What Stove?
Article by Hugh O
Introduction
Anyone who has read my other reviews for this site will know I enjoy investigating the pros and cons of various types of kit. In this review, I have attempted a slightly improved approach from my normal subjective musings. In other words I actually attempted to try some form of objective measurement of performance!!
Now there aren’t quite as many stoves on the market as there are knives or multi-tools, however there are still far, far more than I will ever get an opportunity to review. I have therefore tried to pick one or two stoves from each of the major “types” in order to give you some opportunity to form an opinion. In order to try to compare apples with apples, I have stuck to single burner, portable stoves. If you fancy self-contained multi burner stoves, you can choose from gas or petrol. If you want grills, ovens etc. – its Calor gas – right up to a replacement for your domestic cooker with a huge propane cylinder outside.
Types of Stoves / Review Criteria / Conclusions
I have looked at 4 fuel types in this review:
· Gas
· Petrol
· Alcohol
· Solid fuel
The criteria I have reviewed against are:
· Size
· Weight
· Speed to boil 500ml of water
· Cost to buy
Extrapolating from this, there are some conclusions for each stove (all personal opinions) and some “recommended” awards.
Findings
| Picture | Type | Fuel | Width (cm) | Depth (cm) | Height (cm) | Time to Boil (mm:ss) | Weight (g inc Fuel) | Approx Purchase Price |
| | Australian Barbecue | Gas Cartridge | 35 | 28 | 10 | 03.50 | 2,000 | £10 - £20 |
| | Coleman Gas | Gas Cartridge | 16 | 16 | 10 (+canister) | 03:45 | 680 | £15 |
| | Coleman Sportster | Unleaded Petrol (or Coleman Fuel) | 15 | 15 | 15 | 04:21 | 1,100g | £35 |
| | Crusader Cup | Alcohol Gel | 13 | 11 | 6 | 16:32 | 450g (inc cup) | £12 |
| | Trangia | Methylated Spirits | 20 | 20 | 10 (packed) 19 (set up) | 12:25 | 800g (including 3 pans) | £30 |
| | Esbit Micro | Solid Fuel | 12 (Unfolded) 8 (Set Up) | 12 (Unfolded) 8 (Set Up) | 0 (Unfolded) 5 (set Up) | 15:12 | 100g including 6 tablets of fuel | 99p |
| | Hexamine Stove | Solid Fuel | 12 | 10 | 3 (folded) 7 (Unfolded) | 5:22 | 375g (inc 8 tablets of fuel) | 1:00 |
Learning
So what did I learn? A few things:
· Nothing beats gas for speed of boil
· Petrol is nearly as fast as gas (and much cheaper!!)
· Trangias are slow but light
· Fancy new ideas don’t really work very well (Esbit and Crusader Cup)
· Water boils much faster when in a covered container ( the Crusader Cup has no cover)
Rating
Rather than be too proscriptive – let me tell you why I like (or dislike) the stoves.
“Barbecue Stove”
My choice (and most importantly Fiona’s) for “Best home backup” . A wide, stable stove that is fairly cheap, has a very adjustable flame, piezo electric ignition and is fairly cheap to buy. Gas canisters are about £1.50 each and last about an hour. Will take all you normal pots and pans. We use ours to act as a gas ring for barbecues, pic