Camping Stoves

Camping Stoves Information

A good camping stove can make or break a camping trip.  If all goes well you can have home cooked meals while deep in the woods, and if it doesn't you'll end up with charred food or raw, mushy meals.  With so many camping stoves to choose from, how do you decide which to buy?  In choosing a stove, you need to consider what you'll be cooking, where you'll be traveling, and how you'll be traveling.

One of the main decisions you'll be making is what type of fuel your stove will run on.  If you're backpacking two main choices are between white gas or multi-fuel stoves and butane/isobutene stoves.  White gas is easily the most common stove fuel in the U.S.  It burns cleanly and evenly, is relatively cheap, and is plentiful in North America.  Though it can be tougher to find outside of the U.S., most modern stoves which burn white gas can also burn other fuels like kerosene or unleaded gasoline.  If you're traveling outside of the U.S. these multi-fuel campingstoves will be your best bet.  Butane stoves run on canisters of butane fuel which are not refillable or recyclable. 

However, unlike white gas stoves, butane stoves require no priming and can be easily adjusted to simmer food.  They're handy for backpackers who don't mind a little extra weight in return for quick lighting and ease of use.

Camping Stoves - Tips and Advice

Fuel issues aside, backpacking campingstoves come in a variety of designs.  Be sure to test your stove for stability, as you'll probably be cooking on uneven surfaces, especially if you're doing a lot of backpacking.  A heat reflector is also a worthwhile investment as it will save fuel and time when you're cooking.

If most of your camping takes place in a campground near your car, you can afford to carry around a lot more weight.  Base-camp style camping can be great, giving you multiple burners to allow you to crank out meals for big groups or to prepare multiple courses at once.  You can also find propane stoves that will put out a lot of heat and run on the same propane tanks you use for your backyard grill.  These larger stoves can also be handy for backyard barbeques, allowing you to get all of your cooking done outside instead of running back and forth from the kitchen to the patio. 

Whatever your choice, be sure to give your new stove a few trial runs before heading out into the woods, since any unexpected complications can mean surviving on cold food until you can make it back out of the woods.