What to Keep in Mind When Choosing a Camping Stove

One of the most important elements of any backpacking or camping trip is your food preparation. A fun trip into the great outdoors can quickly turn into a nightmare without the right cooking equipment. Chewing on raw pasta and eating cold beans will keep you nourished but it is no way to end a day of vigorous hiking or a really long drive.

Although the idea of cooking a meal over a campfire has a sort of romantic appeal, you should never count on a campfire to make your dinner. Firstly, cooking anything other than hot dogs or marshmallows over a campfire is harder than it looks. More importantly, you can't always count on the availability of useable wood, and many state parks outlaw campfires altogether because of their inherent danger. A good camping stove is therefore a must for any overnight camping or backpacking trip.

White Gas or Propane Camping Stoves

The kind of camping stove you should buy will depend on your needs. If you are 'car camping' and aren't planning on hiking with your equipment, you can buy whatever stove you want. I would recommend in that case that you get one that has two or more burners, so you can cook more than one thing simultaneously. You're going to want something easy to set up and take apart, something easy to clean, and something easy to light. I have always used a Coleman cooking stove and I have absolutely no complaints. They work great.

As an alternative to the propane camping stove, you can now buy camping stoves that work with white gas. It makes more sense to use white gas if possible since propane comes in throw away canisters, whereas white gas containers you can refill and save on waste. Unless of course, you use the big refillable propane tanks as opposed to the small throw away canisters.

If you are planning on hiking with your equipment, the highest priority for your camping stove should be weight. If you are going for an especially long hike, or extended backpacking trip, you should consider getting a very small, single burner stove. Just make sure you keep in mind that you can only cook one thing at a time when you choose what food to bring with you. Some single burner stoves are extremely small, smaller even than the gas canisters that connect to them. These are ideal for 25+ mile trips.

When shopping for a camping stove, keep in mind that a more expensive camping stove doesn't mean it is the best camping stove. A cheap lightweight stove is going to be far better for your needs on a long backpacking trip than a heavy expensive one.