Thread: What camp stove?

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.

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

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 (see also 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.

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

...

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.

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
Not a bad price either.