Page 3 of 5

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 11:27 am
by rlown
a canister is still liquid fuel. it's about vaporization as it hit's the stove. If it was a pure gas, it would weigh nothing.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 3:44 pm
by longri
Sure, it's almost all liquid inside the canister, but it's gaseous when it comes out of the canister. It doesn't have to "hit the stove". Unless you're using it in an inverted mode in which case it does vaporize later.

I think there is a perception that canister stoves are simpler to use and less likely to result in unwanted flames. My own experience bears this out. I've seen plenty of small fires due to white gas stoves (my very experienced friend started one a couple of weeks ago) and with alcohol stoves, but not from canister stoves. It can happen but it's a lot less common.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 6:03 pm
by rlown
we're probably way off topic by now. There are no regulations as i know that talk about fuel type (other than carrying in wood for a wood stove thingyy) above fire-deck. There are fire rules in the back country at elevation and that's it. I do not think the Coleman company is going to just stand aside and say, yes, it's a bad idea to allow our fuel to be carried into a wood-barren area. that is just stupid.

pick your favorite stove. I love white gas. others love cans. To each their own. What more do i want a ranger to check as their capabilities dwindle.

Some here might not even be comfortable with white gas stoves, and that's fine. I started lighting them when I was 7. that was a long, long time ago. If you think a screw Assembly and a quick flame meets your needs, cool. It's really about what you do with it. I can simmer. I like that about my white gas stove.

You really have to pick your approach out there, and then pick the right stove.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 8:31 pm
by Scouter9
So much angst. :retard:

Some of us have many, many years on white gas stoves ranging from table top Colemans to old Optimus and MSR stoves, probably more than a few Svea vets around here, too. That the fuel is versatile and powerful is well-known. That it's liquid, it spills and results in accidents by the great unwashed masses who are not nearly as enlightened as anyone registered to post here... well, that's why even the stove and lantern manufacturers are producing less of the white gas rigs and more canister stoves. It's also why some jurisdictions are looking at yet another regulation they can throw our way.

If you want to be a luddite and use the old, heavy stove and it makes you feel good not to know that I can simmer, steam and saute' more easily with a canister backpacking stove than a white gas rig (certainly not including my Coleman 2-burner), and I can boil faster because the canister puts out more BTU, and all the chicks dig me because I have the hot new stove, well that's totally cool. Go for it! As long as you feel good, we can all agree the world is flat.

If you're not comfortable using a canister stove, that's okay, too. The kids will take care of it. Now pardon me, but I have to go flip the record.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 8:49 pm
by AlmostThere
Scouter9 wrote: I can boil faster because the canister puts out more BTU, and all the chicks dig me because I have the hot new stove, well that's totally cool. Go for it! As long as you feel good, we can all agree the world is flat.
Now you're just being ridiculous...

Who cares how fast you boil the water?

Are you racing someone?

BTW, you don't know what "chicks" dig. It sure ain't a stove.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 1:44 pm
by Scouter9
=D> Chicks dig fast stoves and hot chocolate. Everyone knows that. :nod:

Speed to boil does matter to some folks, including me: in those times when it's cold out, when one desires hot water sooner than later, when it's windy and raining, it's nice to have a stove that "goes to eleven". This is why many of us use(d) the venerable XGK white gas stove, for example. Based on personal experience using a variety of fuels and stoves, I appreciate that my canister stove can simmer low *and* boil fast, as desired.

If you never need or want to boil fast, that's cool. De Colores.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 10:25 am
by longri
I don't understand the speed and simmering argument. My friend's white gas stove boiled very quickly, as quickly as my canister stove would have in those conditions and most likely faster in very windy and cold condtions. I did not use a stopwatch to check so maybe his stove took 25 seconds longer to boil a liter than mine would have. Is that the kind of difference that impresses women? I doubt it.

His stove also simmered quite nicely.

But despite decades of experience he did start a fire with it so I'll reserve judgement on the whole thing.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 7:54 pm
by AlmostThere
Scouter9 wrote:=D> Chicks dig fast stoves and hot chocolate. Everyone knows that. :nod:

Speed to boil does matter to some folks, including me: in those times when it's cold out, when one desires hot water sooner than later, when it's windy and raining, it's nice to have a stove that "goes to eleven". This is why many of us use(d) the venerable XGK white gas stove, for example. Based on personal experience using a variety of fuels and stoves, I appreciate that my canister stove can simmer low *and* boil fast, as desired.

If you never need or want to boil fast, that's cool. De Colores.
Guess what? I'm a chick. I don't dig you a'tall. I make my own hot chocolate and better than the packets you get at the store.

I'm pretty sure none of the stoves I have used have failed to boil water, and frequently I am faster at it than the wanks with their old white gas stoves that they STILL can't manage to prime correctly... by the time they are done getting it all put together, primed, re-primed, taken apart, put together again, and blown off their beard a second time... or hey, there's the ones that just break.

Considering I use a cat can stove half the time, that says something.

Fast is just for yuppies who think they need it.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 8:03 pm
by rlown
wow.. can we talk about stoves again?

I do use both. depends on who's carrying what and what we're cooking. fast boil: great. simmer: fish.. I don't own a can stove, but i go with some who do.

Not seeing the problem. Pick one and learn. It's not set in stone people. jeez.

Re: which backpacking stove to use

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 10:19 pm
by LMBSGV
One of the things on this thread that has me a bit mystified is starting a fire with white gas stoves. I’ve been using white gas stoves since 1973, beginning with a Svea through a succession of Colemans, in nearly every temperature from the teens on up, at altitudes from sea level to 12,000 feet, and under every sort of condition of snow, wind, and rain and the only fire I’ve started lighting a white gas stove is in the burner of the stove.