What camp stove?

[rusty1972]

Looking to update camp stove. Any recommendations. Thinking about the coleman dual fuel. Or do i stick to gas? Any thoughts

[Mulgo]

I have my Coleman dual fuel for 15yrs now. It had a hard life and is still going strong.

The big advantage is ha you can fill it up at every petrol station just with normal unleaded.

Cheers,
Daniel

[twodoors]

Looking to update camp stove. Any recommendations. Thinking about the coleman dual fuel. Or do i stick to gas? Any thoughts

I have an original coleman (1973) 2 burner that runs on various fuels-depending on how often i want to clean the burners...... I updated it by buying a coleman bbq plate. Very happy and easy to use... Like the fact that it is light and cooks whatever we need... Whether its a quick boil up or fry up.... Suits us as i dont want/like carrying a gas bottle in/on the Disco.... James

[Josh_WA]

+1 for the coleman dual fuel... i would not use anything else now i have it for a few years. Also love the dual fuel lantern :D

Cheers

[Hoges]

no longer carry lpg ...just a small (5L) jerrycan of shellite... which I use for the dual burner Coleman.

also take a Kelly Kettle (everywhere) which if I'm on my pat, usually doubles as the food cookeruppera... :eek:

[steveG]

I bought a used 2-burner Coleman Dual Fuel stove a couple of years ago.
I'd been on a winter trip to the high country and it took about 20 mins to cook a few rashers of bacon using a gas bottle and small 2-burner stove, so as soon as I got back I bought the Coleman.

They do take a slight bit more technique to get started than just turning the valve on a gas bottle, but they put out a lot more heat than a small gas burner. As others have said, fuel is easy to obtain and carry, and I like that you always know how much is left (which is difficult to do by eyeball/feel with a gas bottle).

I love cooking with gas at home and in the caravan, but when we've just got the 110 we take the Coleman.

Steve

[newhue]

I'll go agains the popular consensus here, I have a hill billy set up. It's a low pressure gas system and is surprising efficient compared to high pressure gas.
I have to admit it can be bulky depending on your set up, and even heavy, but it's is a burner, a fry pan, and a camp oven that runs on gas, or coals from a fire. Made from spun steel it doesn't crack, and cast iron burners don't block no matter what you do to them.
To be honest it's a bit of a hill billy thing to use, but we haven't bugged one dish in the oven, from cakes to keish. The fry pan is big and produces that BBQ taste effortlessly.

we like it

[DiscoCam]

Looked at the dual fuel but wasn't keen on burning petrol under my food. Probably should have looked harder based on opinions above. Ended up with a 3 burner gas stove which we use in conjunction with a butane burner. Whatever you buy check the BTU on the burners before you purchase. The elcheapo gas stoves struggle to put out 5000BTU which makes a long wait for a cuppa in the morning.

[bidds]

And another for the Coleman Dual Fuel 2 burner. Bought after starting to camp in the high country in winter. Puts out seriously impressive heat when wound right up regardless of the weather. Have gone to only using shellite - it seems to burn hotter and cleaner than petrol, giving greater mileage (cookage?) but petrol's certainly no slouch and is always the back up option.

Downside is that it's a bit of effort to set up for a quick cuppa while on the road and I've bought one of those single burner pocket stove/gaz things for that purpose.

[Tank]

I have used a $29.95 Supercheap 2 burner gas stove for the last 10 years and have not had a problem, gas bottle is a 5kg coleman, a bit skinnier than the usual 4.5Kg bottle and fits neatly in the back. Had a coleman 2 burner Shellite, pain in the arse to pump up and was heavy on fuel and always had the smell of shellite in the back all the time, just to be different, Regards Frank.

[Xtreme]

Well I'll go against all the above opinions and say that my preferred 'stove' when camping is an open fire and a couple of cast iron camp ovens.

However, I acknowledge that the pleasure of a nice cooking fire (which more often than not) developes into a nice campfire to congregate around when you're finishing off dinner with a wee drop of Port, has or is being denied in many places - especially NP's.

So as a backup/alternative to the above, I have over a period of decades tried most types of camp stoves.
LPG is quick and easy but pretty useless when trying to boil the billy for an early morning cuppa on a cold and frosty morning when the temperature is around the 0 deg. mark. The topping up of the gas can also be somewhat problematic and expensive and ideally requires the carrying of a second/backup gas bottle.
I tried the twin burner dual fuel (Coleman) stoves and although they produce heaps of BTU's, I was unimpressed with the lack of independant control of the second burner due to it being slaved off the primary burner.

So what I've ended up with is two of the small single burner Coleman dual fuel stoves. This gives me plenty of versatility in the way I use them (including independant control of each burner) - from simply using one to prepare that early morning cuppa to using both of them placed under my normal fire grate to cook a baked dinner such as roast lamb and vegs. The only problem with them was the small size and corresponding instability for large pots or camp ovens, however, I have overcome this by using my large fire grate when a number of pots are required and I have also made up a smaller 'fire' grate for use when preparing those 'one pot' meals.

And as I've indicated in another thread, I like to have most equipment that I carry capable of dual roles so my fire grates (due to the simple design and lack of sharp edges) can also be used as sand or mud ladders when a little extra traction is required to reach the campsite. :D ;)

[isuzutoo-eh]

A fire is preferred, I have half a stainless beer keg with ventilation slots, fire grate and cooking grate-I usually burn heatbeads if I can't find enough seasoned timber. The keg keeps the fire controlled and off the ground.
If fire is not an option its one of those $12.95 wok burners and 4 gas canisters for $7.95.
I don't like carrying gas, but the canisters are small in volume and can't have the valve accidently wound open. I keep them in a dedicated bag so they shouldn't have anything poking or rubbing them either. These stoves don't always perform so well in cool weather due to the butane/propane balance.

Also have a 'Simon Stove' a simple metho burner that'll keep the noodles simmering but I wouldn't cook a steak on it if I had an option.

[stevo68]

Depends....depends on trip and how long as I may use a few options. I generally use the bbq hotplate over the fire if cooking say steaks. Camp oven for roasts/ all in one meals ie casseroles........also have a Coleman Dual fuel....robust and goes like the clappers. I usually use that for stove top type cooking/ or have a cooking tray for pancakes etc/ or for coffee maker. Plus I normally will have a gas canister burner.....however I recently bought one of these..... Home page | U-Bute Portable Bbq | Camping Stove (http://www.u-bute.com.au/) have been taking it instead of the Coleman. If its a 2+ day trip will normally have at least 3 types of cooking options ie camp oven/bbq hot plate and coleman/u bute,

Regards

Stevo

[Yorkshire_Jon]

I always carry an MSR Whisperlite and 1L of petrol (Shellite if I'm feeling flush:D)

I also have a Kelly Kettle and one of those crappy single burner gas things that use an aerosol of gas. That does the job but its expensive to run and you don't want to be in a rush! Kelly Kettle's ace though.

By far the most civilised means to cook though is with the Weber Q! I find it sits nicely on top of the Engel and the gas bottle in a milk crate on the roof rack.

It normally depends on the length of the trip as to what I take.

If we extend this to camp lighting... Coleman Dual Fuel Northstar. It rocks:D


Of course the absolute best way to cook is by camping alongside Xtreme and gate-crashing one of his roast's:) Not sure that strictly qualifies as cooking though!

J

[numpty]

I always carry an MSR Whisperlite and 1L of petrol (Shellite if I'm feeling flush:D)

I also have a Kelly Kettle and one of those crappy single burner gas things that use an aerosol of gas. That does the job but its expensive to run and you don't want to be in a rush! Kelly Kettle's ace though.

By far the most civilised means to cook though is with the Weber Q! I find it sits nicely on top of the Engel and the gas bottle in a milk crate on the roof rack.

It normally depends on the length of the trip as to what I take.

If we extend this to camp lighting... Coleman Dual Fuel Northstar. It rocks:D
Of course the absolute best way to cook is by camping alongside Xtreme and gate-crashing one of his roast's:) Not sure that strictly qualifies as cooking though!

J

Must admit, I've never thought of carrying the fridge on the roof rack. :angel:

I use a 25 year old Maxco 2 burner + grill low pressure gas stove. This a stainless steel marine stove. Have owned and used a Coleman duel fuel and was never really happy with it.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Must admit, I've never thought of carrying the fridge on the roof rack. :angel:

I use a 25 year old Maxco 2 burner + grill low pressure gas stove. This a staainless steel marine stove. Have owned and used a Coleman duel fuel and was never really happy with it.

Oops. My bad English! BBQ sits on fridge in back of car. Gas bottle on roof rack!

Sent using Forum Runner

[Bushie]

Must admit if I can't cook over an open fire then gas has been the way for the last 30 or so years.

Don't think I have ever had a problem with gas and the cold, although -8 has been the lowest I've camped in. (Bendethra, and Oodnadatta in winter)
I think LPG from the southern states shouldn't be a problem, although more tropical areas have a higher proportion of butane in the mix, and need warmer temps.


Martyn

[newhue]

For a quick on the road cuppa I use the choofa, well it's actually an eco billy. It boils water fast but it smokes like bush fire. It's good fun for the kids collecting twigs, and helps me get moving after a few hours in the seat as we well. Easy to operate, and it's always an amusing event.
Have to be a bit mindful where you use it as the authorities may send down the fire brigade to snuff a reported grass fire.

[austastar]

Hi,
heaps of info on Roger Caffin's site (http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_StovesTech.htm) covering stoves.

cheers

[Fluids]

I'll second Rogers approach .... after all my gas bottles reached there expiry dates, rather than replace them, and deal with gas, mantles, stoves, hoses, refilling when remote, etc .... I looked long and hard at the dual fuel coleman stuff, and, passed over the 2 burner "stove" (also due to its size) and went for two of the 535 single buner stoves (and a couple of galvo sheet steel windsheilds).

It's 2x LARGE burner stoves that boil water lickety split, can be used however you want (one on the kitchen bench, one on the ground under the camp oven). Shellite works excellent (and can be had at Bunnings, SuperCheap & BCF) and you can always use petrol as a backup ... so finding fuel when remote isn't a hassle.

The 2x single burner stoves are much more compact than the 2x burner version which makes them far easier to pack, and I use the pot stands I have with my Hillbilly setup with the addition of 4x tube steel legs to make the pot stand sit above the stove as a grill to sit the camp oven, kelly kettle or frypan or my 3x saucepans (3 @ 120deg each so the three work above 1x burner) on.

The kelly kettle is used for quick boilups, and includes the s/s cooking setup. I also use a Coleman dual fuel Northstar lantern. 1 fuel for cooking & lighting.

I'd highly reccomend a pair of the Coleman single burner dual fuel stoves .... around $65-75 each, and should last you a lifetime (and they are easily repairable!).

[DDdisco]

So, does anyone have any recommendations where to get the Coleman dual fuels at the moment? There seem to be plenty online, but I'm a bit wary.

[Fluids]

When I wanted mine there were none available in Australia so I bought them via Ebay USA ... about $45AUD delivered each .... I wouldn't be too worried about buying them online here, otherwise check the camping and outddors stores like Ray, or BCF.

[loanrangie]

Can the colemans run on diesel ?, dont want to carry petrol just for a stove so its lpg for now and just a 2 burner stove with grill and one of 3 sized bottles depending on whats being used.

[B92 8NW]

Can the colemans run on diesel ?, dont want to carry petrol just for a stove so its lpg for now and just a 2 burner stove with grill and one of 3 sized bottles depending on whats being used.

Nup.

I even avoid running my Optimus Multifuel on diesel now, too dirty unless you can be real patient with a loooooong metho preheat.

For most weekenders you only need half a litre of petrol/shellite, I just chuck one of these in the back filled.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/867.jpg

[Bush65]

I recently bought a small wood burning stove that I believe is a good alternative to other types (gas or duel fuel) single burner stoves - it will replace them in my camping kit. I will continue to use an open fire for the camp oven, etc. but this will get a lot of use for making a quick cuppa or when I just want to cook with a wok (often).

I have no affiliation with the Australian seller www.stickmanstove.com (http://www.stickmanstove.com) (see also woodgascampstove.com (http://www.woodgascampstove.com/) for original), just a happy user - it appears to work as advertised.

The model I purchased is the XL Woodgas Camp Stove.

The following pics were taken when I boiled a billy to make a couple of mugs of tea. It only needed a few sticks and leaves and boiled the water in a short time, making no mess. The pic with billy shows steam (not smoke) when the water was boiling. The blackening on the billy came from previous frequent use over an open fire - this stove burns very clean.

I haven't yet tried it with my NZ made variation of the eco-billy, but expect it will perform well.

[isuzutoo-eh]

www.stickmanstoves.com is the correct URL for John's stove.

Interesting idea having it electric fan forced. How does it go if you turn the fan off to simulate running out of battery life? Will it go out or keep smouldering with obviously less efficiency.
Mind you batteries are much easier to carry and purchase than stove fuels.

[Bush65]

www.stickmanstoves.com is the correct URL for John's stove.

Interesting idea having it electric fan forced. How does it go if you turn the fan off to simulate running out of battery life? Will it go out or keep smouldering with obviously less efficiency.
Mind you batteries are much easier to carry and purchase than stove fuels.
Thanks for correcting the URL link. I only tried it briefly with battery pack unplugged and it still worked, but not as much heat. There are 2 sockets on the stove, one for high heat to boil water quickly, the other for simmering etc.

[Bush65]

...

Interesting idea having it electric fan forced. How does it go if you turn the fan off to simulate running out of battery life? Will it go out or keep smouldering with obviously less efficiency.
Mind you batteries are much easier to carry and purchase than stove fuels.
I tried the stove again and after boiling a billy for tea, only a small amount of the wood had been burnt. I then disconnected to see what would happen.
For a while, it burnt oK, just not as much heat, until it cooled down somewhat. Then it started to smoulder and give off smoke.

At irregular intervals, it seemed as though convection would introduce more air and the flames came up again, then die down.

It took what seemed like more than an hour (maybe 1-1/2) until all of the wood had burned - somewhat longer than when the fan is running.

I think the problem burning without the fan is that it can't get enough air. With the chimney effect of an eco billy it would be better, but I don't have my version here at the moment to try it.

The fire chamber is approx 121 mm inside diam x approx 156 mm deep.

There are 10 air holes of 3.2 mm dia spaced around the cylindrical chamber about 12 or 13 mm above the base. The fan delivers a little air through these holes for the primary (as they call it) burn. I believe these few small openings can't pass enough air to burn well without the fan.

There are another 31 air holes of 5.5 mm dia spaced around the cylindrical chamber about 12 or 13 mm below the top. These are above the buning wood and the fan delivers most air through these holes for the secondary (as they call it) burn of the wood gas.

The following pics taken last night are not good quality, but they indicate what it burnt like with the fan disconnected. Note that the effect of slowish shutter speed looks like more flame was there than actual. If you look close enough you can see how the wood gas was being burnt with the air coming from the top row of holes.

[isuzutoo-eh]

Thanks John, ingenious little gadget.
From your photos it is really easy to see that with the fan it is more of a furnace than a campfire. The difference between natural aspiration and forced air induction :D
Not a bad price either.

[Bazzle218]

I recently bought a duel fuel coleman of ebay, second hand in good working condition ( not) It has a leaking fuel tap and trying to find parts in australia is like finding rockiing horse poo. Not worth the effort. Now sitting in the shed taking up space.:mad:

[DiscoWeb]

Rusty,

One question that is probably relevant to the opinions being sought is what will be the predominant use for the stove.

If you are doing shortish stays (3 -5 nights) not too far from civilisation then I would go with a gas stove.

I have a Coleman 2 burner and it is great, very fast, clean and pretty efficient on gas use. Also you can get small canisters for short breaks or bottles for longer stays.

Over the Easter break I was in the VHC and enjoyed about 2 inch of snow fall and pretty cold temps. Had absolutely no issue cooking breakfast in the morning on the coleman and this allowed me to stoke up a nice fire to warm the kiddies up rather than playing around to get a good cooking fire. I did cook over the fire for dinner which is my preferred method but everyone but me was pretty cold.

I have a small MSR backpack style camping stoves, again used regularly in very cold condition on back counrty skiing and camping trips and the like and never had a problem with the cold. I think you have to be dealing with temps much lower than we get to really be concerned about the performance of gas stoves.

I have in the past used metho/kero style back packing stoves and they are great but very slow.

I have never owned a dual fuel style but have been with mates who have then and generally I find the burning fuel is not the most pleasant thing to cook over. However if you are doing long trips in really remote places or at proper high altitude then they would be a great choice.

Hope this helped.

George

[Bush65]

I recently bought a duel fuel coleman of ebay, second hand in good working condition ( not) It has a leaking fuel tap and trying to find parts in australia is like finding rockiing horse poo. Not worth the effort. Now sitting in the shed taking up space.:mad:
There is a place in Melbourne (sorry can't remember their name) that carries the parts that you most likely need.

They stock parts for old world lamps etc. and I found them thanks to members of this forum - if you post in a forum that is viewed by more users (eg general) you should get a number of posts with the name of the company.

[Don 130]

The Melbourne stove parts shop may be this one;


T W Sands & Co: citysearch (http://www.twsands.citysearch.com.au/)


By the way I have two little coleman dual fuel stoves. They put out 10,500 BTU of heat, which is better than a portable gas job in my experience, and I can space them to manage any size cooking vessel.

[BMKal]

After trying various options over the years, we've ended up with the $12.95 wok burner and cheap six-pack of cannisters. Use this for boiling the billy and sometimes for cooking vegies etc - but for everything else - Cobb cooker. We have two of them now, and there's virtually nothing you can't do with them.

Of course, the preference for an open fire / BBQ plate / camp oven is still there too.

[dirtfisher]

Hi Guys, I use a Trangia storm cooker. Years ago, we had one member of our camping trip turn up with one of these. We all laughed at this "toy" but this little powerhouse cooked faster in the wind & rain than we could with 2 burner gas cookers. Because the heat is contained by the windshield the harder the wind blows the better it seems to perform. I purchased one soon after & have used it extensively. It comes with 2 pots & a frypan, as well as a teapot for around $130 now. It runs on metho which is available anywhere. I have even take this thing on overseas holidays with me. Because it doesn't require gas cylinders etc you can take on planes etc. Just buy metho when u arrive! Simple to use & never breaks down. It's a winner for me.

[ahumbert]

Hi Bazzle218

Try All Camping Supplies at Thornleigh in Sydney. I believe they are a service agent for Coleman and carry a good supply of parts.
Their web address is:All Camping Supplies (http://www.allcamping.com.au/)
Allan

[Bushie]

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consists largely of propane and/or butane. ................. Because of the large difference in temperatures in different parts of Australia the composition of LPG is altered for different states. In NSW it contains mainly propane, while in Queensland and the Northern Territory it consists mainly of butane. With propane having a boiling point of -42C and butane boiling at -0.5C it's probably a good indicator why those from the northern states don't get good performance from gas stoves in the colder weather.

For me personally I've never had a problem even down to -8C. gas would have been purchased in NSW or SA though.



Martyn