View Full Version : camp stove recommendation?
erinjoy777
04-28-2011, 21:33
For those of you that have thru-hiked, is there a particular stove that you would recommend? I looked on REI.com and there are just so many options and I just feel overwhelmed by them all. So if you loved your stove, let me know what you used! Thanks!!
Leanthree
04-28-2011, 21:38
To summarize many previous threads on this subject, there are a two main political parties when it comes to stoves:
Alcohol Stove Proponent: Make your Own!!! It is free (or mere pennies), easy and lightweight. Google Super Cat Alcohol stove for the simplest of thousands of alcohol stove designs
JetBoil Proponent: Get the Jet Boil. It can simmer, boils way faster than an alcohol stove and over a longer trip really isn't that much weight
This: http://www.antigravitygear.com/evernew-titanium-ultra-light-mug-pot-500-ml.html
And this: http://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-cone-system
.. and 2 esbit tabs per day.
Jersey Tim
04-28-2011, 21:45
I love my Snow Peak Giga. It's a good lightweight option, pretty beginner-friendly and easy to resupply along the way. Following what Leanthree said, it's pretty much a compromise (weightwise and convenience-wise) between a Jetboil and a Super Cat. You can go lighter with an alcohol stove with no ill effects, if you have the free time and desire to make one and practice with it at home to learn its quirks.
erinjoy777
04-29-2011, 23:31
Thanks guys, this gives me a good starting point.
Snowleopard
04-30-2011, 13:08
I love my Snow Peak Giga. It's a good lightweight option, pretty beginner-friendly and easy to resupply along the way. Following what Leanthree said, it's pretty much a compromise (weightwise and convenience-wise) between a Jetboil and a Super Cat. You can go lighter with an alcohol stove with no ill effects, if you have the free time and desire to make one and practice with it at home to learn its quirks.
I like the Snow Peak Giga, especially for a beginner.
http://www.rei.com/product/643058/snow-peak-giga-power-stove-with-piezo google or ebay it and you may find it cheaper.
The alternative is to play with homemade alcohol stoves.
The choice also depends on what and how you'll be cooking. Alcohol stoves work great if you're just boiling water for dehydrated meals. Most of them don't simmer at all.
Take a look at: http://www.trailcooking.com/
For a pan, use one of your kitchen pans till you figure out how large a pan you need, then buy one. The half liter pan 10-K links to is probably too small for 2 people. The caldera cone gets great reviews for an alcohol stove.
trailangelbronco
04-30-2011, 16:46
I have TON OF STOVES, this is still my favorite PRIMUS (http://www.primuscamping.com/product.php?id=11)
It can also simmer, my home mades and Giga stoves cannot simmer.
To summarize many previous threads on this subject, there are a two main political parties when it comes to stoves:
Alcohol Stove Proponent: Make your Own!!! It is free (or mere pennies), easy and lightweight. Google Super Cat Alcohol stove for the simplest of thousands of alcohol stove designs
JetBoil Proponent: Get the Jet Boil. It can simmer, boils way faster than an alcohol stove and over a longer trip really isn't that much weight
There is a third-party, too.. No stove. :D
Like many third parties, we don't have much support and are poo-pooed for our non-traditional ideas. ;)
But, to say what I've said many times before...there is NO best stove. Just what is the best for you, your hiking style, activities, etc.
This may help:
http://www.pmags.com/stove-comparison-real-world-use
Happy Trails!
garlic08
04-30-2011, 18:42
If there were a "best" stove, there wouldn't be so many of them!
Small alchy stove- all you'll need. All the other thru's will have them so don't feel left out.
fyi, this website has a search feature that can be very valuable when researching sleeping bags, stoves, etc. Chances are extremely high that any gear question you may have as a newbie has already been discussed in depth. hope this helps!
It can also simmer, my home mades and Giga stoves cannot simmer.
Actually this is not true. From first hand experience I can verify that it is possible to simmer and even bake using a gigapower stove. I love mine and for a thru-hiking couple it's hard to beat.
I thru-hiked the AT with a Svea ... not recommended even if you can find one ... I spent about 10 years using a whisperlight and white gas - I still do use it sometimes - especially on winter hikes. I've also done several 100 mile plus hikes with a home-made alcohol stove which is pretty neato but requires a little thinking and if I want a hot meal or, more importantly COFFEE, it sort of became a pain in the rear. My go-to stove right now is a regular MSR Pocket Rocket Canister stove - it has a few downsides (like anything) but it sure is easy, light, and works great. I'm pretty much a small green footprint type too so I do take my empties to a local outdoor store for recycling which I would suggest when possible.
I should have also mentioned in the previous post that I did about a 80 mile hike from Harpers Ferry to Elkwallow Wayside with a Jet-Boil and a short spork - I've run the jet-boil from time to time on car camping trips and whatnot but I'm not a big fan. With a short spork, it is impossible to stir anything and I ended up whittling a stick to cook with. LOL
You can have your Heneken can set up! Snow Peak TI Mini Solo pot w/ collapsible folding handles, lid, and nesting cup with foldable REI TI spork that fits inside!!!
That Snow Peak Mini Solo kit is the ONLY ORIGINAL PIECE OF HIKING GEAR, other than me, that has survived hiking in multiple countries, 7 backpacks, hiking in 44 states, thru-hikes of the AT, PCT, almost all of the CDT and over 10 other long distance thru-hikes/trails, untold number of bushwacks, has served up countless trail meals, cumulatively with over 15,000 trail/hiking miles, and who knows how many non-hiking traveling miles on planes, trains, buses, boats, cars, horses, llamas, etc
That Snow Peak Mini Solo Kit, with only some blackened areas on the outside of the pot, IS THE BOMB! You can have your Heneken can set up! Almost brings tears to my eyes thinking about where that pot has been!
Tom Hanks had Wilson the volley ball. I have Peak Snowy the TI cooking pot!
Oh, add a 4 oz isobutane tank, bear bag cord, MSR chamois, Snow Peak Giga Ti stove to the foldable REI Ti spork ALL inside that Snow Peak Mini Solo Ti pot with foldable handles attached to the outsdie of the pot which includes a Ti Snow Peak nesting lid and Snow Peak Ti nesting cup(should I desire a lid and cup also). Place in a mesh ditty bag.
The Japanese know how to make some durable excellently designed UL hiking stoves!
Zelph's Budlyte alchy stove or Arizona can stove with Zelph's Budlyte design is my choice in the alchy arena! I place one of those stoves, REI Ti foldable spork, chamois, cheapy plastic eye dropper, and nesting alchy fuel bottle or collapsable alchy fuel pouch around the stove, ALL nesting inside that Snow Peak Mini Solo Pot with lid. Going this route I am careful with the alchy fuel usage and storage as it may contaminate my pot/food!
The most reliable stove I have used frm 1979 to present is a 1 lb. Svea 123 brass stove. Decades of use...hundreds of trips....not the first problem...ever! They do make some noise. Good results with MSR whisperlite and at 52 I am just getting acquainted with my new alcohol beverage can stove....thru hiking 2012!
swjohnsey
05-20-2011, 18:40
Can't get any simpler than an alcohol stove. I am using a Zelph Super Venom, paid twelve bucks for it. Alchohol is readily available along the trial. The most readily available fuel (and the cheapest) is pump gas. Most stoves that burn Coleman fuel will burn pump gas with no problems.
The main use for stoves is:
1) Pasta
2) Coffee
I'm not a coffee-drinker, and I think that pasta is too nutrient-light to rely on while hiking. Take high-energy foods that don't need a stove and eat your warm meals in towns (no more than1/week, it adds up). Granola Bars, Dried Fruit, Dried Meat, and possibly Cheese/Fresh Fruit if you eat it quickly. The main argument for not taking a stove is that it saves a lot of time and trouble with regards to cleaning, maintaining, fuel, and that that it saves weight. Although, I think some people would react to the idea of not eating cooked food fairly poorly.
So, I've told this story before - I thru hiked (my first love) with a Svea, later, I got married to a Whisperlight and I (very stubbornly at times) see her on the side especially in winter - I had a bad fling with a jet-boil and met a real free spirit in an alcohol stove but I am now happily settled down with a MSR Pocket Rocket - she is a hotty