What kind of stove should I buy for backpacking?
This is something we get asked from time to time at outdoorscotland.co.uk. There are loads of different camping stoves on the market and choosing one can sometimes be a tricky task for the first time buyer. Decisions should be based not just on weight but on fuel availability, ease of use and in some cases cooking speed.
Gas camping stoves
The gas camping stoves that we sell are some of our most popular products. Gas has the advantage of being easy to use, heats food and water very quickly and doesn’t make your pots black.
Gas backpacking stoves are lightweight and tend to pack away very neatly. We would generally recommend a gas stove with a hosepipe attachment over the ones that simply screw on top of a gas bottle. Having the burner close to the ground usually results in a more stable setup and there is less likelyhood of your long-awaited mac & cheese ending up spilled over the grass. However for the lightest pack weight, screw on top stoves generally win.
Gas canisters are widely available. For the stoves we sell, you neeed a self sealing screw-thread type bottle. Outdoors stores and campsite shops almost always have a large selection of different sizes to suit the length of trip you are going to take.
The downside of gas stoves is that the canisters end up in the landfill, at least in our area they do – there is no recycling here for pressurised cans. Also be aware that it is unlikely you will be allowed to carry the canisters on a plane, so make sure you can buy them at your destination.
Gas tends to burn less efficiently in really cold temperatures and in high winds you’ll need a windshield of some type.
Alcohol/Meths Camping Stoves
These stoves use a simple burner filled with alcohol or meths to heat the food. They usually come complete with windshield and pots in one handy unit. Trangia are the best known make of meths camping stoves but other brands are available.
Meths stoves take quite a bit longer than gas or petrol stoves to heat up food and water, but they are cheap to run.
You need to take care when using and filling a meths stove as the flame is often invisible, especially in bright light. When burning meths, your pots will have a tendancy to retain a black residue on the outside.
Strangely, because of their design meths stoves cook food faster when it’s windy.
In the UK, meths is available over the counter at chemists, usually in 500ml bottles. Don’t rely on these bottles staying sealed when in your rucksack though. Transfer the contents in to a proper liquid fuel bottle for transit. Again, you wont be allowed to carry the fuel on planes so check where you can buy some meths at your destination.
Petrol Stoves
Petrol camping stoves aer popular amongst mountaineers and winter backpackers. They are efficient and cheap to run. They boil water in no time and many of them can run on a variety of different fuels such as unleaded petrol, coleman fuel, white fuel, kerosene or aviation fuel and others.
Fuel availability is high as most places have a petrol station, but check with the attendant that your fuel bottle is permitted before filling it up at the self-serve.
The downside to these stoves is that depending on which fuel you are using, they can require a bit of maintenance to keep the burners clear and running properly. They are also heavier than other stoves mentioned here.
It can be a bit daunting the first time you use a petrol camping stove as the whole pumping, priming then fully lighting process seems fairly complex. Once you’ve done it a couple of times though it becomes very easy.
Again, for a petrol stove you’ll need a proper fuel bottle.
Solid fuel stoves
There are some stoves available very cheaply that use paraffin blocks as their fuel. You can just about get by with these if you are on a tight budget or going very light but they are inefficient, leave your pots black and it takes a lot of tablets to generate any decent heat. Fuel for these stoves is generally found in outdoors stores.
Occasionally you will also find stoves that burn twigs and kindling in a chamber with your pots placed on top. These tend to be heavier and bigger, perhaps aimed at car campers or fishermen. The bonus with these stoves is that the fuel is free. You also feel like a real outdoorsman lighting a fire to cook your dinner on. Check with campsites or landowners for their policy on this type of stove as some of them view it as a fire hazard.
In Conclusion
Buy what is right for you. For ease of use buy gas. For compact all-in-one units buy meths. For performance buy petrol. And if you feel like Grizzly Adams? Go on then, get yourself a twig stove!
Click here to view OutdoorScotland.co.uk's selection of camping stoves.
