Camping Stove Buying Guide

Balancing weight and wait

A camping stove is another piece of gear that adds weight to your pack. If you’re traveling by car, camper, or canoe, a larger-capacity camping stove with two or three burners is ideal. Basic models are about the size of a shoebox and sit on a tabletop, but you can also choose a model with detachable legs that stands as high as a kitchen counter. A camping stove with more burners lets you heat more food, which is ideal for hungry camping families. Most of these camping stoves run on propane, so you’ll need to save some room for the tank.

Large camping stoves weigh in at 9 to 23 pounds, making them impractical for hiking and climbing, where every ounce of weight matters. For those trips, specialized backpacking stoves weigh three to nine ounces and are compact enough to fit in your backpack. These camping stoves attach either to a propane tank or compact, lightweight fuel cartridges. They typically offer a single burner, which means longer cooking times for large groups. You’ll need one single-burner camping stove for every two people on a trip to make cooking efficient.

The materials used in a camping stove affect weight and durability. Steel is the most economical choice, but it’s also the heaviest and most prone to corrosion, so it should be reserved for car campers. Stainless steel and aluminum camping stoves provide resistance to rust, and aluminum camping stoves are lighter weight, making them a better choice for canoe trips and winter camping. Titanium is the most expensive option, but its light weight, corrosion resistance and unmatched durability make it the best choice for climbing and camping in extreme conditions.

Fuel type

Propane is the most common fuel for camping stoves and it works well in summer and early autumn as long as the weight of a steel propane tank isn’t a concern. If you’re trying to control pack weight in warmer weather, choose a camping stove that uses butane or isobutane cartridges.

If you’re camping or hiking in colder weather, you’ll need to give careful consideration to the fuel your camping stove uses. Cartridge stoves are unreliable below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and won’t work at all in below-freezing temperatures. Propane performs slightly better in the cold, but neither propane nor cartridge stoves work well at high altitudes.

At high altitude or in extreme cold, choose a camping stove that can run on kerosene, white gas, or even standard gasoline. These fuels burn hotter and give better performance in cold and low-oxygen conditions. Some camping stoves can be run on more than one kind of fuel. Kerosene and unleaded gasoline both generate soot as they burn, so you’ll need to clean your camping stove after each use to keep it in working order.

Measuring performance

The heat output of camping stoves is measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs). Larger camping stoves generally offer 10,000 BTUs, while most backpacking stoves deliver 9,000 BTUs. Temperature, wind, altitude and fuel type all affect performance, so BTUs should be used to compare the output potential of a camping stove rather than what it will do. Higher BTUs indicate a higher potential burner temperature, which you should consider if you’ll be adding accessories, such as a griddle or coffee pot to your camping stove. Some accessories have minimum BTU requirements.

Boiling time tells you how quickly a camping stove can boil a quart of water. Again, temperature, altitude, and fuel type will affect performance. Boil times of 3 to 4.5 minutes are the average for camping stoves in warm weather at low altitudes.

Burn time measures how long a camping stove will run on a single fuel tank. If pack weight is a consideration, look for a camping stove with a longer burn time to reduce the amount of fuel you’ll need to carry.

Additional features

Camping stoves connect to their fuel sources either through a direct attachment or a flexible tube. Look for a camping stove that offers the best stability for the stove and the fuel; some connections are more suited to flat surfaces than others. Cold-weather users should look for camping stove tubes that won’t crack or stiffen.

Winds can double the amount of fuel burned, so you’ll need a camping stove with a wind guard if you’ll be in gusty locations. Most tabletop camping stoves have built-in wind guards. Backpacking stoves that connect with tubes offer greater stability with wind guards than those that connect directly to the fuel tank. Be sure that the wind guard won’t reflect heat toward a camping stove’s fuel tank or fuel tube. Excessive heat can cause tube leaks or dangerous explosions.

A camping stove with electric ignition saves the need to carry matches or a lighter, but you shouldn’t rely solely on electric ignition if you’ll be using a camping stove in wet or snowy environments. Look for a camping stove with adjustable burners if you want more control over your cooking or if you want to save a little fuel in warm, still conditions.

Finally, give some thought to the camping cookware you’ll use with your camping stove. Car campers with a full array of frying pans and pots will want a larger, more stable cooking surface than those who’ll just be using a lightweight pot to boil water.

Need to know more?

• What type of fuel is right for you?
  http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/choose_fuel.asp
• Smart tricks for stove operation and efficiency
  http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_StovesTech.htm#Tricks
• Camping Stove Safety
  http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/gss07.html#b