Best Touring Stoves

[leftpoole]

Thanks [for the compliments on my tents].
talking of tents...how about stoves, mine indeed! Do I have 'n'+1? or have I too many.
Not all have been used yet as I have upgraded all my favourites the past 12 months and as you are aware I have been out of actiuon somewhat.
This year to enjoy?

Look here:-    

http://www.pbase.com/leftpoole/stoves

John

[Slight editing by Dan for continuity after a topic split]

[John Saxby]

John, you could feed a small town if you used those all at once!  I thought I had a few (too many), but nothing like that array -- you could donate a random sample to a Museum of Fun en Plein Air!  

I have a Trangia, the stove I use these days for cycle-touring; 3 MSR variants, including my original G/K, now more than 30 years old, which I keep for sentimental reasons--it reminds me of a whole clutch of wonderful places, mostly in the high country of Southern Africa; and an ancient 2-burner Coleman back-deck/car-camping stove that I bought for $10 about 25 years ago, and which I'm thinking to donate to the Boys & Girls club, though it does still work.

[in4]

Stoves eh?! I've got form in this area too. Way back in days of yore I can remember using a Primus double petrol burner to cook on before going up 'The Glydrs' in N.Wales. It was a ferocious beast that gave forth flames and heat that must surely have originated in The Devil's own backyard. It was a very powerful stove but I never felt comfortable with it. My Coleman's stove is an impressive beast too. It runs on unleaded or Colemans own fuel. A very rapid water boiler but with a small footprint it can be a bit unstable. My modern day equivalent is a gas-powered Jetboil. For solo trips its great as the pan/s can double up as eating or drinking vessels. Weight is a plus too. Which only leaves my Trangia; probably my favourite. Its a good combination of weight, efficiency, stability and its easy to use too. I bought a separate non-stick lid/frying pan for mine but, as I'm hair-shirt wearing porridge man these days it seldom gets used.

PS lovely bikes and tents John.

[Danneaux]

Wonderful addition to the thread, John!


I have um...<whispered> eight of my own, though not arranged so neatly for viewing by others as John's.

I am a certified Stove Nut.

With sufficient time and therapy, I could recover. *If* I had a "problem", of course. My name is Dan and I have Eight Stoves. No problem!

All the best and back for another look at your outstanding collection, John,

Dan.

[David Simpson]

I think it's great that some of you have X number of tents or Y number of stoves (where X and Y are big). There are many of us who are just starting out in bike touring, and we need good advice. What we do not need is advice such as: "I have tent A, but I have no idea how it compares to other tents because I've only used tent A." What we want to hear is: "I have 8 tents, and here is how they compare to each other." Then I can decide which tent would be best for my particular situation. Comparison reviews are much more valuable than single product reviews.

So don't feel guilty about having "too many" tents, stove, or whatever. You should only feel guilty if you have lots of them, but don't tell the rest of us of your experiences with them.

- Dave

p.s. I don't want to discourage anyone from posting a review of a single product that they have used. These reviews are very valuable and much appreciated. But multi-product reviews add a different dimension that (in my opinion) make the review much more valuable.

[Danneaux]

Comparison reviews are much more valuable than single product reviews.

...And some of us have "more" because "less" didn't work very well.    When I reach nirvana on a product, I stop and try to buy a backup, but by that time, the Unwritten Law is they're no longer made -- lasted so long and worked so well they cost the makers money. 

All the best,

Dan. (...who is presently pressed for time but will say what worked best for him soonest)

[Bill C]

So don't feel guilty about having "too many" tents, stove, or whatever. You should only feel guilty if you have lots of them, but don't tell the rest of us of your experience

lol you have no idea how many stoves one person can own. probably have at least a few hundred paraffin. meths and petrol stoves, only 2 gas stoves, not to mention bowl fires, tilley lamps, bialladin/vapalux and a baby coleman lamp, did i mention uco's?

if your intrested in stoves you ought to take a look at www.spiritburner.com

the stove i am the proudest owner of is a pre war condrup/Primus 96 cycling/tourist outfit still in it's original bag with the  board to hold all the parts labels and instructions, only know of one other   www.spiritburner.com/fusion/showtopic.php?tid/13692

stove collecting is seriously addictive, it's known as the stove pox and there is no cure so be warned

atb Bill

ps i would upload some stove pics but you'd be bored, or worse still interested 

[David Simpson]

Thanks for the warning, Bill.  I had no idea.

Remember: It's only an addiction if you're trying to quit. Otherwise it's call a hobby.

- Dave

[mickeg]

No Svea in the collection?

[Bill C]

I'm in remission haven't bought a stove in at least 6 months  
I keep promising my boys I'll start selling a few soon but i can't bring myself to do it  , NEED WANT MUST HAVE  them all
last time i had a purge was 5 years ago to raise the cash for my Sherpa,
sjs had a sale on a while back so i grabbed a couple of xtc frames,I said i'd sell some to cover the cost,
but one xtc built and still not sold any more stoves maybe on the other build lol

my top users

top stove
British army No7 (excellent super tough little stove)

I'd settle for any of the below
svea 123r (fiddly but has the wow factor,super reliable) best in the matching optimus panset
trangia 27 duossal
optimus 111 paraffin (or optimus 22 if car camping)
optimus nova (fuel strainer/filter removed and replaced with cotton wool)
msr dragonfly
for boiling water msr xgk ex

worth a mention
meta 50,vargo triad,trangia westwind

never fancied
msr whisperlite or the international version, most far eastern clones,anything russian,czech or east german
most coleman stoves
must'nt forget the british army No12 perhaps i'm unlucky but i have had 4 and each one was naff

stoves bugger, now you got me started again, and i was doing so well


edit
mickeg I was still typing mate lol

Svea 123 yup ask jags lmao

pics are
primus 96 doing a brew at lands end and cooking road kill cornish new potato's
and a svea 123 lol outside one of my my golite hex's
yup too many tents to (tent whore)

[leftpoole]

Hello!
I feel redeemed! I feel like an Amateur again. Thanks people. I though I was a bit odd having 'all' those stoves. Now I feel 'part' of a small community. Yay!
About the tent in the final picture (above) I don't have one, grrr must try harder.. lol
Great stuff, thanks again you lot,
John
PS All of the fun has helped me greatly by the way...

[Donerol]

if your intrested in stoves you ought to take a look at www.spiritburner.com

Oooooh, I love those old pressure stoves! When I was a child my family used them a lot for camping and during power cuts, also Tilley pressure lamps.

I still have the Primus 96 I used cycle camping in the 1970s, and also the Optimus 00 I couldn't resist a few years ago at a car boot sale.  However I am NOT ALLOWED to collect stoves (or anything else, really) as we don't have room. Two stoves is as many as I can use, anyway. I recently serviced them with spares from Spiritburner.com and they run beautifully.  Nothing like the sound of a roarer burner to put a smile on my face  .

[mickeg]

Oooooh, I love those old pressure stoves! When I was a child my family used them a lot for camping and during power cuts, also Tilley pressure lamps.

I still have the Primus 96 I used cycle camping in the 1970s, and also the Optimus 00 I couldn't resist a few years ago at a car boot sale.  However I am NOT ALLOWED to collect stoves (or anything else, really) as we don't have room. Two stoves is as many as I can use, anyway. I recently serviced them with spares from Spiritburner.com and they run beautifully.  Nothing like the sound of a roarer burner to put a smile on my face   .

Yeah, the roarer burner on the 111 (in my case a 111B) makes you feel warmer, especially in the dark of night when the burner head has a red glow.  But, the quiet of a silent burner on a 111T or a Phoebus 625 is just as good.

But quite frankly for bike touring, I leave those stoves at home due to weight.  Instead usually bring a Primus OmniFuel, but the lighter weight Primus Express Lander worked great on my last tour.

I mentioned the Svea above because it worked great on my last backpacking trip, three days in Grand Canyon this past April.

[AndyE]

Having enjoyed cooked on many different stoves over the years, I am pleased I only own 3! A Trangia 25 that is getting on 40 years old! It cost £13.75 way back in the good old days. It has new bits, non stick pans, gas burner, lid and strainer, ok that's 4 with a spirit burner too. A Jet Boil, one of the best water boilers I have ever used, which is not surprising as us brits are famed for brewing up.  A Primus Omni fuel TI with a 1Lt ETA pot. Very small and ultra light weight. Oh and a 1944 Patten aluminium canteen and cup, army mess tins, to use with Hexamine solid fuel. A Camping Gaz thing that I was given, new and unused, & a all brass Paraffin stove 1930 vintage and working.
Well not just the three!

Hi My name is Andy and I may have the same problem Dan, Save us a seat at the the next meeting!


Andy

P.S and the twin gas and grill in the camper

& a Titanium pot with handles and lid in a nice mesh bag that was a gift from a friend, just needs a suitable small light weight gas burner to complete it.

[Lemming]

"top stove
British army No7 (excellent super tough)"

Not really, real men take a trailer with a No 1 burner (hydra cooker)...

My current choice is a Primus Omnifuel in a Clikstand, usually used with gas canisters for convenience, but with an empty fuel bottle for when no gas is available.  Also fits in a Trangia for when I am not on my own or in really rough conditions.

But you can never have too many stoves!