Camping Stoves
In my book there are two kinds of camping stoves to select from: single-burner or multiple-burner camp
stoves.
Single-burner stoves are more suited to the lone camper on an overnight camp or backpacking trip, where small
size and light weight are the prime consideration.
Multiple-burner camp stoves have two or more burners, and are better suited to camping situations
where size and weight are less important. This includes any camping where you will be in the one place for
several days or longer, and usually where you don't have to hump your own equipment in a backpack for miles at
a time.
A single-burner camping stove is perfect for brewing up a cup of coffee, tea or drinking chocolate, or heating
up a packet of dehydrated food for a quick carbohydrate hit while miles from any real nutritious,
wholesome food on one burner — especially when you're in a hurry.
A two or three burner stove does allow you to cook meat on one cooking ring and vegetables on the other, or
pasta and sauce. So a multi burner stove is much more suited to cooking for a group or a family.
The most common types of fuel for camp stoves are:
Propane gas stoves: use bottles of liquefied gas. The smaller one-burner stoves use disposable
canisters of propane or butane gas. These are lightweight but a bit expensive. The larger versions have
rechargeable gas bottles that can be refilled at camping supply stores or at most gas station where you buy the
petrol for your car.
Kerosene camping stoves: usually have a hand-operated pressure pump. They need to be pre-heated
or else the kero won't even burn, so most campers carry a small bottle of alcohol (meths) or a solid fuel tablet to
get it started safely. (In case you're confused here, Kerosene fuel is called paraffin in Great Britain.) Kero is a
slightly messy to use, but comparatively safe and quite cheap to run. The fuel is easy to obtain.
Petrol camping stoves: mostly have a hand pressure pump. You pump up the air pressure at the
top of the tank, and the fuel is forced out through a tiny pin hole. Early petrol stoves did without the pump. You
just heated the tank in your hands, and the warmed air in the top of the tank expanded and pushed the fuel out.
Again, you need to pre-heat the stove to avoid a sooty flame. Some campers use a fuel jelly for this, though the
previous mentioned substances work fine as well. You can't use just any old petrol (gas to you in the USA
to run these petrol stoves. You should use Shellite or 'white gas' which you can buy from a camping supply store.
In an emergency when nothing else is available, you can get away with unleaded petrol (normal fuel for most cars
today), but not for extended periods. It is bad for the stove... It will clog up with soot and other gunk.
Alcohol camp stoves: are my personal favorite (see the photo on the Contact me page). The alcohol fuel is called Methylated Spirits in the U.K. or just 'metho'
here in Australia.
It is easy to obtain in any hardware store and is pretty safe, as fuels go. It contains poison
though, so don't ever try to drink it. If it doesn't kill you, you will go blind. (I am not joking... I
promise you.)
Metho fuel doesn't need priming or pumping, like the other liquid fuels I mentioned do, and it burns
cleanly.
The alcohol stoves I use are made by Trangia in Sweden, and can be bought as complete cook kits, in
different sizes. Forget the cheap shoddy imitations, the Trangia stoves are the original ones and built to last a
lifetime.
I own and use a large Trangia cooking kit with a fry pan lid, two saucepans, a grip handle and even a little
water-boiling kettle with a spout. And I have a backpacking version (shown here) that's much more compact.
WARNING! The small blue flame of an alcohol stove cannot be seen during bright daylight or sunlight. So
I have been told there are several accidents every year when inexperienced campers (usually kids) think
the flame has gone out and try to pour more fuel into the stove. When it flares up, WHOOSH! ... the
person pouring jerks their arm away in reflex action; and this can spill fuel on any nearby person or
onto your tent. People have been burned, badly, and tents have gone up in flames. You already know you
should never, ever, cook inside your camping tent... don't you?
ALL fires and all stoves can be dangerous. Please remember this. |
Solid Fuel stoves: These use little white tablets of solid fuel, similar to the ones issued to
soldiers in combat zones.
The design of the stove part depends on the brand you buy, but the fuel tablets will work on their
own if you can find a few small rocks or half bricks to hold your drink container above the flame.
As far as I'm concerned these stoves are better than nothing, but not much better. It's worth having a few of
the tablets though as emergency fire lighters or as your backup stove. They will just about manage to heat a small
can of beans or brew you a cup of tea or instant coffee. Just don't expect to actually cook anything with
them unless you are really keen.
Now let's take a look at Sleeping Bags.
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