Take me to School: Camp Stoves

[ttengineer]

I'm fairly new to "overlanding", but not new to offroading or camping. Traditionally, I backpack. I would consider myself an Ultralight hiker with a base pack weight of 9.5lbs before food and water. I currently use an alcohol stove that weighs 3g so gourmet cooking is not really possible. Recently my family has increased by one fat 2 legged little dude so the wife and I have decided to start overlanding until he is old enough to go backpacking.

So that brings me to camp stoves.

What do y'all use, how do you like it, how do you cook on it, and with what do you cook in?

I've been looking at a camp chef 2 burner stove at REI ($100). I would prefer to use the small propane coleman bottles or iso-butane bottles since I've used both in the past. I don't really want to lug around a big propane bottle since we will not be going out for more than a week right now. I've considered also getting a skottle for grilling and griddle duties (mmmm bacon) but i'm open to all suggestions. I think a Partner Stove is the gold standard, but I don't want anything too expensive just yet (under $250 maybe?)

I'm also looking for suggestions on cook kits. I was going to get the Stanley one but the plates are comically small.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Burb One]

In addition to my old coleman's that have become"family heirlooms" a few years ago went to purchase something newer to stay in the truck full time.

I looked (and tried through friends) campchef, partner, etc.

Partner's are indeed nice, but i couldn't justify the cost and reduced capability.

I ended up purchasing a Coleman dual fuel.

1) It is large enough to fit two full size pans
2) I can run it on propane (out of green bottles or hooked up to a bigger propane) OR Coleman camp fuel. (In an emergency it will even run on gasoline). The nice thing about this, is with coleman fuel, the tank holds enough gas for more than a weekend(Even a week), so stove and gas doesn't take more than the volume of the stove itself, since the tank fits in the stove for storage. Propane is easier to cook on than the gas, but once i got the trick down with the coleman gas, it's easy enough.
3) It was cheap (<90 bucks on amazon)
4) It actually simmers, something the partner apparently has trouble with and I could never do with the campchef.
5) It's cheap and works
6) Cheap enough to not worry and drill and put a BBQ igniter into it or throwing it around and putting it away dirty


Only real downside, at least for me, was it is not as thin/tall as the Partner and does take up some space, but if you use the coleman gas, it maybe saves space because then you don't have to have a separate fuel container

O, and no EXPO cool factor, LOL

 

[JackW]

After running through several old Coleman stoves (both white gas and propane) I finally broke down and bought a 16" Partner steel stove last Spring - I paired it with a 5 lb. propane bottle with a 1 lb bottle as backup.
I was trying to reduce the size of some of my camping equipment. My old Coleman was six inches thick and around 24" long. The 16" Partner steel fits in a Wolf box with the rest of the cooking gear.

For pots I'm using MSR stuff I bought at REI. One of them is over twenty years old - just bought a smaller one for cooking individual portions of rice and oatmeal.

 

[NatersXJ6]

bringing
my kids along usually pushes my camp cooking away from chef, and closer to basic, so it is very likely that you can get away quite happily with a simple one-pot mostly for boiling type of arrangement. with that said, coffee on one burner and breakfast on the other is quite nice. I've cycled through quite a few stoves over the years, in all sorts of fuels. I currently grab the Camp Chef Summit (similar to Everest) from REI first. My next choose is the old-school MSR whisper lite.... but lighting the camp chef is far less dramatic than pre heating the MSR... so that is nice.

I also love the old Coleman white gas stoves, but the convenience is lower than just twisting a lighter knob.

 

[ttengineer]

bringing
my kids along usually pushes my camp cooking away from chef, and closer to basic, so it is very likely that you can get away quite happily with a simple one-pot mostly for boiling type of arrangement. with that said, coffee on one burner and breakfast on the other is quite nice. I've cycled through quite a few stoves over the years, in all sorts of fuels. I currently grab the Camp Chef Summit (similar to Everest) from REI first. My next choose is the old-school MSR whisper lite.... but lighting the camp chef is far less dramatic than pre heating the MSR... so that is nice.

I also love the old Coleman white gas stoves, but the convenience is lower than just twisting a lighter knob.

If I'm car camping, I am not doing a one pot meal unless the recipe calls for it and the convenience of a 2 burner stove is paramount to me. I did have my eye on both those camp chefs mentioned though.

 

[ttengineer]

I found this at REI as well. It seems of similar quality to a partner stove without the extra premium. Yes its still expensive, but about $80 cheaper. It's also a 20,000 BTU stove while the partner stoves I've seen are only 10,000 btu.

https://www.rei.com/product/115398/camp-chef-mountaineer-2-burner-stove

 

[GHI]

I went with the 22 inch 2 burner Partner Steel for its quality and more importantly it's shape. It fits perfect in my vehicle right where I need it to. I have a mounted propane tank under the vehicle and out of sight so there is no issue with lugging a tank around for me.

I exclusively use cast iron unless I'm boiling water in which case I use my backpacking pot. I have not had any problems simmering as others have reported. The stove cleans up pretty easy at camp with a paper towel and some Windex. If it's really gunked up I can spray it off with a hose once I get home.

You wrote you would like to stay under $250. Why not grab a 2 burner 18 inch Partner with windscreen for another $20. You'll have a stove to pass down to that little fat legged dude.

 

[whitenoise]

"which stove" is a pretty loaded question and depends a lot on your setup (space), which region you want to travel (fuel availability, altitude), what you'd like to cook (freeze-dried or gourmet), how much redundancy you want (things do fail) etc. Personally I don't see a big advantage in using large 2-burner stoves like the coleman or partner or any of the several others, unless you're cooking for large groups, or you have a setup where you can hard-mount it for quick access. My preference is to carry 2 or more smaller single-burners, due to their versatility and small footprint. You may think you have lots of space starting out, but soon you'll find that you overestimated, just like with backpacking

For the US and other developed countries where propane/butane/isobutane is easily available, we carry or have used
1. a cheap $20-ish butane stove like the "GasOne" available on Amazon. The fuel is cheap at Asian grocery stores and the setup is pretty much instant. Larger pots are easy to accommodate but requires an external wind-shield. Doesn't work great at >10k ft but not terrible enough to make me switch.
2. an integrated-pot stove like the Jetboil. We use the MSR 1.8L windburner due to its superior design. Great for quick stops for coffee/tea and for boiling water quickly.
3. Pocket stoves available cheaply on amazon. Pot support isnt great, setup isnt as fast, but versatile enough to throw in a daypack with a single canister and pot.

For developing countries, I expect we will be getting both a Coleman Sportster 1-burner that runs on gasoline, and a Solo Titan wood-burning stove.

 

[Ragman]

I have carried a Coleman two burner white gas stove and MSR Whisperlite for 30 years-rock solid with proper maintenance. In the last few years I have added a solo stove that saves fuel use. Pretty much handles everything not cooked over the fire or the slat grill.

 

[Junkinduck]

Another vote for the Coleman. I like the Coleman dual fuel. I have a one, two, and a three burner. I pick based on my need at the time. I always carry the dual fuel 533 and switch between a two and a three burner. I am usually the camp cook. All are yard sale finds and I don't think I have more than 20.00 in any of them. I am also a fan of the MSR dragonfly. Best one burner for me on the market. I cook when we camp. We do meals not add water eating so heat control is important to me. I have a couple of propane but prefer gas. Easy to get and easy to use. Just get a bit out of the Jerry can.

 

[BPD53]

Another vote for the Coleman. I like the Coleman dual fuel. I have a one, two, and a three burner. I pick based on my need at the time. I always carry the dual fuel 533 and switch between a two and a three burner. I am usually the camp cook. All are yard sale finds and I don't think I have more than 20.00 in any of them.

He took the words right out of my mouth. I use the same setup with great results. You can't beat an old yard sale Coleman dual fuel stove.

 

[perterra]

Pick up a Coleman dual fuel, add a propane adapter and youre covered for anything.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RDQT9...t=&hvlocphy=9027232&hvtargid=pla-310743499120

 

[jpachard]

Another Coleman dual fuel fan here. Simple operation, can run on petrol if needed and super easy to maintain. Works much better than propane at altitude if that’s a concern.


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[ttengineer]

The only thing I worry about with a dual fuel though is leakage and storage. Granted I could use propane exclusively with it until I find myself in a pinch, so it's a nice back up. Although I've read that the liquid fuel lasts far longer.

For those of you with a dual fuel, have you found any issues with venting, fumes, or leakage during transporting or storage?




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[BPD53]

The only thing I worry about with a dual fuel though is leakage and storage. Granted I could use propane exclusively with it until I find myself in a pinch, so it's a nice back up. Although I've read that the liquid fuel lasts far longer.

For those of you with a dual fuel, have you found any issues with venting, fumes, or leakage during transporting or storage?




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No leakage or fumes. I keep a single burner in the truck 24/7 with no issues whatsoever. I also keep spare fuel in an MSR fuel bottle with no issues. I cannot count the amount of miles I've had a Coleman dual fuel bouncing around my truck over every terrain with no issues. A Coleman dual fuel is bombproof.