Suggestions for a STOVE

“With so many stoves to choose from, can anyone suggest a good one?
I would like something lightweight, easy to use and reliable.
I am considering hiking a portion of the AT if that makes any difference in the type of fuel available near the trail.

Thanks for any suggestions. Like I said, with so many stoves, I have no idea where to start.”

“What do you want to do? If you just want to boil water to add to dehydrated or freeze dried meals, a homemade alcohol stove is great, cheap and lightweight. It burns denatured alcohol, which can be found at hardware stores in the paint department.

If you want to do a little more involved cooking -- simmering, longer cooking times, using bigger pots -- you might want to use a canister stove. The canisters can be found at all camping supply stores. MSR makes a lot of good ones. There's the PocketRocket for $40, which is the smallest and lightest. And the SuperFly is $50, a couple ounces heavier with a wider base so a little more stable for bigger pots.

That's my knowledge for starters.

There are lots of people here who can give you more advice.”

“I would second Ruby's recommendations. For summer lightweight water heating we use a Primus Yellowstone. For winter we use a Coleman Extreme, but the cartridges for it can be somewhat more difficult to find so it might not be the best for longer AT trips.

Ruby, just to let you know, because of a shipping mix-up, today we received two of the larger size Camping Gaz fuel cannisters (instead of the food, mesh bags, etc we were supposed to get) and the company told us to just keep the cannisters, I believe your new Superfly can fit both screw type cannisters (MSR type) and the self-sealing gaz types so if you want the two cannisters just let me know and they are yours.”

“Yay, thanks CnC! I would.

How about some day we have lunch?”

“Sounds good, o'course the way these Chicago lunch plannings go...it will July by the time it gets coordinated..:)”

“a second vote for the home-made stove. it's very lightweight and goof-proof
and you can also burn gas-line antifreeze in an alcohol stove if you can't find the de-natured stuff (or live in a backwards, out-of-date country like me).”

“I second the recommendations above, a homemade pepsi can style stove, or a pocketrocket.”

“Right on Ruby! I use the alcohol stoves and love 'em. And the pocket rocket is my second choice.”

“I like the esbit stove over the alcohol stove. It ends up a tad bit lighter if you're out for more than two days. The fuel weighs less. A lot of people freak out about the way the tabs smell (reminds me of fish) but they're non-toxic. In colder weather we use a coleman multi-fuel stove or a SVEA 123. Canisters don't like cold Michigan weather.”

“What would be a good stove for windy conditions?”

“Alchohol - make your own or buy a Brasslite or one from Antigravity Gear or Sgt Rock.”

“Alcohol and a good windscreen.
Check my website for some good examples and links to stove sites.
The link is on my profile.
Click my name, below, right.”

“Here's another vote for Esbit, although I have used an alcohol stove too. If you can put up with the curses of your fellow hikers as you stink up the area, it's a good solution. I have even cooked with one before, by just adding another tab when the first one was almost out. Esbit fuel is not readily available on the AT, though. You'd have to pack it all in with you, or set up a maildrop to get it.”

“Alcohol is non toxic.
Gotta wonder what the stink of the Esbit is doing to your lungs with daily exposure over a 5 month through hike.”

“Please don't drink the stove fuel. ;-)
Unless it's Everclear.”

“Alcohol is non-toxic? Since when, where do you procure this mythical non-toxic alcohol?

The whole point of alcohol is that it is toxic.”

“Bison, I think he was thinking of the vapor from burning.

Everclear isn't toxic. Well maybe it will kill a few liver cells, LOL.
last edited: 2/18/05 10:00:34 AM”

“I was referring to the fumes given off while using the stove being less toxic than either white gas or Esbit. Also any spilled or unused fuel.

If you are referring to drinking the fuel, white gas is still probably worse and eating Esbit tabs like chocolates does not sound very attractive either.

Nit pikkin' Bass Turds :-))”

“I've always wanted to use Everclear and put it in a container clearly marked as poison.
Be sittting around the campfire with a bunch of TTers, cooking dinner with it, and start taking sips. Wait until someone notices, then grab my head and scream "My eyes! My Eyes! I'm blind!!!!"

That would be fun. ;-)”

“A friend of mine took a woman on her first backpack, and found out to her dismay that this woman was an alcoholic. She drank her stove fuel and got extremely sick. I assume she didn't drink enough to go blind, but I don't know that for sure.”

“I use the Ti Snow Peak Gigastove (I think that's what its called) and take the Pocket Rocket as a backup for long trips. 2.5 oz each”

“Build a Cobra pepsi can stove. Easy to make and very light weight and effecient!”

“Ruby mentioned the camping gaz It really is a great stove at half the price($25 and change) of the nearest competitor. canisters are readily available (as is the stove) at Sports authority and rei.It just takes a little practice to get the assembly down pat. I also use a home made alcohol.”

“Any stove is fine in wind, as long as you have a windscreen. A worthy investment.”

“I used the instruction on Stovies website for the pepsi Stove and the aluminum flashing windscreen and have used them for about two years now. good chit. I use a 10 oz water bottle marked "poison" for my fuel.”

“Thanks for all of your suggestions....
Sounds like a cheap lightweight pepsi-can alcohol stove is the way to go.
I'm going to buy or make my own and go for a test run.

Thanks again, and look for future posts that I will have about tents and sleeping pads. :)”

“There is a dude that sells a kit with wind screen on ebay, complete with windscreen. I have one it works great.”

“I use MSR Pocket Rocket in summer, Whisperlite in winter. Esbit and Pepsi can stove are lightweight, but really only are workable for one person without a complicated meal. In cold remember 2 words.......WHITE GAS.”

“I have 2 stoves that have for backpacking. Depending on the weather and duration of the trip I use either a MSR wisperlite or a Sierra Zip. Neither one is considered an ultra light stove. I mainly use the Wisperlite for winter backpack trips. It fires up like a jet engine and will boil water in no time. It’s not great for simmering food but I have gotten it to work with an outback oven. The Sierra Zip is a little bulky and will blacken the bottom of your pots, but it’s a wood burner so you never have to worry about carrying fuel. You will need to spend time gathering up enough wood to cook your meal before hand. I mostly use it in the summer time.”

“Another vote for the Camping Gaz canister stove - at $25 its a great value for boiling water and a little cooking. For longer trips/Cold weather trips, go with white gas. My white gas stove of choice is the Optimus SVEA 123. A littel heavy, but less complex and more reliable than the MSR's.”