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Gone
are the days of the bulky camp stove and the kerosene tank.
Today’s stoves are compact, lightweight, and fuel-efficient.
As the demands on the backcountry puts more strain on the
outdoors, and changing weather patterns make long term burning bans a
reality in some parts of the country, the portable stove has
become a key part of your camping equipment.
This
guide has been designed as a stove 101 primarily to help you select the
right one for all kinds of camping.
OutdoorPlaces.Com makes a strong attempt at having an agnostic
approach to our gear guides, and we do not endorse or recommend one
particular brand or style. Stoves
can range from $20 to $200. A
fair price to pay for a quality unit is from $50 to $90, although
bargains can be found for less
and units can be found for much more.
One
of the biggest effects to how efficient your stove is the type of fuel
it uses. Today’s stoves
use a wide variety of fuels, and many stoves are capable of burning more
than one fuel type.
Another
consideration is the efficiency of a stove. Some stoves measure
their efficiency in BTU, or British Thermal Units. The higher the
BTU's, the hotter the stove is. Your gas grille at home probably
creates between 25,000 and 30,000 BTU's under ideal conditions. A
better gauge is boiling time. Most stove manufacturers will
publish a boiling time which is the time it takes to boil a quart of
water. The faster the boiling time the more efficient the stove.
Size
can be an issue also. If you are going into the backcountry you
don't want a big heavy stove that takes a lot of fuel weighing you
down. Likewise your stove needs to be big enough to feed the
masses. So click on through and learn everything you wanted to
know about stoves, but was afraid to ask.
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