BACKPACKING STOVES-WHAT'S BEST?

“TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST BACKPACKING STOVE TO GET?”

“I have the MSR whisperlite and have had good experience with it. It is basically bombproof and can be repaired with a small tool (small enough to always bring) and some O rings. For you ultra light junkies most I know have been moving to propane/butane stoves like the pocket rocket. Although they seem more fickle they are significantly lighter.”

“I have the Superfly, tried the Pocket Rocket but I like the ability to hook up to any fuel canister.

Whisperlite is fantastic as a general purpose stove....alchohol stoves that I have seen kick butt...I am definitly looking at it.”

“I give my thumbs up to the Pocket Rocket. For one person, it works great. I know others use the SnowPeak Giga stoves. I also have a MSR Dragonfly that is great, but is a little overkill for just one person.”

“depends on a bunch of things

1. what conditions you will be using it under
the most convenient is a gas stove, either propane or butane, but there are cheaper fuels, empty container disposal does not fit well with "leave no trace", and they have some problems with both altitude and very cold weather. There are special gas mixes for high altitude, but not so redily available.

2. best choice for most 3 season camping/hiking is alcohol. Do dome searching around the internet for "Pepsi can stove" and make your own. Fuel is cheap and available at your local hardware store. Environmentally friendly, easy to use, what more could one ask ?? Down sides are it needs more fuel than white gas for long trips, does not work well when temps are below freezing.
If you are not handy making your own, trangia and a couple of other companies have commercial versions.

3. White gas, here again are choices, do you just boil water in which case the MSR Whisperlight is one of the most reliable, or if you fancy yourself as the backcountry gourmet you will need a simmer capability on the stove with a miriad of confusing choices varying from the classic (or ancient) SVEA 123, to the MSR Dragonfly.
White gas is the choice for winter or high altitude camping.

Or have more than 1 stove like most here. I have all 3 types but alcohol gets the most use, then White gas in winter.”

“I'm pretty dang happy with this little number made from little grape juice cans.

”

“Stovie...I am seriously considering going to an alchohol stove...I keep seeing neat stuff on it.

How fast does yours boil a LT of water?”

“same reasons that XL400236 stated, and at 3.2 oz, light and ADJUSTABLE”

“My vote goes to the Jetboil. It is FAST and packs up in one unit. I wouldnt have bought one if the airline hadnt lost my luggage and gave us a credit to buy replacement stuff... pretty nice. bout 75 dollars.”

“oldog..if you are interested I used the aluminized bubble wrap house stuff to make a koozie for my fuel canisters (cold weather). Seems to work pretty well so far.”

“How fast does yours boil a LT of water?”
XL400236
10:06:02 AM
9/28/06

That burner is designed to boil a pint (16 fl oz) of water using less than a fl oz of alcohol, in under seven minutes.
It's only about 7/8" tall and will hold a max of one fl oz alcohol.
last edited: 9/28/06 10:22:10 AM”

“i second stovie's recommendation...i love my alcohol stove and you can't beat the weight...it's not the best for actual cooking , more for just boiling water, but it can be done”

“Hey cooolll...a gear thread!”

“hey stovestomper, what plans did you use to make that alcohol stove, ive encountered plenty of them online and have been considering putting one together”

“I own and have used extensively a Gaz, Apex I (white gas), Sierra Zip (wood), Esbit (tablets), and Pocket Rocket (blended fuel). I have found the Pocket Rocket to be my favorite all-around stove for my needs, including plane travel (buy a canister when I get there). I own an alcohol stove, but have not used it on the trail.

If I was going to buy another stove, it would probably be a Jet Boil.

What keeps me away from the alcohol stove is messing around with all the liquid alcohol and lack of control for simmering, etc. when I need to.”

“i tried making one myself but like most of my projects it took 3 times as long and costed 4 times as much and didn't even work...then i gave up and bought one on ebay for $6...it works great”

“I have spent very little time in extremely cold winter conditions. I would have no idea what stove to use in harsh winter weather. I read that manuka recommened white gas...are there other choices?”

“I never had too good of luck with my Pepsi can alcohol stove. Maybe I’m too inpatient or I need to build a better post stand and wind screen, probably both. For backpacking 3-season use I now have a Northern Lights Alpha isobutene stove. It works well for two people or when I by myself. If I really want to cut the weight on a weekend trip, I use a jetboil canister with it, which fits inside my 16oz drinking cup that doubles as my cooking pot. For winter and canoe camping I use an Optimus Nova, which has worked almost flawlessly for me over the past 4 years.”

“I'll have to try that

thanks again”

“For three season camping in the Sierra I use the Brunnton (SP?)Crux. It folds up and goes in a pocket that fits in the bottom of the canister. Light, small, fast and simmers.

For snow camping I go back to my old reliable MSR XGK. White gas, FAST, and noisy enough to let you know it's working (and stop conversation).”

“I love using a pepsi can stove when I'm just going to boil water. It can't be beat.

If I'm going to cook or if I'm car camping, then I use my pocket rocket.”

“I use the pocket rocket and its done well supporting myself and my wife for 4 days in the rockies. But then again we go the rather easy route of just boiling water and adding to dehydrated meals. That way we don't have dishes do to in the backwoods.”

“Used to have a MSR WhisperLite but it finally got too scary to use so I bought a Snow Peak Giga Power. Looked at the Pocket Rocket as well but it didn't seem to me that it would very durable. The Giga Power is awesome...3.5 ounces w/ auto lighter. Don't think I'll ever switch again.”

“MSR Whisperlite Int'l for winter use.

MSR Pocket Rocket for summer.

sometimes i use Sgt. Rock's 'cat can' alchohol stove. I carried it for 5 days in Glacier, summer 2005 and it worked really well for me.”

“You can use the search function to find tons of threads on stoves. There's loads of info on this site if you dig for it. Good Luck!

BTW, I like Esbit.”

“I never had too good of luck with my Pepsi can alcohol stove. Maybe I’m too inpatient or I need to build a better post stand and wind screen, probably both.
lumberzac

which design do you have?...i had the closed design and had that problem too but since i switched to the design stovie posted above i haven't had any problems”

“LOL years ago we had a competition (SCOUTMASTER GAMES) which involved Reading a Paper, the Egg Toss (we used spam), paperwork completion, and a coffee boil.
The other groups were using the drip and perk coffee makers. I was using my Superfly and my GSI Anodized pot. One cup of water...they were allowed to preheat the water. The start signal is given, I turn on the Superfly to full blast (or to quote another Scouter " We are going for second XL just kicked in the afterburner.") in about 1 minute or so I had the boiling water poured it through the Bodum drip coffeemaker...and WALLA..Coffee.”

“It's the original Pepsi can stove design.
http://www.pcthiker.com/pages/gear/pepsistove.shtml”

“simmerlite when it's cold, pocket rocket when it's not.

i've been using this for a while and haven't considered changing. the only time i have problems with the pocket rocket is when it's really cold outside.”

“I've heard that alot about the pocket rocket but it worked just fine cooling chilli tailgating at a Green Bay game when it was
-14 degrees out.”

“The key with getting the canister stoves to work in cold weather is keeping the canister warm.”

“I used a dragonfly for years. Dependable, durable, worked under any conditions.

Loud.

I switched to a pepsi can stove that I modified. It does everything I need it to do.”

“TROLL!

WTF people? Work with me. Or are we getting sloppy? A newbie asks a gear question and we forgit ourselves?

Where the hell is NS?

AND WHAT THE #&%!$ IS UP WITH THE CAPS!!!!!!!!!!








Man that felt good.”

“In order of preference...

Svea 123
Esbit
Pocket Rocket
Alci stove”

“It's the original Pepsi can stove design

hmmm, never seen anyone have trouble lighting these...the alcohol just sits right there in the middle and ya light it”

“thrifty, thrifty, thrifty....

Some sort of commom sense is needed to run a Pepsi burner correctly.
LOL”

“the pepsi stove is neat, but the pot stand and windscreen are integral parts of the whole system. Its got to all work together - if one part is off (like say the pot sits too far away or too close to teh flame, or if the windscreen is too big for the pot) the system won't work right.”

“Coke can stove, I know it is supposed to be a Pepsi can but i drink Coke.
MSR Pocket rocket, so simple so easy


MSR Whisperlite, winter.”

“I have an old (I mean 1970's old) Optimus 8R...anyone ever used one?”

“ if one part is off (like say the pot sits too far away or too close to teh flame, or if the windscreen is too big for the pot) the system won't work right.

my pot stand and windscreen are one in the same”

“

i bought this stove and windscreen off ebay...the stove can be hard to light so i switched to the open design but the windscree/potstand rocks”

“My Primus stove has never failed me, and, its really tiny and lightweight.”

“I have a pocket rocket, and that is all I have ever used, but I need a wind screen for it. Any suggestions foe a homemade one? I was thinking 3 squares of heavy wire (think coat hanger guage - that's a technical term), hinged together and wrapped with tinfoil. Anyone seen or used something like this?”

“for windscreen use an oven liner. Its basically heavy guage alum. foil.

works like a charm!

and no need to reinforce with coat hanger type stuff - its heavy enough to hold its shape all alone.
last edited: 9/28/06 5:19:40 PM”

“MSR Pocket Rocket, and like meangreen, I need some kind of a wind break.”

“Hmmm... Me thinks i've got a project for tonight.... coat hangers, vodka, pliers, cranberry juice, tin foil...

VIOLA!!! A new hat! LOL!”

“Go to Wally World and buy a large aluminum oven liner. Cut as needed for a great windscreen.”

“Do you just fold it in half to make it stand up?”

“I own a Svea 123, Pocket Rocket, Pepsi can but my vote is on a Whisperlite Int'l. Its bombproof. I've owned for 15 years and the only problem is I've had 2 generators fail me.”