Suggestions..........Stoves

“My wife was kind enough to free up some budget for a stove, after a conversation we had about my trip next weekend. Started out - " you have to get anything else for this weekend? Well, I said, I have had my eye on a new stove......." Love it when a plan comes together! (just kidding).

Anyways - let me know what you think is the best stove to get. Been doing a lot of reading lately on all kinds, and I think I what a Pocket Rocket. Anyone know if it's a multi fuel? It's uses, what even one I get, will be for hiking places at lower elevations, as I'm not climbing any mountians soon. Isle Royal, Porkies, Smokies, MAYBE, AT at some point. What do you think?”

“There are alot of old threads about stoves you can search on from the bottom of the page.

I guess any more you have to decide on what fuel you want to use first, then go from there. If you want cheap and universal, go with white gas. I like the Apex II stove in that category.

If you don't mind lugging around cannisters, there are alot of new, high-tech, expensive stoves that weigh only a few ounces. Primus seems to be popular.

I'm sticking with white gas for now. It works good in all conditions.”

“Hey lag -

I just bought a pocket rocket..it's not multi fuel..it's iso-
butane.

Real light, real easy to use, and inexpensive. I bought mine at REI and then used a 20% off coupon. It retails for about $40.

The short canisters of iso-butane weigh about 7.8 oz but the stove is just a couple ounces. I think both total around 11 oz!!

I've heard that the iso-butane is not good in cold temps (below minus 10F) and in high altitude. Sounds like this will not be a problem for you.

It worked great for me on the AT and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Good Luck!!”

“laqtis - I also have a Pocket Rocket, it's the bomb! A wise choice for lightweight fast-packin'.

For mountain and winter expeditions I use a Primus MFS and white gas.”

“I agree on the pocket rocket! It actually simmers...great little stove.

For winter and elevation I have a coleman extreme.”

“...and a msr dragonfly”

“I have a Snowpeak Giga, and it's worked well in almost everything I hike in. In the wintertime when it can get to -30C before the windchill, I usually stay inside(wimp!). Up to that point though, it works really well even with the iso-butane mixture. Just stick it inside your coat to warm the cannister up before you use it. I've also used it at 3000 metres(about 9500ft) and it works well there too.

My $0.02....”

“Markill Devil, 5.5 oz., 20 bucks. Simmers, uses the standard canisters, what more could you want? For price and weight I don't see how you could beat it. There is also a version with Piezo igniter, I think it costs about five dollars more.”

“Make one yerself and use it till you figure out which stove you want to buy off the shelf.”

“Laqtis, I agree with buddur. Make aa alcohol stove to use short term. Then as you hike and see what others are using. Ask to check 'em out, most folks will be happy to show off gear. Then you can ask questions,see em in action and get a little hands on before you lay out any $$$$. I know quite a few hikers who prefer alcohol stoves. If you dont then no biggy,dump it and go shopping. BTW there is an EMS store at 14 mile and Orchard lake (farm hills) and an REI in Troy, and Northville (6 mile and Haggerty) and the Benchmark on Grandriver in downtown Farmington. You can check em out in person. If you go to REI in Northville, try to talk to "Coy" he through hiked the AT a couple years ago. He knows his gear.”

“I like a stove that uses a fuel cannister like butane. I don't like fooling with White Gas.”

“I'm an alcohol burner, I like the trangia (sp)stove comes with the pots and pans. There's no way to mess this stove up. No parts to stop up, no repair kits, no O-rings no tools, all you need is a match.”

“Just be careful not to melt yer slippers! (BUDDUR)”

“I am more than happy with my GAZ, $30+/-, probably less now. No problems, it simmers.”

“I have the MSR Superfly and I love it!It is only a few more ounces than the Pocketrocket and will accept almost any brand of fuel cannister on the market.A big plus traveling.I have had it for over a year and have used it in temps just above freezing with no problems.Windy days do increase boiling time unless the wind is blocked.The only real drawback is that I'm afraid to use it with my Outback oven,although it close to being one a few"prized" pieces of gear.”

“My poor slippers...I haven't seen 'em since my Dolly Sods trip last month.”

“I started with a sterno stove then used a homemade alcohol (pepsi can). I finally bought a Primus Himalaya Multi Fuel. I love it. I'll buy another Primus in a heart beat if anything happens to this one.”

“Thanks for the great suggestions. Will be going to make my decision on Wednesday when I take my friend to get outfitted. We will be going to the rei store in troy (thanks hyper and thanks again for the info on the trail! By the way, your daughter is a real cutie. Good to see your starting her off early by getting her on the trail. Hope to get my son out there soon as well). From what I gather, I would love to get an alcohol burner, but I really don't want to make one and the one I want is a little outta my price range (Trangia).

Does anyone know if you can re-fuel Iso-butane? Were do you get it and how much does it run? Looks like I'm still leaning toward the pocket rocket, but the fuel questions are what will make the decision for me. I already use a fuel tablet stove, but it's real small and unstable with a pan on it.”

“I've got a question for you guys with canister stoves.
Let's say you return from a trip with a half-empty canister. Now another weekend trip comes up and you figure you need a half-canister plus a little spare ... do you frequently have to carry a second canister ? Do you have a bunch of half-empty canisters filling your garage ?
With my gas stove, I always start a trip with a full tank.
Just curious ...”

“i know how many cookings i should get from one.

i will carry old ones on overnighters, or carry 2 that are on their last legs.

2 almost empty ones weigh next to nothing, but, then again, i use snow peak 110g cannisters.”

“hangman, I have a campingaz 270 stove and was also in a quandry as to what to do with the extra half empty containers. I purchased a CG 270 lantern and use the half empties to fuel the lantern. I use the lantern on car camping trips and at home around the yard at night. I still hate throwing away the canisters. It looks like there ought to be way to refill them.”

“I am doing what a couple of people suggest further up in the post. I purchased an esbit stove and will use it for a while.
Right now all my backpacking is in mild weather. The esbit has worked fine for me. Just carry a piece of tin foil as a wind screen. The esbit will cook ramen noodles and make coffee and instant grits with no problem. It is very low cost and the fuel is easy to estimate. I just take one tab for each meal I plan on cooking and maybe one or two extra.
When I get to do winter or group backpacking I will purchase a better stove. For now the esbit works fine.”

“I'm glad someone brought up empty canisters. Is there anywhere that recycles canisters? This is the main reason I don't use my old canister stove or lantern often and why I haven't upgraded my MSR Whisperlite to something like the Pocketrocket.”

“i use them to make kettle drums for my spider-monkey reggae band.”

“I like the esbit. I have a canister stove too--an old Hank Roberts. I take it if I want to do more than boil water. On occasion we use a Sierra wood burning stove. It is nice for longer trips and in cold weather when you want lots of hot drinks and soup.”

“I am a user of the Sierra Zip also - now if I could just figure out a use for the creosote on the bottom of the pot ... anyways I never have to worry about running out of fuel.

HOI”

“Check out the Exponent Xtreme. Cool canister stove, great in cold weather, great simmer. There is also an Exponent lantern. It fills a lot like a refillable lighter. Plug the fuel canister into the lantern and fill. Unplug lantern, plug canister into stove and cook away.
At home the questionable canisters are relegated to lantern filling for short trips. When the canister is completely empty, pierce it with the supplied green key, and recycle with your aluminum cans. Way cool.”

“Esbits rock. I have been playing with pop-can alky stoves also; it's gratifing to build your own (or 20 of your own LOL) but Esbits are still simpler and lightest.”

“When I inquired about the used canister issue, the young guy who handles most of the camping gear at our local all-purpose sporting goods store, and who spends a pretty fair amount of time in/on the woods and waters up here, told me that if a steel canister (other than the Coleman Xponent models which are aluminum) is fully empty, that he has seen a crank can opener used around the bottom seam to open them up for recycling. The caution is "fully empty." Anyone ever try this?”

“You mentioned lightweight in another thread, laqtis. The Esbit and Zip Stove are both very lightweight. Like medic girl, I carry a GigaPower stove for lightweight trips. I have the titanium (what would you expect?) model (4oz) with titanium pots (10oz). The stove and one fuel canister fit into the pots. The pots hold two canisters without the stove, but the stove is so small it's not a much larger package. This is a clean, reliable set-up. I believe radagast just bought one too, and said that he loved it.”

“Rad, I don't think I want to hear about your monkey. LOL”

“I recently picked up a new cook set from GSI. They call it their Hard Anodized Boiler - 1.25 qt. It has two pieces, with the top also serving as a 16 oz. cup or double boiler, hard anodized aluminum and weighs 9.2 oz. The anodizing is supposed to radically improve abrasion resistence, heat transfer, clean up, and prevent aluminum/food interaction. It is sized so a fuel canister and stove can fit inside, and comes with a mesh carry bag. Retails around $18 (I got a discount on mine through our trail club) so it's a might cheaper than titanium and the perfect size for my PocketRocket or similar solo/two person setups. The small handles are the only drawback.”

“the giga rocks, yo!”

“pekka -

I just use a army two piece mess kit. Must be alum. but it really cleans up nicely. not worried 'bout the alum thing. There wost things that go into the body. The set you just bought sound good as well. Maybe if I out grow this one, I'll concider that one..

arclite -

Gotta say that I tink I made the right choice with the pocket rocket. i bought the bigger fuel canister 'cause I have to see how long lasts fo future trips. I'm packing up right now and I tell ya, it stores real nice. The canister onthe other hand (11 or 16 oz.) is big and heavy but I can deal with it for now. On future trips, maybe I'll do it different....”

“....my how things change :)


So, after two years of using my Pocket Rocket, I finally bought an alcohol stove:

Mini Trangia 28-T

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=4332909&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&langId=-1

I noticed that Trangia has used this stove with a couple of different wind screens. Sgt. Rock had some good things to say about this stove.

What I've like right off the bat was the storage of the fuel inside the burner. It will hold enough fuel (2/3rds full) for about 25 minutes full blast. I had it boil 1 cup of H2O in around 5 minutes, with hardly any noise! The Rocket sounds just like it's name.

I like what I see very much from this set up, I can't wait to get it on the trail this weekend. Anyone ever use this stove before?”

“I've looked at it but I still just use my homemade alky stove. I've considered getting it for some time now, but unlike my hubby I can resist the urge of buying new gear. Most of the time. Honest!”

“lol TB...

i am happy wif ma pocket rocket...”

“Never heard of that one laqtis. I will be trying out a new alcohol store this weekend. The Etowah Alcohol Stove (which I purchaced at backapckingdeals.com) is small and very compact. Came with its own 2 oz bottle to hold fuel. I had enough room to fit the windscreen that came with my dragonfly into the stuff sack that came with it. The thing maybe weighs 6 ozs with fuel and everything. We shall see how it works this weekend.”

“Wounded Knee-You may want to try it without the windscreen first. It needs air form what I understand. Try it both ways and let me know how it works for you.”

“I have optimus nova. It's heavier than the canister stoves, but it will burn just about anything. I brought it out ice fishing it cooked just as well in sub-zero temps. as it does in the summer. In addition to that it’s guaranteed until I die.”

“Thanks for the advice bink, I will let you know.”

“Great stove you got there laqtis, fits together well, light, fuel-efficient. I really like mine. Some of the pepsi-can stoves are lighter and more powerful, but don't offer simmer rings, an easy way to put it out, or a way to store fuel you haven't used. I haven't tested this, but I think it's also more fuel efficient than the home-made stoves. You could easily make another windscreen for it, though that would spoil the way the thing fits together.”

“I have the Pocket Rocket and like it. I also suggest making a Pepsi stove and spending your money on something else.”

“well MM, the burner, pot, grip handle and wincreen come in at $30. - all that stuff and $10 left over from the pocket rocket that you could have spent on something else ;op.”