What are your goals? What is your hiking style?
Minamlist? Like to make big meals in camp? Melting a lot of snow?
Many people into the outdoors haev multiple stoves for different activities (and packs, and shoes, and skis and..you get the idea! :D)
Some thoughts:
http://www.pmags.com/joomla1516/index.php/ramblings/20-backpacking-and-hiking-documents/58-stovecomparison
mister krabs
08-10-2010, 15:02
I have a camping gaz stove that I bought for canoe tripping in 95. AFAIK it was the only canister stove available at the time and is pretty similar to the one they make today. I have the lantern for it too. Last time I bought fuel for it, REI still had the canisters. I still use it for canoe camping, but have moved to zelph's fanceefeast/starlyte stoves for hiking. Maybe someday I will buy a newer canister stove, probably when my boy moves into boy scouts.
I love the simplicity of the alc stove. Ultralight, easy to make, fuel can be found anywhere and no moving parts. I never camp in winter and all of my meals are boil types so i'll never change the stove.
My first choice is now an End2EndTrailSupply alcohol stove. I have no intentions of using a stove, so I wanted to keep weight and bulk low. Eventually I'd like to trade some fuel weight for a multi fuel (wood burning) stove, hopefully ending up with a lighter overall system. That's low on my list of things to buy since I don't even carry a cooking system anymore.
Hikes in Rain
08-10-2010, 15:49
Depending on mood and need, it varies between the old MSR Whisperlite (a misnaming if ever there was one!), alcohol Supercat, or a wood fire and a couple of rocks. Occasionally, I use the Wayback Machine and dig out the no-name butane Grasshopper-style stove (with the bright orange paint mostly intact) that still works fine if I can find fuel for it.
sixhusbands
08-10-2010, 15:57
I use the pocket rocket. It is a great stove that boils very quick and you can tone it down to simmer very easily. Simple to use and it is very good in cold weather. About $39 for the stove and the canisters run around $5.
garlic08
08-10-2010, 16:37
The most experienced and wisest hikers will answer that question with, "It depends."
Be sure to read Mags' web page noted above. At the end of his list is my personal favorite--no stove at all. I haven't used one for the last three seasons (over 6000 trail miles) and leaving the stove behind was one of the best decisions I've ever made regarding my pack.
I wish I'd known that was even an option a few years earlier. I'd always assumed it was something you had to carry.
Daydream Believer
08-10-2010, 17:05
I bought one of these and find it works really well. It's quite small and easy to use. The price is quite reasonable also.
http://www.rei.com/product/636832
I am mostly using an esbits stove with a caldera cone. Like others I have use numerous other stoves and use them them the conditions / type of cooking call for them. My notes about stove options for backpacking (http://www.verber.com/mark/outdoors/backpack/kitchen.html#stoves).
My stove can't melt snow, cannot simmer and cannot fry and is only good for 1 person .
I love it.
That is because it can boil water efficiently and safely , works in the wind and inside my vestibule ,and that is all I need.
It's the Caldera Cone with a 550ml mug.
Mags is right. It all depends on what you need...
Franco
Interesting results and a lot of variety.
For those who don't bring a stove, how do you cook, boil water or, what do you eat. A few days out I can understand, but what about long trips?
LIhikers
08-10-2010, 20:34
I have 2 stoves. An Etowha II alcohol stove for warm and hot weather and an MSR Simmerlite for the rest of the time.
I have a kelly kettle. My sister had one and I thought it was way cool and it never ceases to impress me. Burned myself the other day though because I made the mistake of having the bung in when it was boiling. So I pulled it out. Very bad move. I also make hobo stoves.
I have an Ion Stove for an alcohol stove. I chose it because I like the Rock's idea of optimizing for fuel economy. I got some great alcohol fuel recently. 95% Ethanol, plus denaturing stuff and camphor. Burns great. Also great for first aid and rubbing alcohol.
Feral Bill
08-10-2010, 20:42
I've been using the same SVEA stove since 1969. It always works, boils fast, and simmers nicely.
garlic08
08-10-2010, 22:09
...For those who don't bring a stove, howdo you cook, boil water or, what do you eat. A few days out I can understand, but what about long trips?
You can eat without cooking a lot of the standard hiking fare, like instant mashed potatoes, couscous, ramen, rolled oats, and instant refried beans. You may need a little time to soak in cold water, but all of those are already cooked. Then add cereals, breads, cheese, peanut butter, lots of nuts and dried fruit, crackers, cookies, packaged pastries, and fresh vegetables and fruit as well. If you eat meat, you can add sausages and packages of fish and chicken. You can wrap practically anything in a tortilla and it tastes fine.
The diet can be more varied than the typical cooked diet, especially if, like me, you cook little but mac and cheese and Lipton's sides, which are just warm glop that's too salty and a pain to clean up after. And you never have to cook in the rain or mosquitoes.
The idea really helps out on longer trips in my opinion, since you never have to concern yourself with finding fuel, and that makes town stops just a little more fun. It's also somewhat easier to resupply in smaller stores that don't carry specialty foods. You can always find a loaf of bread and some peanut butter.
It's not a weight-saver on the first day because the food weighs more. But on the last day, with no food left and no stove, pot, or fuel on board, the pack feels real good.
For those who don't bring a stove, how do you cook, boil water or, what do you eat. A few days out I can understand, but what about long trips?
Good questions.
I don't cook.
I don't boil water. I filter and treat with bleach.
I primarily "eat" a liquid diet.
The liquid diet is a mixture various powdered supplements including some or all of the following: oat muscle, essential fatty acids, whey concentrate/isolate, whole milk and electrolytes.
I built that drink for my PCT thru hike attempt where it worked very well, and I will continue to use variations of it for shorter trips because it allows me to save time, weight, bulk and hassle. I'd do it this way again if I was going to start another thru hike tomorrow.
There was only one time when I wished I had my cooking system to boil water. I didn't really need it though. Let's just say that cold, frustration, being disoriented and making bad decisions begets even more cold, frustration, disorientation and bad decisions. If you were on the PCT in the San Jacintos a few days after the kickoff and heard a hiker cussing at the top of his lungs while apparently walking in circles... :)
Snowpeak Litemax stove
Snowpeak Mini-solo cookset
used it in all weather conditions, simple, lightweight, no issues, works like a charm
Garlic08 - It seams to me that the food you bring/eat takes more space and weight than a little stove, some dehydrated foods and coffee grinds. Really any weight of food is going to drop as the days go by. But some have the pound (+/-) of stove weight to still carry.
Leaftye, sorry man, that just sounds unappetizing, no offense. To each their own.
Nothing like being out there and settling down with food you enjoy. The extra weight is well worth it to me.
I guess a compromise could be a combo of both. Leave the stove home, bring something to boil water or cook in, and use a campfire if available as a stove. Have the non cooking food also when you can't have a open fire.
Yea I'm still bringing my stove though :)
Great info from all, thanks.
You absolutely have to do what suits you. I find eating to be more of hassle than anything else, so minimizing the impact of eating suits me very well. Btw, I'm west coast. Open fires are generally forbidden, even in metal fire rings.
Going completely without fire also gets rid of the risk of starting a wildfire. A hiker a couple days behind me had the misfortune of starting a fire that ate up a few dozen acres. I think he camped in the same spot I had used. Sadly, the area was still recovering from a bigger fire 10(?) years ago.
Anyway, you have plenty of time to make adjustments. I know I thought I was going to cook on my thru. That's why I bought all the cookware. Fortunately I learned on my training hikes that I would rather starve and hike more miles instead of stopping to cook.
I'll go into my cook systems a little more to give you an idea about the options I have. If I had cooked, I would have only boiled water to use for freezer bag cooking. Like you, I also have a Jetboil. I was concerned about fuel availability out here, so I got a multi-fuel MSR Whisperlite. At some point I decided I hated the bulk, so I got the following stove:
https://end2endtrailsupply.com/Gram_Weenie_PRO.html
And also bought a 4 ounce fuel bottle, Evernew Ti tea pot, windscreen and fire steel were purchased from the same site. Other than the fuel bottle, everything else plus a Bic lighter fit inside the tiny tea pot.
earlyriser26
08-11-2010, 08:07
MSR pocket Rocket. Light weight and Bullet proof.
I started out with a Camping Gaz stove, my son has it now. I went to alcohol stoves to save weight several years ago and mostly use one of those. Last year I got an MSR Pocket Rocket because I got tired of waiting for the water to boil while my friends were eating. I like it because of the simmering feature if I need to cook something more than boil water. I recently bought an MSR Simmerlite from a WB member for a stove to use in colder weather. I am happy with it after learning how to clean/simmer/light it with some consistency. If I were going to thru hike, I would probably use some type of alcohol stove. If going winter camping, use the simmerlite, if base camping and doing some real cooking, take the pocket rocket. So it really depends on the situation.
Has anyone tried or use a Sierra Stove? Any thoughts?
http://www.zzstove.com/mcart/
I recently went on a dayhike and my buddy has a jetboil, and man o man it does exactly what the name suggest.
Anyhow, The setup I have is a thru-hiker alcohol stove and compact wood burning stove designed by J falk.
https://www.end2endtrailsupply.com/Thru_Hiker_Stove.html
and
http://www.trailgear.org/
I paid for the plans for the compact wood stove ($5) rather than buying one he made. What I love about this combination is the fact that part of the wood burning stove doubles as a alcohol stove stand/wind screen. It all fits nicely in my snow peak 900. I can't say enough about the design. I've never had any trouble getting a fire going. I use my wood burning stove (When allowed) for dinner time (longer cooks) and my alcohol stove for breakfast (short cooks) and when the weather is bad.
Overall, I'm very satifised with my setup, but I've seen the jetboil in action. I have to say i'm impressed.
garlic08
08-11-2010, 14:05
My wife tried a Sierra Stove for her AT thru. She sent it back to the mfr after some rivets failed from constant use for the first month. Someone field-made her an alcohol stove from roadside trash and she's been using that since. Besides the mechanical failure, she didn't like the smoke if she cooked upwind of a shelter, and didn't like the soot. And she started carrying Esbit for fire starter anyway, so why not just use an Esbit stove? I haven't seen a Sierra Stove since, but I do most of my hiking out West where there are often total fire bans.
Skidsteer
08-11-2010, 17:22
Has anyone tried or use a Sierra Stove? Any thoughts?
http://www.zzstove.com/mcart/
I have one and have used it some.
It works great but a small cookfire works just as well and you don't have to carry it with you the next day.
Bags4266
08-11-2010, 21:35
Zelph's Stove's, $10.00 shipped and its a work of art. This guy makes some sweet stove's. http://www.bplite.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=3654
Brunton Raptor. I love it, it seems to provide a lot of stability.
I own all from post#2 but a wood burner, I use 95% esbit type stove with generic fuel tabs from gander mountain
My wife and I use a DIY stove that goes by 2 names, "The Ring of Fire" and "Heineken Doodah Man Special" It is totally stable in conjunction with the Heineken pot. Has a nice wide footprint for stability.
Lots of stoves out there, take your pick.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22425&highlight=ring+fire
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/th_augcmpot028.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/augcmpot028.jpg)stainless steel aftermarket lantern globe used as windscreen .
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/th_augcmpot027.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/augcmpot027.jpg) __________________
For three-season on the AT (or anywhere re-supply is frequent), alcohol is the lightest. I use the Antigravity Gear 3-cup Kitchen. Had it for quite a few years and no problems.
Winter I use a SVEA white gas. Excellent stove. Was my primary backpacking stove for many years and many thousands of miles, including 11 continuous months of cooking two, occasionally three, meals per day. Have never done a thing to it, not even change the wick.
I have a Coleman Exponent F1 which is light and compact, works quite well. I just haven't gotten myself to embrace the idea of single use canisters.
Have also had some experience on a two week trip when all meals were cooked on a Sierra wood-burning stove. Interesting concept. I bought one used off of Ebay, may try it out sometime in winter, especially for car camping. Too bulky for me for normal backpacking.
Brunton Raptor. I love it, it seems to provide a lot of stability.
I got the same one and LOVE IT
BUT im going to try a wood stove just for the fun of it.
Mr. Right
08-17-2010, 17:42
After all these years, I'm still casting my vote for the MSR Pocket Rocket.
avalonmorn
08-18-2010, 22:06
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-F1-Ultralight-Stove/dp/B002LBC1EY
I love this stove! Other brands of gas canisters will work. This past winter we had a 2 week power outage due to an ice storm, and I fried a chicken in my 12 inch skillett with this little 2.7 0z stove.
For backpacking, lightning boil times on those pasta pouch dinners, then a great simmer adjustment. Works for me!
mtnkngxt
08-19-2010, 13:05
I have an metric ton of stoves.
Canister stoves.
Snowpeak Litemax
Monotauk Gnat
MSR Pocket Rocket
Vargo Ti Canister stove
My favorite so far is the monotauk gnat. Sub 2oz canister stove with sturdy pot supports and excellent BTUs.
Alcohol Stoves.
All of Zelph's offerings
Trail Designs Caldera Cone kit stove
Mini Atomic from MBD
Favorite out of these is the Starlyte from Zelph.
Wood Burner is my Bushbuddy Ultra
My go to stove is my Monotauk gnat followed by the Caldera Cone and then the Bushbuddy Ultra for campouts.
white box alky stove works great for boiling water,