nklr: cheap light campstove. long

[bryanonfire]

At last something I can comment on. The politics - both sides - makes my head hurt. Maybe too many list members are snowed in, bitter with cabin fever, and just need to get out and ride! Or at least get ready for the season, hence the stove thread. Good eating trumps politics every time. Women know this. Too bad more women don't ride! To get away from it all, I probably camp out a minimum of 50 nights a year in all conditions, all seasons, and from sea level to 10,000 feet. And I like to cook. Here's my two cents on stoves for those of you looking to do more riding and cooking. Everything I'm about to post is based on real experience in the field. Alcohol stoves are very light and cheap, but it's hard to vary their heat output and the lighter/smaller the stove, the more unstable it is. Look at some of those photos of a pot balanced on a beer can. Imagine having the whole thing topple just as the meal gets close to being ready! If you go with alcohol, you can buy a useful little item at K-mart. It's a sterno stove. This is a little fold-up grill thingy that packs about 1/2 inch wide by 6" x 6". Don't use sterno (not hot enough) but the folding mini-grill is plenty solid enough to hold a pot of food, and it's cheap, which I know appeals to many on this forum. Then use an alcohol burner for heat. These little sterno stoves have great wind screens, which are very helpful with an alcohol burner. Alcohol doesn't seem to work too well when you get much more than about a mile above sea level. At 7,500 feet I have found them to be nearly useless. Some might pull air in better than others, but I have had trouble getting enough heat and the fuel doesn't burn clean, leaving lots of soot on the pots. Could just be my stove, though. With white gas (my favorite) my experience is that MSRs and Bruntons are finicky. I have always gone back to my one burner Coleman Dual Fuel. It is small, comparitively light, rugged, fairly stable, cheap, easy to repair and service, and best of all, it will simmer very well, in addition to being able to blast out impressive heat when you open up the throttle. The KLR of camp stoves and the only way to go if you like to cook rather than just boiling water. If you think it's too expensive compared to a beer can, I'm still using one I bought about fifteen years ago. It replaced one that took some heavy damage after about a dozen years of hard use. Also, Coleman customer support is heartwarmingly superb in my experience, the way we all wish companies would be. Not that their stuff breaks easily or often; it's just that when you keep an item working for 15 or 20 years of hard service, you need to order parts that aren't stocked in the local sporting goods store. If you get a stove that burns white gas, you waste very little fuel, it's easy to carry as much fuel as you need by just buying an extra fuel bottle, it burns clean, and a white gas stove will work at any elevation your KLR will go to. But don't be too tempted by "Dual Fuel" stoves. When you start using car gas, it clogs the jet/generator much faster than white gas due to additives. Jet fuel is even worse because burns very sooty at stove temperatures. It is made to burn much hotter! So burn white gas or you will be working on the stove a lot. If you do go with white gas as opposed to alcohol, your motorcycle knowledge will help. First, you need to prime the stove for a minute because it won't run right until the system has heated up. (Rich fuel, aka choke at the start.) They usually do this themselves, seeping liquid fuel into the burner bowl area until the generator is hot enough to vaporize the fuel before it gets to the air. Practice at home so you don't burn your eyebrows off in the field! Once it's going steady, if the flame is not blue, the stove needs more air. Hit the pump a few times. If you are ever caught without a stove, here's a useful trick. Go to any 3rd world store, buy a can of tuna (or similar size) and some isopropyl alcohol, eat the tuna, pour the alcohol in the can, and light up. If it's too hot, chuck in a small rock to reduce the surface area that is burning. Use three or four rocks to hold your pot above the can. Note that rubbing alcohol is widely available throughout Central America but for some reason very hard to find in parts of Europe. Alcohol below about 70% (140 proof) doesn't work. Most moonshine does. In conclusion, for backpacking where every ounce counts, alcohol stoves are a good idea for lower elevations. On my KLR where an extra couple pounds doesn't matter, I'd rather have the power and versatility of white gas. Since an alcohol stove is so small and light, I usually carry both (with just a small bottle of alcohol since it's just my back-up)if I'm out for a few days and don't want to be stuck without cooking capability. Final benefits of alcohol stoves: you can carry them on a commercial flight, along with fuel. Even if they get totally immersed in water, no problem. If your matches or lighter are dead, a magnesium fire starter stick and your knife will be enough to get it running. (Except, as noted, at high altitudes.) Some might wonder why I don't mention butane cartridge stoves. I don't like the throw-away fuel cells, they are unstable and bulky, and not as simple as alcohol or as elegant as white gas. But if you are in Europe, Camping Gaz stoves are the only way to go (only widely available fuel)and cheap enough that you can buy the burner and give it away when you leave. But if you like to cook real meals, go with a white gas backpacking stove.