Mini-camping stoves

[jellied]

Now fewer of the Jellied tribe intend to go camping I'm thinking of getting a smaller cooker to save lugging the twin burner/grill and huge calor gay cyclinder.

I keep seeing those mini single burners powered by a canister of gas that looks like a spray paint tin.

About £20 for a cooker that folds neatly into a case, and with that you get 4 free lots of gas.

Firstly are these any good?
Secondly how long do the cannister last?
Are the cannister all the same between different makes?

[clarion]

If you wantone of those, I believe we have a spare.

Butterfly could give you more detailed advice on camping stoves, but I have used the briefcase stoves, and they are OK.  Stable, easy to use, gas fairly cheap and reasonably easy to find.

But I much prefer a more lightweight stove, such as the one I own (can't remember the make as I haven't used it for so long) or the much better Primus Gravity that Butterfly has.  We have a smaller stove for cycle touring, but the Gravity is the one we use most.

[токамак]

I use one of these: Millets 206 Stove

Small but effective.

[Butterfly]

They work pretty well . The cannisters last a day or two, depending on the number of times you cook or boil the kettle. I haven't noticed any difference between the makes, but I haven't really paid attention. Look around the shops, you should get one cheaper .
And what Clarion said whilst I was typing!

[Butterfly]

The briefcase stoves are very stable if you have children around, as well.

[Valiant]

I have one of those, they can be had from £10 from Halfords, I got mine from Clarion lol. While not exactly light, they do the job brilliantly, last camping trip I had 11 mouths to feed, the more light units were struggling so I cracked this open and it did the job a lot faster and also means you can use a proper pan on it. If I was camping by myself I'd prolly be more inclined to take a trangria or something similar.

[jellied]

I've used the classic mini Gaz thing you mention from Millets, plus some can double up as a lantern. The one I borrowed I didn't feel was that stable.

I like the idea of the thing packing away into a case as I could use down the allotment slightly easier I think.

Thanks for the offer Clarion but we're off Wednesday.

I didn't realise how short a life span they have - thanks for the warning!

I had forgotten about Halfords - I'll pop down to see them tomorrow.

[Charlotte]

YHPM

[Chris N]

We cooked on one for three weeks (not constantly...) when in NZ last year - it was fine.  The canisters weren't that cheap, but were widely available.  They'd last a couple of days each, and in anything other than a howling gale worked really well.  Great for car camping, not so lightweight.

[Zoidburg]

Just don't buy one that uses gas canisters that you have to pierce.

Bloody lethal things.

[mark]

The Millets 206 stove that TOKaMaK describes seems to use the pierceable cartridge. Cheap, effective, but  you have to use up all the fuel in the cartridge before you can safely detach the cartridge from the stove.

Most modern gas canister stoves use some kind of screw-on cartridge that you can detach from the stove for storage or transport, which takes some of the adventure out of using them. Campingaz makes a stove that takes their clip-on cartridge. A lot of the screw-on cartridges are interchangeable, but availability does vary from country to country.

Alcohol stoves like the Trangia are a nice option. Denatured alcohol (meths?) is pretty widely available, the stoves are simple to use, and you don't have to worry about the gas canister going empty halfway through your meal.

[токамак]

The Millets 206 stove that TOKaMaK describes seems to use the pierceable cartridge. Cheap, effective, but  you have to use up all the fuel in the cartridge before you can safely detach the cartridge from the stove.

This is correct. I pack it in it's original box when I'm transporting it, and I've not had any issues. What I like about them is that for a small stove they really pack a powerful flame.

[clarion]

Still better to use a screw-in cartridge.  Faster to the boil than a Trangia, too

[David Martin]

Still better to use a screw-in cartridge.  Faster to the boil than a Trangia, too

My Trangia uses a screw in gas cartridge. Best of both worlds. 

We have one of the Camping Gaz bistro briefcase thingies and it is good for what it does. A reasonable flame (though the gas powered trangia is quicker for boiling water) and nicely enclosed with a piezo electric igniter. Gas bottles last about 3-4 days for a family cooking once a day (water is boiled on the Trangia as it is faster). It would be a good idea to improvise a wind shield to improve efficiency if used outdoors.

..d

[clarion]

Still better to use a screw-in cartridge.  Faster to the boil than a Trangia, too

My Trangia uses a screw in gas cartridge. Best of both worlds. 

The whole world loves a smart arse

Yes, gas burners are available for Trangias, which probably improves the performance massively.  But I'd still prefer our Primus

[David Martin]

Still better to use a screw-in cartridge.  Faster to the boil than a Trangia, too

My Trangia uses a screw in gas cartridge. Best of both worlds. 

The whole world loves a smart arse

Yes, gas burners are available for Trangias, which probably improves the performance massively.  But I'd still prefer our Primus

Somewhere I have an optimus 22B. Two burner petrol stove nicknamed the whisperloud. Fantastic heat, though at full blast it requires ear protection - sounds like a jet engine. (ed. It is a jet engine).
It has a crack in the petrol tank that needs attention though. Not a stove for the faint of fettling but it can burn your porridge before the top has thawed out 

[Mike J]

We've got a Coleman stove with the twist on gas canister, and it's excellent for making a cup of tea on  .

[Ariadne]

I have a little twist-on Coleman stove - but we invested in one of these and it's brilliant, and much more stable:

Blacks Gravity II EF Stove

[Butterfly]

We have the earlier version of that, Ariadne, and I agree, it's much more stable. You can also tip the can up if it's getting low or if it's cold and beginning to freeze . It does take more space though.

[juliet]

I've got a MSR Whisperlite International, & it's great.  Uses liquid fuel rather than a canister, but the storage bottle is also the thing that the burner plugs into (so you don't need extra external storage).  A bottle's worth seemed to last me up 5 days or so (cooking breakfast and lunch, and an extra cuppa or so of an evening).  Also it is tiny & very cute.

[David Martin]

We have the earlier version of that, Ariadne, and I agree, it's much more stable. You can also tip the can up if it's getting low or if it's cold and beginning to freeze . It does take more space though.

With the gas conversion for the trangia you can place the gas cylinder over the heat which gets you a bit more oomph when cold or near the bottom of the canister.. Very useful (when done with care).

..d

[mark]

We have the earlier version of that, Ariadne, and I agree, it's much more stable. You can also tip the can up if it's getting low or if it's cold and beginning to freeze . It does take more space though.

With the gas conversion for the trangia you can place the gas cylinder over the heat which gets you a bit more oomph when cold or near the bottom of the canister.. Very useful (when done with care).

..d

You can boost the output of any gas cartridge stove by taping a strip of copper to the cartridge with the end of the copper strip in the flame. This should only be done when the cartridge is close to empty and in very cold weather, and even then there is a certain risk involved.

Whisperlite Internationales are nice, I use mine with the MSR Alpine Cookset and the MSR® Heat Exchanger - Efficiency booster for MSR® pots . The heat exchanger speeds up the cooking process noticeably and adds a little wind protection.

Edit: Anything that involves heating up a gas canister the way David Martin and I suggested should be done very carefully, unless you want some fireworks instead of dinner. A much safer way to warm up a canister is to hold it close to your body, in your sleeping bag overnight or inside your jacket during the day.

[andrew_s]

We have the earlier version of that, Ariadne, and I agree, it's much more stable. You can also tip the can up if it's getting low or if it's cold and beginning to freeze . It does take more space though.

With the gas conversion for the trangia you can place the gas cylinder over the heat which gets you a bit more oomph when cold or near the bottom of the canister.. Very useful (when done with care).

..d

The Trangia converter has a pre-heat loop, so you can run the stove on liquid gas with the canister inverted. This overcomes the low output in the cold or at the end of the canister.
You need to get the burner warmed up before you turn the canister over, and the valve will need adjusting. It works better if you always do it than if you wait until the end because running upright on gas burns a higher proportion of the propane in the mix than running on liquid.