Comments on: Ultimate Camping Stove Shootout

By: Joe "Grunt Doc"

Joe "Grunt Doc" — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:04:55 +0000

For the past 27 years I’ve been in love with my Svea 123. I received it as a farewell gift from friends when I left a duty station. At the time the price was probably around $25 with the brass windscreen/pot support. It came with a small pot which served as a cover for the stove when packed. I purchased a stackable Optimus cookset (base, windscreen, 2 pots and lid) the whole thing packed into a nice, though admittedly heavy, package. The stove can be tempermental to light but with the right technique and holding your mouth right, it lights every time. Boils a quart of water in a respectable 3-4 minutes and a half pint of fuel (coleman or white gas) lasts for a weekend of backpacking. Whenever I hear that sputtering roar, I know supper won’t be far off. Some sources still sell this stove for a healthy outlay of around $100. I wouldn’t pay that much for one today but as long as mine continues to serve me, I see no need to replace it with some new-fangled technology.

By: frater mus

frater mus — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:12:36 +0000

I’d argue that these are backpacking stoves, not camping stoves. Otherwise you’d have more liquid fuel stoves from Svea/Optimus, Coleman, etc gear in there.

By: Anachronist

Anachronist — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:57:19 +0000

Ohkay, I’ve done a “fair” amount of cooking both with Trangia stoves and their Swedish army military counterpart. What you have in the picture is a spirit burner, around here that’d be sold as a spare part, not as a complete stove. (if you want a compact stove they sell a “mini” trangia stove, which is basically that burner, a small pot-stand, a small pot and a lid) That burner needs some offset to work right just like you suspected.

That being said, they’re not fast stoves (doubly so in the winter) nor are they really all that convenient.

Depending on the fuel, they soot the pot mightily, and those vomiting agents they put in the fuel to make it even more unfit for drinking does nothing at all to improve the taste of a dinner. It’s better to let it burn out before stowing it in the pot. Ask me how I know this.

What they have going for them is that they have a 2lt-proof number of moving parts. :)

By: ReactGear

ReactGear — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:35:42 +0000

The WhisperLite International is great.

Interesting note, do not exceed the recommended amount of pumps, on several occasions my tiny whisperlite has had a plume of flames reaching up to three feet high.

By: Storm1

Storm1 — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:39:02 +0000

Thanks for the info and review, I almost bought a Coleman Max. Now I’m more interested in the Brunton.

By: VooDoo3

VooDoo3 — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:00:31 +0000

I have several Trangia alcohol stoves and I’m pretty sure you can’t place a cup or pot directly on top of it. You usually have to use a stand so the flame can reach the pot without snuffing out the flame.

By: Andrew Varley

Andrew Varley — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:21:19 +0000

With regards to the Trangia, you normally buy it as part of a kit which includes the stand and a nest of pots to use with it.

While it doesn’t boil water that quickly, for reheating some beans or something it works more than adequately.

Also, have you thought of looking at the Jetboil? I’ve used one of those and they’re awesome.

By: Jay Kerr

Jay Kerr — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:52:45 +0000

First off, I was thrilled to see you team up with Jack! Two extremely informative sites combined.

Second, I have the lite version of the Brunton Optimus and it sells for much cheaper and still does a darn good job. As far as bang for the $ it is the way to go. Ranked quite high in tests by backpacker mag. and in a reasonable price range. Campmore has it priced out at $34: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___82406

By: Norm

Norm — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:06:21 +0000

I’ve used a generic stove that I got at K-Mart for some time till I decided to upgrade. I’d have to say though, for $20.00 that stove lasted me a decent amount of time and did the job that it needed to. Unfortunately, it was big, bulky, slow and just overall, not a very good pack stove. I ended up relying on the camp fire more often than not while on the trail, unless fires weren’t available. Not to mention, I relied on it more for an ‘emergency’ situation stove while on the trail due to having to use the mini-propane cylinders. Not very efficient and honestly, it was hard to keep them lit and a little scary to get them started in windy weather.

When I upgraded, I went with the JetBoil system and let me tell you, I was impressed. 2 cups of water boiled in about 90 seconds. Wind or no wind, easy to assemble, convenient, fast, reliable, used it in just about every environment within my state (wet, dry, cold, hot, swampy, forrest, barrens, it’s not Alaska, but it does make for some interesting packing trips) and it works great. One small canister lasted me at least a dozen meals so far along with hot drinks throughout the day and evening. Haven’t gotten to the bottom of one on a trip yet, but haven’t had the chance to go on anything longer than 4 days.
I do agree with some of the previous comments on having backup fire sources, and I do agree that the JetBoil is a big bulky, but to be honest, I’d rather have the bulk as opposed to waiting even a few extra minutes for that hot cup o joe in the middle of nowhere on a COLD trail. To each their own though.
Oh, and Trent, wanted to say, thanks for the service. I don’t think enough people say that.

By: Failure Drill

Failure Drill — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:42:39 +0000

Great timing on this one. I had been looking at camp stoves for the past few days.
Thanks