Camping Lights

If you want a hot meal or at least some warm water when you go camping you will need to look at camping stoves to meet your needs. While cooking over an open fire is popular among campers, the heat for an open wood fire is difficult to control and there are only certain types of foods that can be cooked. For example, if you want to have eggs for breakfast other than hard-boiled, camping stoves will give you the option of frying foods.

There are different sizes and types of camping stoves that make them easy to carry and, depending on the number of people involved in the camping trip, it may take more than one of the camping stoves to feed everyone without cooking in a series of meals. One of the earliest types uses liquid fuel and its tank is pumped for pressure to push the gas into the burners of the stove. Many newer models use liquid propane gas and can connect to small bottles.

Propane, butane or white gas (commonly referred to as “coleman” fuel) is commonly used and preferable. Kerosene and unleaded gas is still used but is not preferred since it emits an unpleasant odor and are not as safe. Coleman fuel should be your first choice since it is the safest and burns clean without odor or charring. Propane is pricey and doesn’t burn as hot but it is the cleanest burning fuel.

Fuel canisters come in various sizes and choosing the right size for your needs depends on how much cooking you’ll be doing and for how long you’ll be camping. If you’re hiking with your equipment then stick to a small canister and cook sparingly. Some campsites provide cooking facilities but it will be more convenient and less hassle to bring your own cooking source.

The camping stoves that use the propane tanks are considered safer and the fuel is easier to carry since it does not require packing a can of high-flammable liquid that can spill or leak into your equipment. The type that use bottles of propane are considered safer, but the bottle can become heavy in a backpack after carrying them for a few days.

If you are travelling by car and establishing a camping base then large burner portable gas stoves are the ideal item. These are too heavy for backpacking and overnight hiking. They are best for preparing foods for large groups and are even very convenient for use in your own house. The next thing to consider is the fuel you use in your camping stove. For backpacking, alcohol stoves are best, but these days they have been largely replaced by single burner propane stoves. They are very small and lightweight and are a popular choice for hiking and backpacking. Alcohol fuel that is used in backpacking stoves is very volatile liquid and should be taken in a special container. Alcohol stoves tend to use less fuel and are very easy to light at high altitudes. An alternative to alcohol stoves are gel alcohol, solid fuel and sterno stoves. These camping stoves are very light and are more preferable for ultralight backpacking and as survival gear.

Consider Safety First With All Stoves

There are inherent dangers when using camping stoves, and of course burns are one of the most obvious. With the liquid fuel types of stoves, there are is ever-present danger of leaking or spilled fuel that catches fire causing flare-ups of flames. With the bottled fuel, if the burner is turned on for any length of time before lighting, there is the danger of flare-upt cause burns to the user.

Camping stoves are available with one, two or more burners and some may require separate fuel tanks for each burner, although most stoves can use one fuel source for each two burners. The camping stoves should be on a level, stable surface to prevent them from falling over or sliding, spilling hot water or food on the ground or onto the person doing the cooking.

It is important to understand that camping stoves often provide a method of controlling the size of the flame, but they are not always as accurate as the heat control available on the home stove. They should never be left unattended while in use, especially if food is being cooked. A spill of oil on the flames can have disastrous consequences, especially when cooking outdoors.

Best Buy

Time after time we’ve checked site after site only to find that the cheapest camping stoves are to be found at Amazon.

Other sites may discount a few dollars, but this is lost (and more besides) after you add delivery charges on top.

As well as that, many other sites may offer a lower price, but they never have any in stock. In most cases they hope to lure you in with one product they don’t have, in the hope you’ll purchase something else from them while you’re there.

Our advice? Stick with Amazon for your cheapest camping stoves. They really are, consistently the cheapest source of camping stoves. In almost every case, products purchased at Amazon qualify for super saver and include free delivery. Certainly if you buy a couple of other things besides.

This is why we almost exclusively select Amazon as our best buy stockist, and why you can still get the cheapest camping stoves from them.

Stan Craigie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.