Help me choose a camping stove

[copperfox]

My requirements are:

- Reliable, should last 10+ years
- Less than $100 (but less is better)
- Two burners

My preferences are:

- Propane
- Electronic ignition (the type where it sparks a couple times a second while you hold the button, not the plunger-spark type where you have to push for each spark)

Help me CPF! :thinking:

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

The basic green Coleman will be your best bet; last nearly forever and if your grandkids need to fix it up there'll be parts available.

There are spark ignition models, but I don't know if a battery operated spark is available.......I know the piezo(plunger) is available, but it all adds more complexity and cost to a very simple tool. A camp stove doesn't get used often, if you find a push-button igniter instead of a plunger, make sure and pull the batteries when you're not using it. Alternatively, a Bic lighter is cheap, easy to carry, and should be brought anyway as a backup.

I've cooked thousands of meals on green Coleman suitcase stoves fueled by gasoline/white gas. If cost is an issue then you can pick one of these up at a garage sale or pawn shop for ten bucks. Most fire up just fine as soon as you bring them home and run a couple safety checks, others might take a little TLC. Not quite as simple to run as propane, but there's a soul to gasoline and kerosene equipment that propane will never have.

Love the smell of gasoline and strong coffee in the morning. :buddies:

 

[InTheDark]

x2 on everything Dieselbomber said.

The green coleman 2 burner stoves are pretty much the standard for propane stoves. The basic design has been around for almost half a century, and will probably be around for as long as you're alive. You can find parts for them in almost any store that sells camping equipment, and they're pretty easy to find used for <$30.

The only thing that won't fit your critieria is the multiple sparking ignition. That would require some sort of power source, and requiring batteries in something that simple seems counter intuitive. If you're worried about standing there clicking for hours on end, I dont' think I've ever needed to push the button more than once or twice to get it to light.

I also love the traditional kerosone/liquid fuel stove and lantern, but sometimes I think the soul that I'm feeling from them might be due to the odors rather than the feeling of nostalgia

 

[dilbert]

I have an old style electronic ignition coleman 2-burner propane stove. The ignition system on mine has a knob that you rotate (it sparks 5 or 6 times per rotation). It always starts right up. It looks like mine is discontinued and the newer ones have the clicky push button instead. Mine also has a case that holds a 1lb propane bottle on each side of the stove. It's adjustable from a simmer up to a full boil. It's a great stove for car camping. I've never had any problems with it. :twothumbs

 

[raggie33]

only thing about the coleman fuel types is if ya are kinda clumbsy they aint for you.nut i bet you are not clumbsy

 

[copperfox]

I am familiar with the white gas/ Coleman stove fuel variant of the stove. My family used one for years and years when we went camping. Now that I have to buy one of my own, I figured propane was less messy and less smelly than the white gas version. Plus, my lantern is a Coleman Propane "Northstar" so I figured I could keep a common fuel source by going propane with the stove too.

I'm not dead-set on the auto ignition, and I do realize it would require a power source. I bought a grill last summer that has this type of ignition and it takes 1xAA cell. It's very convenient though

I suppose I should just get a non-electrical ignition stove because 1) Less complexity means fewer things that could break, and 2) I always have a lighter and/or matches with me when I go camping anyway. So having the electrical ignition wouldn't let me pack less, it's just a convenience.

Does white gas provide more energy per $? In other words, if I buy a set amount of fuel in dollars in both white fuel and propane, which will run the stove longer?

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

Really depends on how you buy your fuels. I have a bunch of 20# propane cylinders that I have refilled, and pay about the same for a gallon of propane that I'd pay for a 1# cylinder in the store. I also burn plain ole regular unleaded in my white gas equipment - most of their older stuff was originally designed back when there wasn't any difference between white gas and motor gas. I couldn't even guess what white gas is going for in the store these days, haven't bought some in probably 15 years. Just how much are you going to use this stove? If it's an every day thing or for months out of the year at a hunting cabin, then fuel cost might make a significant difference. For the average user, maybe a week a year, difference is zip.

There's nothing wrong with propane at all. Unless you're in very cold temperatures then it will absolutely get the job done. It's very easy to use and less messy than any other fuel type. As long as the cylinder doesn't rust out, the fuel won't go bad in storage like white gas or gasoline. (Actually white gas or gasoline wouldn't go bad either, if it was stored as tightly sealed as propane is.) Good stuff.

:buddies:

P.S. You could also get a propane conversion for an old white gas stove, you'd retain the ability to burn white gas and it takes longer for the stove to cool down so you can switch it safely than it does to make the mechanical changes.

 

[Patriot]

+3 on the propane Coleman stove.

I'm on my third one now, they all still work btw, and they seem to be a very trouble free piece of equipment. I kept buying them because buddies would use them and they'd go missing for a year and then be returned eventually. A couple of them are quite beat up but are still going strong.

With regards to the propane we usually just plug the stove into the big tank when at camp because we're there for a week or 10 days. If we need more burners we fire up another stove on the smaller portable propane. It's the ultimate in convenience.

The last few years we've had help from one of those large Camp Chef stoves with the big burners. It's much faster when cooking for larger groups or say 6 hungry guys who have been hunting all day. It can heat up a two gallon bucket of water very rapidly which the coleman can't do nearly as well.

http://www.campinggeardepot.com/sto...---High-Pressure-2-Burner-Stove_40419472.html

Which one you get really depends on your application and how many people you'll be feeding. Typically, the Coleman will work for a family of four easily.

 

[copperfox]

Thanks for the input everyone. It's only me and my wife, so we don't need anything large. I'll probably end up getting a Coleman propane stove, with or without the electric ignition.

 

[NeonLights]

My wife and I have been using the same basic Coleman green propane 2-burner camp stove for 10 plus years. It has never let us down. Hard to go wrong with one of these.

 

[InTheDark]

I'm sure you could swap out the ignition module on the coleman with one from a BBQ pretty easily, might just need to enlarge the hole a bit. The stove really is just a metal box with a burner in it, it's about as simple as can be.

In fact, I don't know if this is near you, but people are always getting rid of these stoves.

http://providence.craigslist.org/zip/1222731703.html

 

[Bright Scouter]

I will also suggest that you get a distribution post. It is basically a post that screw into a 20#, or 11# if you want a smaller tank, lp tank and allows you to screw a hose for a coleman propane stove into the side, and screw your Northstar lantern right on top. That way you can run it all off one refillable cylinder.

 

[copperfox]

I will also suggest that you get a distribution post. It is basically a post that screw into a 20#, or 11# if you want a smaller tank, lp tank and allows you to screw a hose for a coleman propane stove into the side, and screw your Northstar lantern right on top. That way you can run it all off one refillable cylinder.

Sounds interesting, do you have a link or a photo so I can get more information?

 

[yuandrew]

Some call them "Distribution Trees"

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/coleman-30-propane-distribution-tree/24903