No open flames allowed! What stove/heat source do you use?

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

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Dec 25, 2001
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As I mentioned in another post, I am assembling a multi-day pack & kit for backpacking this year. This kit will be a combo of old-school traditional gear as well as modern ultra-light gear. Some of the places we plan to go allow fires, others do not. I realize the strong majority here simply practice their skills where fires are practical, but what about those occasions when open flame is prohibited?

I have a Coleman multi-fuel that I've become quite fond of, but its gotta get rebuilt every now and again (its actually at Coleman's now). I considered one of those ultra-light canister stoves as well, or one that feeds off a pump-up bottle.

Welcome your feedback.
 
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I like the trangia cook systems. It's not just for boiling water and one pot meals. You have a whole cooking system in a stupidly reliable self contained unit.

There are lighter options though.
 
You'll get a ton of different opinions on stoves, every body has a favorite.
I've used the same MSR Whisperlite

http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/simple-cooking/whisperlite/product

since the late 80's. however it basically has one mode " Jet Engine" great for boiling water! if your cooking eggs, Pay Attention

In June I'm taking a Solo stove "Titan" & a Alcohol Burner up to Lassen in addition to the MSR. Have'nt used the Titan yet
have used the little burner a couple of times for coffee singles and it is idiot proof simple.

http://www.solostove.com/solo-stove-titan/

http://www.solostove.com/alcohol-stove/


a couple of things to consider, liquid fuel is better in cold conditions, canisters may not be available everywhere you go. & you have to pack
out the empties.
 
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sideways said:
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I like the trangia cook systems. It's not just for boiling water and one pot meals. You have a whole cooking system in a stupidly reliable self contained unit.

There are lighter options though.
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I've never even heard of these until now. How do you fuel yours?
 
I do not build cooking fire regardless if allowed or not.

My stoves are a Svea 123, a Trangia spirit burner, another alcohol stove I made myself, and a late 80's Coleman 508 single burner we used for car camping. I gave my son my 20+ year old MSR Whiperlite International.
 
You can make your own alcohol stove for pennies.

This one weighs only 11.32 grains/0.026 ounces.

Make your own for pennies.

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Yup, i go for as close to pure ethanol as I can get... but it is called something different everywhere you go. That's why I posted the link. :)
 
I made a few twig stoves out of empty quart paint cans & soup cans already. But it was more of a novelty for my boys & I.

Thanks for the great posts so far. I see I have plenty of options. That trangia stove system looks interesting....
 
I don't do much off-grid camping any more, but in the vein of ultralight, I really like the idea behind the woodgas paint can stove, since it can be powered by small bits of anything burnable you can find around the campsite.
No need to bear the weight of fuel (regardless of how light) as you pack in/out, no need to worry about running out of fuel if you have to stay in the woods an extra day, etc.

Of course, the stove itself is heavy as normally built, but I bet a scaled-down version could be made (if it hasn't been done already) with a substitute insulation like an ultralight ceramic/etc. in place of the rocks/sand.

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robgmn said:
I don't do much off-grid camping any more, but in the vein of ultralight, I really like the idea behind the woodgas paint can stove, since it can be powered by small bits of anything burnable you can find around the campsite.
No need to bear the weight of fuel (regardless of how light) as you pack in/out, no need to worry about running out of fuel if you have to stay in the woods an extra day, etc.

Of course, the stove itself is heavy as normally built, but I bet a scaled-down version could be made (if it hasn't been done already) with a substitute insulation like an ultralight ceramic/etc. in place of the rocks/sand.

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Lots of places void of wood or other fuels. Lots of places you'll have to tote all the fuel (and all the water) you will need.
 
steve-in-kville said:
I made a few twig stoves out of empty quart paint cans & soup cans already. But it was more of a novelty for my boys & I.

Thanks for the great posts so far. I see I have plenty of options. That trangia stove system looks interesting....
Click to expand...
Consider just buying the spirit burner before buying the whole set. Think about what will work best for you and the volume you want to tote. If you want an all-in-one Trangia set, Trangia sells different ones.
 
Are stove boxes allowed where you're going? Those things are super lightweight and easy to pack.
 
Very often many places that don't allow for a ground fire will allow for a hobo stove as it's still a stove and all stoves use fire. One big pro of a little wood burner is they use the smallest bits of fuel. Never been anyplace I couldn't scrounge enough fuel for one though there must be someplace on earth. We are talking about real small organic materials. I mean stuff that people overlook for even kindling or tinder.





Pocket Rocket is also a great option.



For extreme cold White gas is nice. Also has BIG power in terms of the fuel.



Here is a fun option. A wood gas stoves often run great on wood pellets. I can get a 45-50 minute burn on this one without the need to stoke it. It's so clean as to be indistinguishable from a normal fossil fuel stove.Oddly enough often anti fire people will bring up ecological issues for not using wood. They will even debate a hobo stove (had a brown shirt do that to me on the trail) as if gas in a manufactured disposable metal tank is more sustainable than a few twigs but often these people are irrational.

Running on wood pellets.









In field use with wood pellets. The obvious pro is the ability to refuel in the field should the pellets run out and it uses the smallest most overlook stuff a person wouldn't dream of using for a full ground fire.



Alcohol wood stove combo has similar win! Packed fuel with a fall back.



Alcohol stove are fun as you can buy or DIY.









Often I use a stove over a ground fire even when there is no restriction. Faster and easier IMHO.
 
When there are fire bans in Colorado that means - no campfires, no twig stoves, no alcohol stoves and probably no solid fuel (esbit) stoves. Reasoning is that they can't be "turned off" easily. (that's the reasoning of the NFS - not mine. Argue with them - not me.)

So that leaves you with white gas stoves and iso-butane or propane.

I've been reading and watching YT vids about the lightweight iso-butane stoves and admire them but am not going to invest.

I already have 3 versions of the coleman single burner stoves and nesting cookpots to pack and keep them in. In many years of backpacking I've not had any issues with my stove once I learned to use preheating paste and to pump it fewer strokes than they say in the instructions in order to get a nicely controlled, well-behaved, lightoff. Yeah, it's heavier than the iso-butane wonders but I have 5 gallons of Y2K coleman fuel on hand which should last me another 20 years unless there's a big disaster and we wind up cooking on the coleman stoves for all our meals for a long time. I have spare generators and pump parts for rebuilds if needed.

My backpacking buddy used an MSR Whisperlite a time or two and it's lighter but it also appears to be more fragile than the coleman so we wound up agreeing that I'd provide and carry the stove while he provided and carried a really small 1.5 man tent. Good times.
 
unimogbert said:
I already have 3 versions of the coleman single burner stoves and nesting cookpots to pack and keep them in. In many years of backpacking I've not had any issues with my stove once I learned to use preheating paste and to pump it fewer strokes than they say in the instructions in order to get a nicely controlled, well-behaved, lightoff. Yeah, it's heavier than the iso-butane wonders but I have 5 gallons of Y2K coleman fuel on hand which should last me another 20 years unless there's a big disaster and we wind up cooking on the coleman stoves for all our meals for a long time. I have spare generators and pump parts for rebuilds if needed.

. Good times.
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I have a Peak 1 stove and lantern that I thought were lost in one of my moves.
I found them after twenty years (last fall, as a matter of fact) and took them on a drive-up camping trip without even testing them first.
The stove fired up and sputtered for a while (I assume until the old fuel was purged), then ran great for making coffee and hot chocolate, etc.
The lantern fired right up and ran fine for both nights, with the globe that was on it when it got boxed up and put away.

Sorry for the tangent.
Camping talk is good stuff...


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Yep - black tank 400A is my first one from 1983 when I bought it for a post-Navy cross-country motorcycle camp&ride.
Next one is a Feather 400 (brown tank) which uses more aluminum and is about 6 oz lighter.
 
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