suggestion for stove?

“looking for some suggestions ona hiking/camping stove. I want something light that breaks down to conserve space. Dont really know alot about them, but I know it would be handy to boil water for food or food itself. Seen alot online but dont want to get one thats not worth the money. price range is around 100 or so..thanks guys”

“I suggest stove tries to get a little more fresh air.

Oh wait, ... wrong stove.”

“Simplify your life and get an old-school Jetboil.”

“Get an alcohol stove.”

“pepsi can...see jerbear...”

“A Sierra Zip Stove.”

“If you go the Alcohol Route get a Caldera Cone.

If you prefer a Canister Stove, I like the Snow Peak Gigapower”

“MSR Pocket Rocket. Lightweight and you can simmer.”

“If you got the alcohol route, I'd suggest AA.

Actually, I'd suggest not cooking.”

“Lame try by Demand Media to steer Trail Talk discussions to Backpacking and gear, etc.....

Boo Hiss...go away......”

“what are you talking about SuperTroll?”

“I agree with Mocs123: Caldera Cone and alcohol stove. For 3 season use, that stove is my go to stove now. I have an MSR Pocket Rocket, a Giga Power stove, and an MSR Dragonfly gathering dust on the shelf now because of the caldera. Here is my review of it: http://backpackingtechnology.com/food-and-cooking/the-ti-tri-caldera-cone-a-field-test/”

“LOL at Super Troll!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!!!”

“Where to begin!!!”

“This is what you should do with stovie:
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/46710,-1.php”

“Damnit F uck”

“You suck at this internet stuff.”

“A real one.”

“What are you planning on cooking/eating on the trail?

If you just need to boil water, then go with the pepsi can stove.

If you need to simmer something, then go with a jetboil or whisper lite.”

“For winter camping where you need to melt a lot of snow for water, a lot of BTUs are needed.
Use a Coleman Fuel type stove like a MSR whispterlite.

For most other uses I only boil water for dump in bag meals, so a homemade alcohol burner works fine.”

“Alcohol stoves don't work to well in winter camping.....the rest of the eyar though thats what I use.”

“MSR Superfly! Had the Pocket Rocket but the Superfly spreads the heat more evenly.”

“I just purchased a used MSR Simmerlight off Whiteblaze. It really does simmer pretty good and I think it will be my go to stove for the winter. That said, most of the time I use an alcohol stove if by myself and just boiling water and need to keep it lightweight. But I have an MSR Pocket Rocket for base camp cooking if camp is close to the trailhead and I don't need to pack it everyday. I really like the Caldera Cone and I am thinking of ordering one of those for my Ti pot. I know I am a gear whore, but different circumstances mean different cooking opportunities.”

“IMO this looks like a much better stove than the caldera, same fuel use...but I am not going to buy it...white gas kicks ass.

http://www.evernewamerica.com/EBY255.htm”

“White Gas is needlessly heavy for three season backpacking. It is best for winter trips and mountaineering.

The beauty of the Caldera Cone is that it is your windscreen and pot support all in one. It directs all the heat to the bottom and sides of your pot thus increasing fuel efficiency. I can boil 12oz of cold spring water on 15mL of denatured alcohol.

That is a neat looking evernew stove though. I have never seen it before, it must be relatively new.
last edited: 1/30/10 1:23:16 PM”

“Needlessly heavy in your opinion not mine. I use it year round and to me it all seasons. I have one alcohol stove and it has never seen the trail and in all probability never will unless I give it away. What you think is best is just a guess to me. I have been backpacking since 1968 so I think I know what I like. I have seen, used, bought, and lost a whole bunch of gear since then.”

“White Gas does kick ass but hiking those tenny shoe trails like the AT 3 season you could use anything. Almost every alcohol burner I have hiked with has used my quick HOT WATER waiting on there's to get warm. Most of the time I have already eaten and put my cooking gear up while alcohol burners are just settling in for a fine meal. Alcohol is very light and they do work and do what they are intended to do but WHITE GAZ does kick ass and so does Isobutane. oh yea......I have 17 different alcohol stoves.......19 different White Gas and 5 isobutane.....I only use one at a time and those 17 different alcohol stoves have never been in my pack, but they do look good in my gear room, and I have lots of Alcohol too. My latest stove is a Snow Peak Titanium micro stove the lightest and smallest iso on the market.

I say use the stove you want to dream about pending what you are cooking up. Now if your a Gear slut then Buy'em all.”

“camp fire”

“well I'll have to agree on the brokentail nutin beats a nice fire when the wind at Mt Rogers Wilburn Ridge is at 50 plus miles an hour and rain is running sideways and your fire is roaring a nice steak, Bake potatoe, corn on cobb while in shuck and a nice cold beer in the left hand, dogs in the tent whith me nice and dry and the ole lady is cooking by the fire.”

“That is a lot of stoves Fridge. I have one canister stove and two alcohol stoves. I had a white gas stove, but sold it about a month ago as I hadn't fired it up in about 4 years.

I guess different stoves for different styles. They all heat water, but it is hard to fit a white gas stove in with my 9.5lb base weight. Of course I am more of a goal oriented hiker than most.”

“when I was your age I was wanting the miles. Now at my age I want that 9.5 lb base weight. One thing about Backpacking is you hike your own hike and having the best stove, gear is a matter of opinion and I love it all. Backpacking with many of you has really giving me the excuse to go buy more gear. I love the madness.”

“To be honest Mocs why don't you just ditch the stove all together and buy/prepare food that does not need cooking?

Base weight?...That be what I call my fat ass.LOL”

“There is no "best" answer. Like all other gear choices it depends on what you feel works best for you.”

“I have done a few trips like that sticks, particularly on trips where I am going to do really long mileage days. For example I left the stove at home when 32oz Gatorade and I did the AT through Shenandoah NP in 4 days. I have to admit though, I got really tired of peanut butter and snickers which were the two foods with the most calories per ounce that I could find.

My first attempts with other alcohol stoves sent me back to my Snow Peak Gigapower canister stove as they were horribly inefficient and used so much fuel they weren't much lighter than a canister stove. The Caldera Cone is the only alcohol stove I have found (and I admit there are a lot I haven't tried) that made it worth the switch for me. If I were going on a really long trip without resupply, I still might take the canister stove because it might be lighter in that application. I could get 17 12oz boils out of one 4oz canister.”

“I could get 17 12oz boils out of one 4oz canister.

For breakfast alone I boil @least 32oz. On an average day I will boil close to 50oz and if I have a cup or 2 of joe or tea at night that can easily go past 64, I have a 20oz cup and I fill er up.”

“No matter what stove you use, fuel consumption can be reduced by lessening cook time.

If you are having dehydrated whatever for supper, do this during your lunch break:
Fill your back-up Nalgene with the appropriate amount of water required by the dehydrated's instructions, then empty the contents of the food bag into the bottle. Secure lid.

That evening, empty the ready-to-eat food into your pot and warm it to taste. This requires a mere fraction of the fuel needed for the full boil approach.

A well sealed baggie works, too, if you do not have a secondary-use Nalgene.”

“Geez I have only known that for about 35 years...and if you want to count my mother doing it with dried fruit and vegetables that would be almost my entire life.
last edited: 1/31/10 8:00:42 AM”

“Wow, this discussion seems to be getting heated.”

“Fire it up, Jack!

In the '70s my backpacking buddies and I would cook pinto beans and ham hocks or slab bacon on a SVEA white gas stove.
Cut up carrots would go in for the last half hour of the cooking time and some onion right at the end.
The meal took 1.5 hours to cook and the stove was good for 1.25 hours.
The stove had to be re-filled to finish the meal and we didn't mind.
Some times we would cook a pot of rice, the real thing that takes 20 minutes to cook, to go along with the bean soup.
Minute Rice sucks, in my opinion.
Sometimes it was brown rice and that took 45 minutes.
We lived on beans and rice for six nights in The Grand Canyon in January 1975.
We carried plenty of white gas.

I haven't cooked like that since 1980 when I was on the road for 90 days and camping all the way living cheap.

Fridge, I love your gear.............and you is OK, too.”

“My apologies...I have just been to the mountaintop a couple of times before most of these ppl were even born.”

“That's OK, old guy.

I have been there too and at a time when the only foreign-made gear I had was the Swedish SVEA stove and the Swiss Sigg fuel bottles and the Hunersdorff water bottles.

http://www.bradleyalpinist.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=211

Remember these, Sticks?
”

“Gawd! Yes I do. I was using Army surplus metal canteens at the time and the first time I saw somebody with those was in the RRG. I had gear envy for the first time!”

“yo MarkO I have one of those and an old aluminum SIGG fuel bottle.”

“I still have one or two of those.
It seems that my friends "adopted" some of my Hunersdorffs along the way many years ago.

They are good for cold weather and will not crack when dropped on rocks.

Made in Germany, are they.”

“Those ham hocks and pintos were dang good trail food and worth the wait!”

“All three stove types have their pros and cons and I have to admit if I were giving advice to a new backpacker I would recommend a canister stove for normal 3 season conditions. They are just the easiest to use and relatively lightweight.


White Gas Stoves

Pros
-Works great in sub freezing temps
-The best style stove for snow melting
-fuel is easy to find around the world
-fuel is cheap
-they tend to burn hot and cook fast

Cons
-Most sound like a jet engine (this bothers some, but not others but I think everyone can agree the name "whisperlite" is not appropriate)
-they are heavier than other types of stoves
-they require regular maintenance
-flareups (or lack of eyebrows - I have seen it more than once)
-burn sooty (moreso with gasoline or kerosene)

Canister Stoves

Pros
-easy to use
-cook food quickly
-burn clean

Cons
-they don't work well in subfreezing temps (remote inverted canisters excluded)
-fuel valves vary by county so this isn't a good choice for international travel.
-the fuel is expensive

Alcohol Stoves

pros
-light weight
-cheap
-maintenance free - no moving parts
-cheap easy to find fuel

cons
-no temp adjustment (therefore they are for boiling not cooking)
-they are not the best choice for melting snow
-they don't work great in sub freezing temps
-they are the slowest stoves

For boiling 50-64oz of water per day, an alcohol stove wouldn't be a good choice because it would take so much fuel to accomplish. Alcohol has fewer BTUs per ounce therefore the more water you have to boil, the less of a weight advantage you will have. The weight advantage of an Alcohol stove in in the stove and fuel bottle weigh so much less than either white gas or canister stoves, but the fuel itself is actually heavier for what you get out of it.

Naphtha or white gas has 1137.5 BTUs per ounce

Gasoline has 1170 BTUs per ounce


Propane has 1236.5 BTUs per ounce

Butane 1219.5 BTUs per ounce

Isobutene has 1216 BTUs per ounce


Ethanol has 723 BTUs per ounce

So choose the stove that best fits your conditions and backpacking style, or be like Fridge and have one of each. They each excel for a different type of backpacker and in different conditions. And of course while ultralite backpacking isn't the norm, neither is boiling 64oz of water per day! So there we are both not normal.”

“Fridge, when are we gonna cook beans and ham hocks on the trail?”