Best camper stove and why?

[steamjam1]

I tried this in my first van:

[img=380x448]http://oi64.tinypic.com/2uehd2s.jpg[/img]

It worked pretty well, but switched to gasoline stoves.

 

[TrainChaser]

Get something relatively cheap, use it, and pay attention to why you like it and why you don't. Use that info to make changes.

What is right for 500 other people isn't necessarily what is right for you.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Alcohol stoves are popular on boats because if any of it is spilled into the bilge, it doesn't create a potentially explosive situation like gasoline or propane vapor would.  But it has a number of disadvantages.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...stove-fuel-cooking-cost-efficiency-74616.html

 

[abnorm]

I have a Primus two-burner that looks "exactly" like that CampChefEverest..............Chicken or the egg?..........

https://primus.us/products/profile-2-burner-stove-4

(damn nice price right now)...........I paid the $100 'cause the propane connection was a rubber hose and I needed that option...........I couldn't make that rigid propane pipe work in my "kitchen"

 

[steamjam1]

These are what I use.  I use them every single day and have for over ten years now.  They work indoors and outdoors.  I currently own three.  Have owned four.  See below under "longevity" for what happened to the fourth one.

I also have the Trangia alcohol stove with the Mojo pot stand. Its a great set up if your really really concerned about weight and space. I tried using it in my first van with some success. The pot stand if pretty sturdy and will hold up large cast iron pans with little worry. I've made breakfast and coffee with it, not not much beyond that.

I've found that the pot stand works great with larger mess pans and billy-pots, like the Swedish/German/Japanese/French Military mess kits, but your average US army canteen cup is shaped in a way that it barely sits on the "arms" (I had one accident already with that set up) and the US army mess pans don't like to stay on them as well. The best set up I've found with mine is the Swedish Mess billy pot and pan. In fact I gave away the Svea alcohol stove it came with and use the Trangia/mojo exclusively with the Swedish kit.

I don't think the Trangia was designed to be used everyday. The larger, heavier Svea would be better for that. There is a version made by Esbit thats lighter, but not as strong, and the Chinese make a couple of less then quality versions as well.

 

[DwelledLongAgo]

When cooking in your vehicle, aproximatly how long and how much alcohol does it take to boil and cook, say- a pot of boiled eggs or water for a cup of coffee/tea and oatmeal?

The Trangia can heat things up very quickly.  It also comes with a simmer ring for lower temperatures and slower cooking.  It roughly takes an ounce of alcohol per cup of whatever you're cooking.  Cooking times and alcohol consumption can vary widely depending on what size pots you use, how much you're cooking, and the ambient temperature.  But, for me, a 12oz bottle of denatured alcohol usually lasts me a week or two.

A the end of cooking, how do you put out the fire? isn't it too hot to try and cap and smother the flame?

On the Trangia, you get a screw on cap and a simmer ring cap.  The screw on cap has an O-ring to prevent alcohol from leaking out in transit when you're transporting the stove.  So, you want to make sure the stove is cool before screwing it on to avoid melting the O-ring.

The simmer ring cap, when closed, is what most people use to snuff out the flame.  I usually use a pair of tongs to do that...or an oven mitt.

Hw would you clean excess goodness forbid the alchol spilled? 

Clean up is very easy.  The alcohol evaporates quickly.  But you can also use paper or cloth towels.

Wat kind of surface is this recommended on? I assume the little canister gets hot as well as the cooking stand you posted in your last post.

I use a carbon fiber mat made from an old welding apron on top of what ever I'm cooking on.  You can also get it at Lowes or Home Depot in the plumbing section.  Plumbers use it to protect walls and adjacent pipes while soldering.

A if I were to make this element, with the cooking stand 'standard' (fixed) to a recessed surface in a vehicle, would you a. put it near a vented area or window? and b. what materials would yu affix it to and how?

I'm not sure I understand the questions.  Personally, I like the ability to keep it portable.  If I go backpacking, I grab it and go! As far as ventilation goes, I haven't found it necessary to keep it especially close to a vented area.  The less wind/draft, the better.

 

[DwelledLongAgo]

@DwelledLongAgo
Aslo- do you have a link for where you got your [font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Trangia/Mojo stands and fuel? [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I can only find similar ones on Amazon but they don't look as efficent. [/font]

It's been a while, but I believe I purchased my Trangia's from Amazon and the Mojos from Ebay.  lweaver99 sells them. He only makes a few at a time and tends to sell out of them quickly when he does.

As for fuel, I use Heet in the yellow bottle.  It's very good denatured alcohol (the denaturing agents don't give off an odor like some others) and I typically get it in a four pack at Walmart.

 

[ccbreder]

I have seen spilled, burning alcohol do a bad number on a boat-cabin and the nearest people. All liquid fuels are dangerous if spilled.

 

[DwelledLongAgo]

I have seen spilled, burning alcohol do a bad number on a boat-cabin and the nearest people. All liquid fuels are dangerous if spilled.

True, all liquid fuels are dangerous if spilled.  Especially so if they are on fire!

But, like in all things, there are levels of danger/risk.  There is no such thing as a 100% safe fuel under all conditions.

Denatured alcohol avoids some risks that other fuels have.  In general, it produces much less carbon monoxide.  Its flames can be quenched with plain water and water does not spread the flames like with oil based fuels.  It doesn't stain or stink when spilled.  It doesn't require a special fuel bottle or can. It doesn't flare up into an explosive fireball like most other liquid fuels.  It burns at a cooler temperature and at a slower rate than most other liquid fuels, making it easier to control.

But it isn't risk free.  It burns with a light blue flame which can be nearly invisible in bright light.  You certainly wouldn't want to drink it (methanol is poisonous when consumed).  You might not want to get it on your skin for a prolonged period of time.

 

[Almost There]

When I first tried using my Trangia it was thankfully on a picnic table in a park.

I had bought it the previous fall, read the instructions and put it away. Next spring I didn't read the instructions again...duh!!

I found out the hard that unless the Trangia burner is placed IN the hole in the stand, NOT on the table, that it can actually boil over when full. Yes, I burned the picnic table...not once but twice before giving up on it at that point. We used the Coleman propane for the rest of the weekend until I could go back and study the instructions.

If you decide to use the Trangia, I strongly suggest that you learn to use it outdoors away from anything precious like your van.

I'm not sure if recessing it in to the counter would be a good plan or not. I suspect the answer would be no! It may not get enough air to vaporize properly if recessed.

I always fill mine away from the cooking area and use a screw top small thermos for holding enough fuel for a camping trip. I refill that from a quart bottle of methyl hydrate (known in the US as Denatured Alcohol). Heet in the yellow bottle is the expensive way to buy it. MH or DA is available in the paint department of Home Depot and Lowes by either the quart or the gallon. I found the gallon was way too hard to pour out of safely so I use a funnel to fill the quart bottle and then use it to fill the thermos I take with me camping.

 

[steamjam1]

Here is one of my earliest van-dwelling food cooking "Experiments" using a Swedish billy pot and a stove I built using an aluminium beer bottle:

An another I made out of a Monster energy drink can:
[img=251x141]http://oi68.tinypic.com/168wu47.jpg[/img]

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Why carry a stove when you're already carrying a heater?!

*Not my photo.  Was on an Rv group in Facebook

 

[akrvbob]

If I were buying a new stove, this is what I would buy, it's a standard form factor butane stove but with an adapter to use green propane bottles--best of both worlds for indoor-outdoor use.

http://amzn.to/2gPJVOw
(that is an affiliate link for me)

 

[FrozenTundra]

If I were buying a new stove, this is what I would buy, it's a standard form factor butane stove but with an adapter to use  green propane bottles--best of both worlds for indoor-outdoor use.

http://amzn.to/2gPJVOw
(that is an affiliate link for me)

Thanks for the advice.  I just ordered one.  Any thoughts on where to get the best deal on butane for this model?  Do you refill the green propane tanks from a larger, or buy them new?

I've never used propane for anything except cutting torches or bottle torches, and never used butane at all.

 

[Almost There]

In Quartzite I buy my butane canisters from K & B Tools...large tent store near where the RV show will be. The rest of the year I order 12 packs from Amazon for $22.75 a pack.

You can buy butane cans in 3 or 4 can packs from WalMart, etc. but they are usually twice the price of K&B and Amazon.

I don't refill the small containers and it is against US federal law to transport the 1 lb containers if they  have been refilled. It's a law for a reason IMO although some do it anyways.

If the stove takes the 1 lb canisters, you should be able to hook up a 20 lb (or smaller) refillable tank to it with a hose. I haven't seen one in action myself so don't quote me on this.

 

[frater secessus]

Here is one of my earliest van-dwelling food cooking "Experiments" using a Swedish billy pot and a stove I built using an aluminium beer bottle:

Do you have the carrier/lid kit for that pot?  It holds the heat in quite well.  Using the whole setup over a trangia with the lid on can heat a meal with .5oz of methanol or boil 2c of water with 1oz.  
Heavy, and not as much fun as making one's own penny stove but works great even in wind.

 

[SolMan]

I started off with a Coleman liquid gas two burner stove. Still love it, still can get parts, and fuel is easy to obtain and store. But you must cook outdoors. But then I like the smells of outdoor cooking. Nothing says camping like bacon and coffee on the Coleman. For baking and slow cooking or if I just want to conserve fuel, be it propane or liquid or firewood, I use a solar cooker.

 

[steamjam1]

Do you have the carrier/lid kit for that pot?  It holds the heat in quite well.  Using the whole setup over a trangia with the lid on can heat a meal with .5oz of methanol or boil 2c of water with 1oz.  
Heavy, and not as much fun as making one's own penny stove but works great even in wind.

Yeah I have the carrier/stove/lid stand and Svea stove for it. Its all aluminium. I'll take some pics of the whole thing in the morning. Ill also take some pics of the stainless steel version I ended up using every day when I first started van dwelling.

 

[Willy]

I'm partial to the old style Coleman liquid gas stoves too, though I use regular unleaded. ..Willy.

 

[frater secessus]

I've got a couple of the steel ones. When I finally get to an RTR I'll throw one of the kits on the pile.