I am replacing my old camping stove. It is more 20 years old. I would think there are better models these days. What are good camping stoves? It is for backpacking and should be small, light and easy to start.
Have you looked on the LL Bean website?
If your primary purpose is to boil water, check out JetBoil. They also have backpacking stoves that will let you cook eggs, etc., but they’re bulkier.
For super-reliable look at the MSR stoves. That is the brand people take to places like Antarctica. We have the WhisperLite but would probably get the Windburner if I got a do-over.
+1 to JetBoil.
I have an Esbit. They are very light and you can count out the number of fuel pods you will need so no worries about running out of fuel. The downside is they are slow to boil water and they stink. I double bag them in ziplocs.
Thank you for all suggestions! What we have now is an MRS dragonfly. It doesn’t start too well in high altitude and/or cold. I like that Windburner uses solid fuel.
@TatinG I have tried out Esbit. They are very convenient. It may not be powerful enough for what we do.
I love my Trangia alcohol stove. It’s so easy to use-- just pour the alcohol in the dish, drop in a match, and you’re ready to go. Two summers ago, I used it in the Rockies for a couple of months. The stove worked fine at 10,000 feet.
I can’t emphasize enough how easy the Trangia is to use. It can’t break.
If you belong to REI the discount coupons and rebates just came out for 20% off 1 full priced item.
^Thank you for the tip on REI coupons. I just got mine and used to get a Windburner. A lot easier to easy than a dragonfly although not as good in high altitude.
@Cardinal Fang Alcohol burners won’t work for us. Just not enough punch against wind melting snow in thin air.
Backcountry is also offering 20% off 1 item. Code 20Mar
Oops. Just noticed that the REI sale is already mentioned upthtread. Happy shopping!
Ah, you need something to melt snow? As you say, alcohol burners don’t have enough punch for that job. I haven’t found the thin air to be a problem, though. The wind is not a problem either, because the Trangia has an integrated shield that works well. But not enough BTUs for melting snow.
Try an alcohol burner out for times when you don’t need to melt snow, though.