Looking for equipment recommendations

“Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to backpacking and the plethora of great stuff you can buy for it. Our daughter is part of a BSA Venture crew which will be going on a 2 week trek in Philmont next summer. We want to buy her a mid range backpacking stove that she can start to use on their weekend shakedown hikes during the school year. Any opinions or recommendations. It should be lightweight, easy to use for someone who will likely major in anthropology rather than engineering, and relatively reliable. It should also function at humid sea level (Texas coast) as well as at dry altitudes around 6000 feet. Thanks for the help.”

“works great, and the white gas fuel is available practically anywhere.

If gas is the way you are leaning, then MSR's Pocket rocket is a good way to go, but, there is a new toy on the market called the "JetBoil". Sweet lil thing. There are others on the board that have it and can speak better of its features and benefits.”

“I meant MSR Simmer Lite, not the whisper lite.”

“Yep, lots of folks like the pocket rocket - i've seen it sold for around 40 bucks or so.”

“Depends on if she wants to cook or just boil water. If she wants to cook (not recommended) a white-gas stove might be better. But just to boil water, Jetboil, pocket rocket, alcohol stove will all work, although I don't know what the performance of alcohol stoves is at 6000'. Also, do you think she'll be needed to melt snow for drinking water? White gas would be better for that as well.”

“A home-made alchol stove ("Pepsi stove") will work fine at high altitudes. And unlike most store-bought stoves there is nothing to break. If the vents clog you can clear them with your pocket knife in 60 seconds. Doesn't get any more reliable/trouble-free, or lighter, than a Pepsi stove.”

“And you can make one yourself in half an hour.”

“Forgot to mention, like store-bought stoves, keep a Pepsi stove off of frozen ground (or snow) or the performance will suffer. Or it might not light at all. A later of tin foil, flat piece of wood, or whatever will work.

Also from personal experience, use some type of can as a prewarmer + pot holder. A little fuel in the prewarmer will warm up the stove and light it. I modeled my stove kit after this set..”

“I really really like my Primus Technitrail.. but I own four stoves.”

“You can make an alcy stove or look at the trangia for $30 including pots and stuff.”

“I would look for a stove that fits into a Nalgene®.”

“I have the trangia and like it. One problem I have had with it, is that when I cooked on a picnic table, the whole stove set up melted some of the sealant in the table and it became one with the pot stand. Messy, but all my fault. The stove et. al. costs very little considering what your getting.

I also have the pocket rocket, it's great for boil, will burn the center of your Ti pot if you cook, IMHO.

The ShakerJet is a nice stove to get, due it it's ease of maintaineance. You might want to take a look at Esbit; very affordable and easy to use. I have used esbit tabs in my Trangia pot stand, in very cold conditions, and it worked very well.

Good luck.”

“2 weeks in philmont.

trade off here is simplicity - a canister stove, or an alcohol stove - or a white gas stove which is a little harder to learn to use but has much more compact fuel.

An alcohol stove will need at least twice as much fuel as a white gas stove. Canisters, probably need about 4 or 5 and will have to watch how much water you boil.

Also fuel cannot be carried on any airline, check to see what fuel is available out there if you select a canister stove, and if necessary surface mail a package of canisters to the scout reservation a couple of weeks earlier.

White gas is available as scouts from our troop have always used it on philmont trips. Alcohol is available at any hardware store.

Re-supply, philmont does resupply teams in the field, this may make the canister option more reasonable if additional canisters can be put into the resupply, but you still have the empties to carry around.

White gas is the best option for extended trips.”

“I've used Esbit as well, but the Esbit Stink Factor^TM may turn her off from it.”

“http://www.trangia.se/
You can look at the whole range. It's proven for many many years and conditions. You can even get a priming system to use it in v cold conditions. Simple and in my mind the perfect stove. I've never been worried if my water takes two minutes longer to boil. And the flame is controllable, so you can cool other stuff on it too.
Here's the lightweight one at rei.com
http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=4332909&parent_category_rn=4500454&vcat=REI_SEARCH”

“Most all the stoves are great. For a 2-week trek, if it were me, I'd go with liquid fuel, but it's a little more complex than the the cansiter stoves. A canister would be fine too, you'd just hafta take a few canisters with you for that period of time. All the backpacking stoves are excellent. MSR, Primus, Brunton, Trangia, Snow Peak, Gaz, etc. Your noodles will fear them all the same.”

“Went to Philmont in 1993. You can visit my Philmont helpful hints page at: http://www.csupomona.edu/~rosenkrantz/personal/phmthint.htm

I think you have two choices as already mentioned:

white gas - I used the Coleman Apex, which may now be sold under another name (Exponent). Our white gas stoves boiled would bring a large 3 quart pot of water to boil OK for group cooking. White gas is by far the cheapest option.

blended fuel canister - I now have a Pocket Rocket and would take it if I was going to Philmont again. I haven't tried it on a 3 quart pot, but don't know why it would not work. Canisters are more expensive than white gas, but safer and lighter.

White gas was sold at Philmont and could be replenished in the backcountry trading posts. If they have MSR type canisters, then you could use a Pocket Rocket or other 3-4 ounce stove.

I think the lighter weight option is the blended fuel canisters. They seem to deliver more boiled water per ounce of weight. I would plan for two 12 ounce canisters per person (8 ounces of fuel in each canister). That would be plenty.”

“First off alcohol and esbit stoves are not appropriate for Philmont. Do NOT bring them. Cooking is crew style, meaning in one big 'ol aluminum pot for 8-10 people at once. An alky or esbit stove will fail miserably there.

Philmont also provides white gas fuel to use. If you go with a cannister stove you will need to bring your own fuel and need to know how to estimate the fuel useage for that style of cooking. It's not that big of a deal but you will be on your own with that issue when you arrive.”

“That does change things - alcohol & esbit are definitely only for solo cooking (2 people tops).”

“Having just completed a 2 week Philmont trek at the end of July I would go with a white gas stove - I used the MSR simmer lite. The only meal that usually requires cooking is dinner. Group cooking is the norm, on an 8 quart alum pot. We routinely used 2 stoves at dinner time - one for food and one for clean-up water. We had a crew of 7 boys and 2 adults. 4 quatrs of white gas, 1 MSR dragonfly, 1 MSR simmerlite, and 1 MSR shaker jet. The fuel was almost gone at the end of the trek.

You cannot dispose of used gas canisters while on the trail, so if you choose a canister stove keep that in mind.”

“Thanks. These are a lot of good suggestions and I appreciate the input, especially folks who have been to Philmont. It sounds like white gas is the best option for a Philmont trip. They will be driving rather than flying, so the transportation issues are reduced. Any other opinions will be appreciated.”

“White gas stoves can't be beat for workhorse cooking and snow melting duties. The MSR pocket rocket is great for weekend bakcpacking, but you often end up taking a half used canister, to use it up, and a new one. So two canisters and a stove is not really much lighter than the white can stove and a fuel bottle.

I have an MSR Dragonfly, and it is incredibly fuel effiecient. We burned it for 3 hours straight melting snow a few weeks ago on Mt. Shasta, on one small bottle of fuel. Its only drawback is its a little more expensive than some, and it's LOUD.”

“I've got an MSR Simmerlite like stikmon mentioned. I love it. Its light (for a white gas stove) and reliable. Its worked in sub-freezing temperatures and at 10,000 feet.

Canister stoves can be cheaper and simpler. I stared with a Markil Devil that I still use from time to time, but I prefer knowing how much fuel I have left than guessing what's in the canister.”

“Love my Primus.”

“"Also fuel cannot be carried on any airline......"

Would this also include Esbit?”

“If you're going for White Gas get the Optimus (Brunton) Nova. Fantastic stove.”

“Flammable Liquids or Solids
Fuel, paints, lighter refills, matches

FAA site on what is allowed or not

Esbit tabs are a flammable solid fuel.
__________________________
Civil Penalties

For violations of certain aviation laws and regulations occurring before December 12, 2003, the FAA has authority to issue orders assessing a civil penalty of up to $50,000. For violations of certain laws and regulations occurring after such date, the FAA has authority to issue orders assessing a civil penalty of up to $400,000 against persons other than individuals and small business concerns and against individuals and small business concerns the authority to issue orders assessing a civil penalty of up to $50,000.”

“So what you're saying is, it's well worth the money to ship your fuel ahead?”

“I usually try to see if there is some local outfitters who carry my fuels...

It should be pretty easy to do now that the internet is so widespread...”

“Wow. Never knew that.

Yep, looks like what bit said. It should be cheaper that way rather than getting over charged at a local outfitter.

Thanks for the info.”

“I would say your best bet for this if you are going to go with white gas would be a MSR Whisperlite. They are cheap and are pretty much on or off. You may be able to pick up a used one on EBay for really cheap. You should practice extensively lighting and adjusting the stove, no matter which stove you buy, as white gas stoves can be tricky for novices especially under adverse weather conditions.

I don't know this area where your daughter is going bping or what the cooking set-up will be. But if your daugher will only be cooking for herself or with one other person, I highly recommend the Trangia set-up. Light, foolproof and relatively safe. Nesting pots and pans. No flare ups and denatured alcohol is tame when compared with white gas in terms of stability. Pour and light. It's just a great stove for a beginner.”

“Being fully comfortable with my own heterosexuality I can say without shame that I, Nigal J. McGillicutty, love the Pocket Rocket.

It’s light.
It’s cheap.
It is near indestructible.
It is so simple even I can use it.
It is fairly quick.
It has a cool name.”

“To add to rosey, and I know that it might be already decided for this hiker, but that set up allows ample room for small spices, lighter, and other smaller, kitchen type items. Plus, a non-stick pan!

About that WhisperJet, is htat the multi fuel one, or I am thinking of something else?”

“Texasdon,

just wanted you to know,,that little town near Philmont is a speed trap !!
Yup. Just thought you should know since you were driving.

They caught me a few summers back.
Verrry sneaky indeed. Then the next
thing you know... the man is writing the
'paying paper' and saying how they hold
'court' the 3rd wednesday of every month at the ymca if you wish to 'dispute the charges'. ha! yeah.. 'no thanks' said i. I drove almost 3000 miles that trip..only to fall victim in
nowhere new mexico.(it was pretty
country-just not much of a town)
:)

i remember seeing the ads for Philmont in the back pages of Boys Life back in the 70's. Never made it there though. Heck, i cant even remember what kind of stove we had.... not at all. I do remember those prototype naglene bottles we got one time. They called them 'nesting naglenes'... apparently the idea was to see how many naglene's you could fit inside a naglene... or something.”

“GAZ isobutane (canister) stove - turn it on and light the burner. Easy to use and cheap ($25), but you need to take extra canisters for a two week trip. Great in summer, for boiling water, and will do for short winter trips. Probably the easiest for a kid to get used to.

MSR Whisperlite. The old models are great. Newer models seem to have a lot of problems. You also need to develop skill at using it. And you'll need to take and extra bottle of white gas fuel for a two week trip.

SVEA 123R (from Optimus) - An old design white gas stove, but very reliable. I've got a 25 year old one that still works great. Need to take extra fuel and need to practice lighting it, too. Great in the winter. My personal favorite white gas stove.”

““ SVEA 123R (from Optimus) - An old design white gas stove, but very reliable. I've got a 25 year old one that still works great. Need to take extra fuel and need to practice lighting it, too. Great in the winter. My personal favorite white gas stove."

I finally bought one of these this year and I love it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I can cook all weekend on a single tank full of fuel.”

“My friend Chris has a Gaz sotve and loves it. The feature he likes the best is the wide burner. He thinks the Pocket Rocket is too much of a *blow torch*.”

“and if you go for one of the bigger trangia set-ups they are made for cooking for groups.”

“Pocket Rocket - quick, light, clean, easy to use.”