Do you know what kind of camp stove to bring with you?

I have more than one stove. One of them is the large green two burner Coleman type. These are an excellent stove when camping out of your car or camping trailer or something. They have two good sized burners on them so they are quite handy for cooking two things at once. They are somewhat large however and their fuel cans are fairly large too, causing them to take up a fair bit of space. This type of stove that O would choose to use for backpacking or trips where you are moving from site to site.

For backpacking and such at least in the spring, summer and fall, I like to use an LPG camp stove. LPG stands for liquid petroleum gas and is a generic term that is used to describe propane or butane and such. These little stoves are awesome. I have one that is made by Markill and it folds down small enough to fit into my front pocket, including its' case. It is only a one burner stove however but they're certainly small enough that you could bring two with little effort. You would require a separate fuel can for each one though, however their fuel cans are much smaller than the ones available for the Coleman stoves. An example of one similar to the one I use is shown below. Click on it and you'll be taken to a page at Altrec where you can compare other stoves and prices.

An important point to consider when buying an LPG stove is the diameter of the burner. My Markill has a burner diameter roughly the size of a quarter. I find that when I cook food that can become thicker like rice dishes or pasta, the heat is very localized in the center of the pot and if I'm not careful the food will burn. A camp stove with a larger burner would distribute the heat to the pot more evenly and be less prone to burning food. My best choice would be the Primus Yellowstone Classic Trail. It has a larger burner, maybe two and a half inches or so. The only feature it lacks (as far as I know) is a piezo igniter. They probably have them available by now and I just haven't seen them. The piezo igniter is a great feature on a camp stove because it is easy to light in just about any weather condition. LPG stoves are not a good choice for winter camping.

Another alternative is a liquid fuel or multi fuel camp stove. A multi fuel stove will burn white gas, diesel, kerosene, etc. Whit gas is another generic term used to describe fuels sold as "camping fuel". They have a refillable fuel can so they are good in the sense that they help to inhibit litering but they do require maintence, how much depending on how greasy of a fuel you're burning in it. They also require pumping and priming. These stoves are a good lightweight choice for year round camping.

The Coleman stove can be purchased any where they sell family camping equipment. The LPG and liquid fuel camp stove are likely only to be found at an outfitter or specialty camping store.

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