What's the best camping stove?

[Cowsham]

The Isle of Man? There's plenty of ironmongers and the like for sourcing meths, plus a B&Q in Douglas.

Yes there's Feltons in Ramsey about 10 miles away, b&q is in an industrial estate outside Douglas and there's Millets in Douglas. Normally I'd get over on the Wednesday boat, pick up a gas canister in Millets in Douglas ( cos you're not allowed to carry fuel on the boat ) and cycle the 15 miles up to camp. This year though I'm going over with my brother who's not a cyclist so will be a bit stranded and it's the Sunday boat so a lot of shops will be shut. Where I'm camping there's one little shop which probably won't have fuel of any sort but has food ( if you get to it early )

I could make a run myself to Feltons to get fuel on the Monday but don't want to be travelling too far after that as I think the 15 miles to camp will be enough for my brother. On the plus side he's a great cook and likes cooking, hence the need for a better stove. ( both of us big IOM TT fans )

Are you allowed meths on the boat?

Jonathan

Nope!


It is not permitted to travel with Dangerous Goods (which include explosives, gases, including compressed air in diving bottles, flammable liquids or solids or corrosive or toxic goods, etc, or containers that have previously carried these substances) without our prior written permission which must be obtained at least 24 hours prior to travel. For further information regarding security, prohibited articles, firearms or dangerous goods please contact our Reservations Team.

I'm not doing the written permission -- I know the answer I'll get

[slowster]

Website for one of the fishmongers on the IoM, which gives an indication of what might be available:

https://www.paddysfish.co.uk/shop/mix-match-box

Dover sole is one of my favourites, and it is a good example of when you would really appreciate a bigger frypan. 24cm is potentially too small for a 350g sole, but I think if you asked the fishmonger to remove the head you should probably just about get away with it, whereas it would be too large for a 21cm pan (especially one with a squared off side).

Another option is to do some of the prep and cooking in advance. For example, the sauce for Rick Stein's fish curry recipe below can be made at home and poured into a ziploc soup bag or similar. Cooking at the campsite would then just be the rice, plus simmering whatever fish fillets you buy in the pre-prepared sauce.

Manx kippers for breakfast the following day.

https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/ma ... -tamarind/

[willem jongman]

Do cars have to be pushed on with empty tanks?

[Cowsham]

I'm hoping to cook stuff in a pan ( I like a bit of fish or Bacon and onions etc ) -- heat up beans or caned stuff - boil water for tea.

I could make a run myself to Feltons to get fuel on the Monday but don't want to be travelling too far after that as I think the 15 miles to camp will be enough for my brother. On the plus side he's a great cook and likes cooking, hence the need for a better stove.

A great cook would likely find many of the stove options being suggested very limiting. In particular they would probably be a poor choice for cooking fish (with the exception of poaching). I suspect you can buy very good fresh fish on the IoM at good prices. A few suggestions:

1. If you are going to be cycling fairly short distances, take a compact BBQ like the Weber 'Go Anywhere'. It's heavy, but if you are fitter than your brother, it should not handicap you too much. Strap it across the top of your rear rack and panniers with bungee cords. Buy charcoal on the island. Recipe suggestion - bruschette to start, then barbecue a whole wild large gutted sea bass.

2. If you want to pan fry fish fillets, most of the camping cookware and some stoves will be too small and generally unsuitable, e.g. burners that are too small and result in an excessively hot spot in the centre of the pan and cooler edges, which will be exacerbated by the poor conductivity of the thin metal used for camping pans. I would want an aluminium non-stick frypan of around 24cm (not less) with a reasonable thickness to give even cooking, and a stove with a reasonably wide burner/flame, i.e. not a MSR Pocket Rocket or similar. A basic such fry pan should weigh 600g-800g: either take one you already have, buy one now, or buy one on the island (research retailers). I would avoid very thick fillets, e.g. wild sea bass, since I think they are better with an oven to finish off cooking through after intial frying.

3. A Trangia 25 might be ideal, but the frypan is only 21cm, is very thin, and has a squared off side. Trangia make a 24cm frypan with curved side which is thicker, will fit the 25, and is only ~400g (https://trangia.se/en/shop/frypan-725-24/), but I think you would struggle to find one in stock anywhere currently. A non-Trangia frypan could be used, but you would need to check it would sit OK on the windshield supports (needs to be just the right size to fit). Depending upon the sort of cooking someone does, I think it can make sense to have a combination of a Trangia non-stick pot plus either a Trangia hard anodised or Duossal pot to give flexibility.

Thanks I looked at those Weber bbq's and that might be an option - there's one caveat to that though -- sorry two caveats

1 I'll have to carry some medical equipment for him ( an extra 5kg ) and

2 the wee shop nearest camp may not keep coals although I could do a run to Ramsey for that on Monday.

Essentially I don't think there'll be much cycling after we setup camp apart from the nearby but fantastic race spectator vantage points accessed from the cycle paths.

My brother isn't a cook by trade just to be clear but is a dab hand at camp cooking as we do at the NW200 ( our local race ) a couple of weeks before.

He wants to experience the TT again while he is still able and this is the only way we can get over there these days cos of the very limited sailings from NI or SI so booking a car on seems impossible. ( not to mention the TT sailing prices! )

He's generally fit but not bike fit and also has motor nerve damage which limits him. He can still hold onto a cycle and wants to travel over with me on my annual pilgrimage.

[Carlton green]

Yes there's Feltons in Ramsey about 10 miles away, b&q is in an industrial estate outside Douglas and there's Millets in Douglas. Normally I'd get over on the Wednesday boat, pick up a gas canister in Millets in Douglas ( cos you're not allowed to carry fuel on the boat ) and cycle the 15 miles up to camp. This year though I'm going over with my brother who's not a cyclist so will be a bit stranded and it's the Sunday boat so a lot of shops will be shut. Where I'm camping there's one little shop which probably won't have fuel of any sort but has food ( if you get to it early )

I could make a run myself to Feltons to get fuel on the Monday but don't want to be travelling too far after that as I think the 15 miles to camp will be enough for my brother. On the plus side he's a great cook and likes cooking, hence the need for a better stove. ( both of us big IOM TT fans )

Are you allowed meths on the boat?

Jonathan

Nope!


It is not permitted to travel with Dangerous Goods (which include explosives, gases, including compressed air in diving bottles, flammable liquids or solids or corrosive or toxic goods, etc, or containers that have previously carried these substances) without our prior written permission which must be obtained at least 24 hours prior to travel. For further information regarding security, prohibited articles, firearms or dangerous goods please contact our Reservations Team.

I'm not doing the written permission -- I know the answer I'll get

I guess that the above is extracted from section 14 of this: https://www.steam-packet.com/termsandconditions

Sometimes it is better to beg for forgives than to seek permission. With no obvious common sense being displayed someone could be forgiven for just putting a small bottle with meth’s in an opaque bag into their luggage and just seeing what happens.

I wouldn’t ask the Ferry Company because whoever you speak to isn’t likely to be helpful and might be the opposite - rules is rules, etc.

What’s allowed, what’s not allowed and how to work around the issues is probably well known to the campsite owner; the owner will have been through the topic with many customers.

Do cars have to be pushed on with empty tanks?

What do you think? You can take connected gas bottles in ‘your’ caravan and camper van too. Obviously that’s safe as are the bottles of spirits carried in the duty free section / bar. That’s life.

[Cowsham]

Do cars have to be pushed on with empty tanks?

if you see the price of fuel over there you might want to be pushing it back on.

Read terms of carriage think it mentions all that -- I know that LPG powered car tanks need to be able to be isolated off with a valve / tap. Or if your vehicle hasn't got an automatic shut off ( petrol or diesel ) eg most older bikes have a fuel tap.

[Cowsham]

Are you allowed meths on the boat?

Jonathan

Nope!


It is not permitted to travel with Dangerous Goods (which include explosives, gases, including compressed air in diving bottles, flammable liquids or solids or corrosive or toxic goods, etc, or containers that have previously carried these substances) without our prior written permission which must be obtained at least 24 hours prior to travel. For further information regarding security, prohibited articles, firearms or dangerous goods please contact our Reservations Team.

I'm not doing the written permission -- I know the answer I'll get

I guess that the above is extracted from section 14 of this: https://www.steam-packet.com/termsandconditions

Sometimes it is better to beg for forgives than to seek permission. With no obvious common sense being displayed someone could be forgiven for just putting a small bottle with meth’s in an opaque bag into their luggage and just seeing what happens.

You could take a swig of it and tell them no that's for me.

[Cowsham]

I get asked every time I arrive at the port " have you any flammable fuels or camping gas canisters? "

Sometimes they have a good root around in my gear -- happened with the van too so well used to it.

[Psamathe]

nb Most of the expensive multifuel stoves I've looked at wont burn meths (unless I've misunderstood - which is very possible). Paraffin, petrol, canister gas, Coleman, etc. but none seem to like meths. I appreciate that the "coke can" stoves and the small Trianga things are meths, but not multi-fuel I've been looking at.

When touring I generally use my stove only for boiling water for coffee (which for me mens a lot of use!). I tend to depart early'ish and certainly before others in tents staying for several days have even woken-up and I like a coffee so I use stove to boil water when I 1st get-up and then finish boiling, drinking whilst packing-up and depart. So how quickly a stove cools after use and how quickly excess fuel evaporates is an issue as I don't want a still hot stove in my panniers.

Ian

[Psamathe]

I get asked every time I arrive at the port " have you any flammable fuels or camping gas canisters? "

Sometimes they have a good root around in my gear -- happened with the van too so well used to it.

I've always had a couple of gas canisters and always answered yes and it's never caused a problem. Several times Portsmouth to Caen I've been searched but only ever one pannier of my choosing - yes, really, they ask me to chose one of my panniers and bring it into the office to be searched!

Ian

[Jdsk]

You could take a swig of it and tell them no that's for me.

You may joke...

... in some scenarios of our walking and cycling trips the final bottle of spirit is selected to serve both purposes as needed.

Jonathan

[Cowsham]

I get asked every time I arrive at the port " have you any flammable fuels or camping gas canisters? "

Sometimes they have a good root around in my gear -- happened with the van too so well used to it.

I've always had a couple of gas canisters and always answered yes and it's never caused a problem. Several times Portsmouth to Caen I've been searched but only ever one pannier of my choosing - yes, really, they ask me to chose one of my panniers and bring it into the office to be searched!

Ian

I'll not test that with steampacket -- missing the TT is too high a price to pay --- there's no next sailing.

[slowster]

My brother isn't a cook by trade just to be clear but is a dab hand at camp cooking

If you have not done so already, I suggest you discuss it with your brother if you are going to be relying on his culinary skills. He knows best what he would be able and like to cook, and consequently what kit he would need.

[Cowsham]

You could take a swig of it and tell them no that's for me.

You may joke...

... in some scenarios of our walking and cycling trips the final bottle of spirit is selected to serve both purposes as needed.

Jonathan

Would not have put you down as a meths drinker Jon

[Cowsham]

My brother isn't a cook by trade just to be clear but is a dab hand at camp cooking

If you have not done so already, I suggest you discuss it with your brother if you are going to be relying on his culinary skills. He knows best what he would be able and like to cook, and consequently what kit he would need.

And what I can carry.