Camping Stoves

In addition to my travels related to work, I am spending my summer with a lot of camping. This is my first foray into backpacking and camping and has necessitated the purchase of a lot of equipment I didn't previously own. I found that finding good advice on the right kind of equipment is impossible to come by. So, I'll be sharing here what works for me, what choices I made and where I got the information.

First, a lot of my recommendations come from and the first place I started was in The Complete Walker IV by Colin Fletcher and Chip Rawlins Amazon Link. This is an amazing book on hiking and camping. It's most recent version is from 2002 so some of the equipment described has changed a bit. However, it provides enough information and experience from the authors to be able to judge what equipment you are purchasing. I also relied on input from friends and colleagues who have spent a lot of time hiking and camping. Almost all of them have spent their time in New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Most of the recommendations are based on three-season New England camping which can be like Winter camping in other places.

Requirements

 The biggest requirement I had for a stove was that it was light, easy to use and adaptable. I eliminated alcohol burners and solid fuel can stoves as I didn't want to wait 20 minutes to boil water. Another option is the cartridge stove. These stoves are fueled by a cartridge of pressurized fuel. Problem with these stoves: they don't work well in the cold; they produce a lot of waste once the cartridge is empty, they can be damaged and; you can't fly or travel with them.

I ended up going with a liquid fuel camp stove. Specifically a MSR XGK EX Stove.

Stove operating and boiling water

Using the Stove

The EGK is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. It folds into a very small pouch when not in use. The fuel bottle is sold separately and is connected to the stove by hose that is easy to connect. For fuel bottles, it is actually easier to go with the larger fuel bottle, they weigh less when empty than the smaller bottles because of the amount of steel used.  What you lose in space you gain in pack weight reduction. MSR Fuel Bottle  

The stove comes with the necessary attachment for the fuel bottle to pressurize the fuel and connect the hose. Before you go out, practice lighting the stove (outside). The stove operates by running the fuel through a line that makes a circle allowing the heat of the stove to vaporize the liquid fuel before it reaches the burner. Because the stove is cold when you light it, you have to prime it. This sounds tricky but isn't too hard. Basically, you allow some liquid fuel to fill the burner and pool then you light it. This will produce a bright orange fire ball. The instructions will tell you that this can be soccer ball size (I haven't seen this). Slowly the liquid fuel will burn heating the circular fuel line which then will cause the fuel flowing in that line to begin to turn to vapor. As this happens, the orange flame will turn blue. You know you are doing it right when the stove begins to sound like a very loud jet engine and the flame turns bright blue. When it sounds like a jet and you can't hear each other over it, you are ready.

Tips

1. Download and laminate the instructions, schematics and repair instructions. The paper instructions fall apart and it is worth having the repair instructions and schematics in case you need to repair in the field.
2. Use the ground cover and the aluminum skirt. It makes the water boil faster and the stove is intended to operate with it.
3. Some have said that if it is raining, you can operate the stove and cook in your tent vestibule. We use a two person tent with a small vestibule and have not attempted this. Use caution.
4. Understand the different burner assemblies. These stoves are great because they can burn white gas, unleaded gas, diesel, kerosene, alcohol, etc. Basically anything flammable. I have heard people saying they can run olive oil through it (wouldn't recommend that). However, boil times, burn times, fuel consumption, etc. will all change with fuel type. The stove comes with two burners, one for one type of fuel another for dirtier fuels. Understand which is which and how to change them.
5. Buy one of those longer Bic lighters used to light grills and candles. It's easier than matches. Don't lean your head over it when priming.
6. Don't leave it unattended.
7. Use the fuel bottle cap with the child safety lock. Leaking fuel in your bag will be a quick end to the trip.