How do you use your stove?

[SkeeterPee]

I have to pick up one last major piece of gear. a stove. I have been reading and it seems if I only want to boil water a jet boil may be the way to go because of shorter boil time, reduced fuel usage, built in windscreen, simplicity. Another option I was thinking of is a pocket rocket which with a pot is a little cheaper. And if I might want to go with an alcohol stove later for longer hikes or even with a white gas stove, I would already have pots.

So is boiling water all I should worry about for now? or should I be thinking ahead so that I could cook other meals? what do you do boil or gourmet?

[BirdBrain]

I just boil water and FBC like this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzXZIH7SGYA

[hikernutcasey]

My buddy and I both only boil water for FBC style meals. He has a jet boil and I have a pocket rocket. You are correct that the jet boil is marginally faster and maybe a little more efficient but the pocket rocket is a little cheaper and depending on your set up a little lighter. If all you are doing is boiling water don't stress yourself out over it. Either will work just fine.

[Turk6177]

Take a look at some of these. I have made my own cat can stove which worked fine with a wider pot. I bought a supercat stove from Zelph's Stoves when I switched to a more narrow titanium snow peak pot. It is hard to beat the weight savings. All I do is boil water and use freezer ziplock backs to reconstitute my food. http://www.woodgaz-stove.com

[BirdBrain]

As a huge alcohol stove advocate, I suggest a cheap isobutene setup to start with. Tinker and play with the alcohol setups at home. Read blogs. Get all the safety stuff down at home. Get the bugs out at home. No need for surprises on the trail, like leaky bottles, or dumping fuel into a stove you thought went out, or tipping over everything because you thought the stand was secure, or running out of fuel because someone exaggerated the stoves efficiency, or on and on. Don't get me wrong. I think an alcohol stove is a superior choice. I just don't think it is the choice for a person just starting out. You can learn fast. They are not that complicated (well... mine is ). However, learn and practice at home. Read the horror stories and don't commit the same mistakes other people have. When you are ready to tinker, you might want to look at these discussions.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...stove-to-build

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...and-boil-times

[Uncle Joe]

I use an alcohol stove. It is slower to boil than a Jetboil but I'm not hauling a canister around that will have to be thrown away later. I used Ethyl on my first few sections but switched to Heet this past weekend. Big difference. Heet burns very well. I find the stove blooms much faster. I think alcohol has limitations in frigid weather and at altitude, though. Maybe someone can chime in on that. I haven't camped in the cold yet.

[BirdBrain]

I use an alcohol stove. It is slower to boil than a Jetboil but I'm not hauling a canister around that will have to be thrown away later. I used Ethyl on my first few sections but switched to Heet this past weekend. Big difference. Heet burns very well. I find the stove blooms much faster. I think alcohol has limitations in frigid weather and at altitude, though. Maybe someone can chime in on that. I haven't camped in the cold yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlz--OZLGUg

No need for the priming dish. Could use a few improvements to their system. Better cone maybe. Better pot maybe. Judging from the flame height, the jets seem a bit oversized. But ya', I think that video settles some things.

[Uncle Joe]

So it's less the cold and maybe more the altitude where alcohol struggles. I couldn't remember. That looks like it has more parts than it needs, though a tall windscreen is a good idea. I have a fairly shallow one.

[BirdBrain]

So it's less the cold and maybe more the altitude where alcohol struggles. I couldn't remember. That looks like it has more parts than it needs, though a tall windscreen is a good idea. I have a fairly shallow one.

There are no spots on the AT that approach the height of the spot of where the above video was shot. OMO also posted a thread that might be relevant.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...es-in-the-Cold

I tested my stove while it was sitting on an ice block. I have tested it while buried in a snowbank. There are many myths attached to alcohol stoves. If the stove is properly designed and constructed, the stove will be limited mainly by the properties of the fuel. Regardless of what tests, videos, or proof is provided, people will always believe that alcohol stoves will not work in the cold or at high elevations. They provide irrelevant proof like how a different stove reacts in the those conditions. The failure is a function of the design, not the fuel.

In order to have an alcohol stove that functions properly in cold conditions, you need one that does not have thermal feedback and by extension does not rely on internal temperatures to run properly. Posted before, but here it is again. Here is my stove in my hand.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTr4kHkllzM

Okay. I will try to drift back to the OP now.

[Hangfire]

I went with the pocket rocket which worked perfect and I surprisingly never had a tip over or a spill using it (I'm a bit clumsy). One plus for the pocket rocket over the jet boil was that if you actually have to cook something beyond just boiling water it was much easier to control the burner and drop it to a simmer. This went the same for the alcohol stoves, they had just one speed, and if you boiled over you have to just remove it from the flame. Also I'm sure I wasn't the only one to witness more than a few near disasters after an alcohol stove gets tipped over on a crowded picnic table...yikes!

[garlic08]

...So is boiling water all I should worry about for now? or should I be thinking ahead so that I could cook other meals? what do you do boil or gourmet?

Only you can answer this question, and it might take a few hikes to figure out your traveling style. Are you a camp chef? Or an eat-simple-meals-and-run kind of hiker? Nobody can answer that question for you. My style, for instance, has evolved to the point I don't even cook any more and that has improved my hiking. I wouldn't expect anyone with a different style of travel to follow that example.

If you really don't know what kind of hiking you'll do, it may be wise to limit the money you spend on things that may end up unused. I haven't seen my old Whisperlite (neither of which is true) in years--I assume it's still around somewhere.

[MamaBear]

Based on experience and observation, most people just boiled water. There were some that got a little fancier and actually simmered their Knorr sides, but that was about it. That was easier with the pocket rocket/canister; our trail family agreed that Knorr sides need simmering and not just rehydrating. (That's a whole other post/topic!) In my trail family we had an alcohol stove, a jetboil, and a pocket rocket and in the end, it was all about being able to boil water. I used the alcohol stove and was happy with it, a Caldera Cone system.

[ralph23]

Not sure why more people don't use the solid fuel tablets?? Theres no clean-up, no worry of fuel issues, perfectly safe and no chance of mechanical issues. They don't bring water to a full boil but it's still very hot. To save even more weight you can ditch the metal pot holder they sell and just use some rocks to hold the pot over the flame.

[BirdBrain]

Not sure why more people don't use the solid fuel tablets?? Theres no clean-up, no worry of fuel issues, perfectly safe and no chance of mechanical issues. They don't bring water to a full boil but it's still very hot. To save even more weight you can ditch the metal pot holder they sell and just use some rocks to hold the pot over the flame.

Price, availability, smell, soot.

[illabelle]

We carry a canister stove. Actually most of the time, my husband carries a canister stove - and the fuel. I guess I'm just lucky.

Our hikes are typically just weekends, with an occasional week, so we don't have the same issues with resupply that long distance hikers would.

I wouldn't characterize our meals as the "camp chef" variety, but they do go well beyond FBC (freezer bag cooking). It's not unusual for us to carry a fresh zucchini which I might saute (yes, in a small frying pan) and add to a pasta meal. We also use the frying pan to cook cornbread pancake-style. And I've been known to bring a little chili, which I'll layer with cheese between two small tortillas to make quesadillas. For these items, I like a stove with excellent simmer control, a low center of gravity, and a stable base. We do plenty of hot water re-hydration also (oatmeal, mashed potatoes, etc).

For our usual style of cooking, we carry a stove like the one below.


On the other hand, to lighten our load for the more difficult hikes, we would consider leaving the stove at home, or not cooking at all. Or maybe we just won't eat.

[ralph23]

Hmmm. I can get 12 tablets for less than $8. A new jet boil is more than $100. They are sold everywhere on the internet. I assumed the majority of people on here aren't thru hiking and just out for a couple of weekends a year. Smell has never been an issue for me. In fact, if you hadn't mentioned it I wouldn't have thought they smell at all. They do leave some soot on your cooking pot but it is easily managed by using your tin foil wind screen as a pot cover while hiking.
Plus the weight issue. 12 tablets weigh 6 ounces. A jet boil with fuel is 24 ounces??

[rotorbrent]

Yes boiling water is what most do on the trail and start with that until you decide to branch out. Into other methods on the trail. But soon you will want to try to fry, boil, bake, stew, food on the trail. Most hikers have a box of stoves they have used thru the years of camping. hiking.

[BirdBrain]

Hmmm. I can get 12 tablets for less than $8. A new jet boil is more than $100. They are sold everywhere on the internet. I assumed the majority of people on here aren't thru hiking and just out for a couple of weekends a year. Smell has never been an issue for me. In fact, if you hadn't mentioned it I wouldn't have thought they smell at all. They do leave some soot on your cooking pot but it is easily managed by using your tin foil wind screen as a pot cover while hiking.
Plus the weight issue. 12 tablets weigh 6 ounces. A jet boil with fuel is 24 ounces??

Not saying they are not a viable choice. They are. Just listing common complaints. Are they valid? Each must decide on there own. Is the user willing to shop eBay to get them? Can the user find them while in a trail town? How much will they cost there? I am with you on price. My stove costs 10 cents. BTU per weight, they are hard to beat. I prefer no soot. All of this stuff are just choices. Many choose esbit. There is a reason for that choice. Those reasons are not prioritized higher than the reasons I choose my set up. Esbit is a viable choice... if you deem certain advantages higher than their disadvantages or the advantages of other choices. Like I said, I was just listing common complaints.

[squeezebox]

Be aware that a canister can be overheated and explode if you use the windscreen incorrectly. Many threads on this subject.

[Hangfire]

Be aware that a canister can be overheated and explode if you use the windscreen incorrectly. Many threads on this subject.

Yes good point, I almost found that out the hard way! Make sure and cut mouse holes on that windscreen, there's gotta be air flow across the canister.