What's the best camping stove?

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freiston
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by freiston »

Jdsk wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:27pm
freiston wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:21pm I always end up with very sooty pan bottoms too.
Some Trangisti cut the fuel with water to reduce this. We don't.

Jonathan
Nor do I. I tried it once but it didn't seem to make much difference to the sooting but my impression was that it did make the flame significantly cooler.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
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Cowsham
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

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freiston wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:21pm I have a Trangia 27 and 25, both Duossal and both with kettles. I have alcohol burners and a gas burner (Go System gas "conversion kit" - basically a copy of the Trangia gas burner).

For stability and performance in windy weather, I think you'd be hard pushed to beat them. On uneven ground, it's not too difficult to find stuff to put under the rim of the base to make it level without compromising stability too.

The alcohol burner, if you've never used one before, is a surprise in operation - silent with an invisible flame (in bright daylight) - quite disconcerting at first. It is not a strong heat (but can get close to it in a high wind) and is hard to control. The simmer ring is basically a disc that can be drawn across the top of the burner to adjust the aperture. Once it's on and the stove is burning, it can be quite a challenge trying to adjust it (I usually use metal cutlery). I always end up with very sooty pan bottoms too. Still nice to use and gets the job done; I like it with the simmer ring well over for slow simmers.

The gas burner is typical of gas burners (but with the wonderful wind shield). Mine has (as does the Trangia version), a preheat loop for when the weather is cold and the gas is struggling to vaporise.

Both burners are quite small and it's not much bother to carry both a gas and an alcohol burner to give you some flexibility - you could even use the alcohol burner as a stand-alone second stove, using tent skewer pegs as a pot stand and something to shield the wind.
When you say alcohol burner does that mean liquid or gel or either?
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Cowsham
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

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Jdsk wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:27pm
freiston wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:21pm I always end up with very sooty pan bottoms too.
Some Trangisti cut the fuel with water to reduce this. We don't.

Jonathan

What's this mean Jon?
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Jdsk
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by Jdsk »

This recurrent discussion:
https://bushcraftuk.com/community/threa ... ve.143982/

Jonathan
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freiston
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

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Cowsham wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:49pm
freiston wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:21pm I have a Trangia 27 and 25, both Duossal and both with kettles. I have alcohol burners and a gas burner (Go System gas "conversion kit" - basically a copy of the Trangia gas burner).
<SNIP>
When you say alcohol burner does that mean liquid or gel or either?
I mean the regular Trangia burner aka "meths" burner. AFAIK it's not designed or intended for gel and there is a gel-specific burner made by Trangia. I've never used gel. I tend to call it an alcohol burner rather than meths burner because I don't use meths (horrible stinking stuff) but I use bio-ethanol instead. I would use meths if that was all that was available to me but bio-ethanol imho is much more pleasant to use.

Re. your other query to Jonathan, some people swear by adding water to meths/bio-ethanol etc. (usually 10%) in order to reduce sooting - but in my experience, it doesn't make enough difference to the soot to bother with plus it makes the fuel weaker.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
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Cowsham
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by Cowsham »

freiston wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 4:19pm
Cowsham wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:49pm
freiston wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 3:21pm I have a Trangia 27 and 25, both Duossal and both with kettles. I have alcohol burners and a gas burner (Go System gas "conversion kit" - basically a copy of the Trangia gas burner).
<SNIP>
When you say alcohol burner does that mean liquid or gel or either?
I mean the regular Trangia burner aka "meths" burner. AFAIK it's not designed or intended for gel and there is a gel-specific burner made by Trangia. I've never used gel. I tend to call it an alcohol burner rather than meths burner because I don't use meths (horrible stinking stuff) but I use bio-ethanol instead. I would use meths if that was all that was available to me but bio-ethanol imho is much more pleasant to use.

Re. your other query to Jonathan, some people swear by adding water to meths/bio-ethanol etc. (usually 10%) in order to reduce sooting - but in my experience, it doesn't make enough difference to the soot to bother with plus it makes the fuel weaker.
Ah thanks
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Cowsham
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by Cowsham »

Think I've come to the conclusion it's going to be one of the Trangia's with the gas burner. I like the fact that the gas burner is remote so everything will sit flat instead of perched on top of a gas canister.

Came across these two videos

Comparing the 27 to the 25
https://youtu.be/YM3taPyOyn4

And detailed review of 25 with gas burner

https://youtu.be/a23iL0S27LI

Very impressed with this system.
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freiston
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by freiston »

I tend to use my gas burner more than my alcohol burner, because it is cleaner, quicker and easier to control.

There's quite a lot of other odds and sods available beyond what comes with the set. I have a Tundra lid for my 25 which I wouldn't want to be without, it fits both pans and stores away in the set nicely. I keep meaning to get one for the 27 too but like a lot of stuff, they're hard to get hold of. I have a 20cm aluminium plate (came with a "Camping Set 24") which I tend to take with the 27 - it sits inverted on top of the frypan when bundled away, giving me an extra plate/lid/frypan. A pot cosy can be very useful, especially when cooking for two. For example, boil your pasta or rice but take it off the stove before done and put the pan in the cosy to let it finish cooking and keep it warm whilst you cook up your bolognese or curry etc. - can also be used to make a slow porridge that doesn't stick to the pan so much. I made my pot cosy from a cheap thin reflective-foiled closed cell foam mat and some reinforced aluminium foil tape.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
Carlton green
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by Carlton green »

Cowsham wrote: 23 Apr 2022, 10:27pm Think I've come to the conclusion it's going to be one of the Trangia's with the gas burner. I like the fact that the gas burner is remote so everything will sit flat instead of perched on top of a gas canister.

Came across these two videos

Comparing the 27 to the 25
https://youtu.be/YM3taPyOyn4

And detailed review of 25 with gas burner

https://youtu.be/a23iL0S27LI

Very impressed with this system.
It’s hard to argue against the merits of gas, but an awful lot of folk have found the meth’s burner to be at least adequate and the merits of gas not worth the additional costs and complexity. Perhaps give the meth’s burner an extended trial first?

I’m often amazed with what some folk manage to achieve with simple things. Here’s one example from Trangia: https://trangia.se/en/stormchef-of-the-year/ .
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bohrsatom
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by bohrsatom »

When I bought my Trangia it was better value to buy a set that included the gas burner, then pick up the spirit burner later rather than the other way around. Aftermarket the gas burner is £50-60ish and the spirit closer to £10

If you’re alone, go for the 27 otherwise for a couple you’ll appreciate the extra capacity of the 25
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

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freiston wrote: 24 Apr 2022, 12:21am a slow porridge that doesn't stick to the pan so much
I would replace the outer pot with the non-stick version. The non-stick coating is protected by the inner pot when packed up. Obviously only non-metal utensils should be used with non-stick, but it should be a doddle to clean.
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by pedalsheep »

slowster wrote: 24 Apr 2022, 11:01am
freiston wrote: 24 Apr 2022, 12:21am a slow porridge that doesn't stick to the pan so much
I would replace the outer pot with the non-stick version. The non-stick coating is protected by the inner pot when packed up. Obviously only non-metal utensils should be used with non-stick, but it should be a doddle to clean.
The hard anodized pots also have great non stick qualities and are less easy to damage. I wouldn't try frying anything in the standard aluminium frying pan unless you enjoy scrubbing!
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Cowsham
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by Cowsham »

bohrsatom wrote: 24 Apr 2022, 7:56am When I bought my Trangia it was better value to buy a set that included the gas burner, then pick up the spirit burner later rather than the other way around. Aftermarket the gas burner is £50-60ish and the spirit closer to £10

If you’re alone, go for the 27 otherwise for a couple you’ll appreciate the extra capacity of the 25
I've done it exactly this way last night -- bought the 25 non stick version with gas burner. I'll buy the meths burner today along with a kettle ( couldn't seem to buy the non stick kit with kettle and gas burner combination )
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hamster
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

Post by hamster »

Interesting discussion. There is no single right answer, only what suits better.

I am perhaps a lone voice for white gasoline stoves - good simmering and they belt out tons of heat if necessary. The fuel is very compact and goes a long way. I use Aspen 4T, a synthetic super clean fuel (Unleaded only as a last resort). Stove is a Coleman 550B (long out of production or an MSR Whisperlite which is lighter and comes with several bottle sizes. The MSR is more fiddly to light and needs care and practice to be 100% safe.

I use a Jetboil for overnighters as it's light and compact - ideal for drinks, noodles or a boiled egg, but I wouldn't try to cook on it. I'm not much taken by other gas stoves due to poor wind shielding and instability. Modern mini gas stoves have a tiny burner so heat is very concentrated in one spot, with more chance of burning.

I've never tried a Svea or similar type.

Trangia pans beat any others (especially the kettle) and I'd put Trangia tops for bulletproof reliability derived from its simplicity. My only gripe is that it's a bit slow, can burn food and the fuel is bulky.
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Re: What's the best camping stove?

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hamster wrote: 24 Apr 2022, 12:36pm My only gripe is that it's a bit slow, can burn food and the fuel is bulky.
Trangia bottle under down tube so not a space problem.
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