Ok, before I dive into this, I'd like for everyone to try and keep the emotions out of this and just let me know what your personal experience has been.  I know some of us, including myself, are partial to brandatitis.

Alright, with the disclaimer out of the way, I'm getting ready to purchase a "camp" stove.  I'll always carry my beloved MSR WhisperLite with me, however, I need a larger cooking surface.  That being said what has been your experience with the following manufacturer's:

Coleman

Cook Partner

Camp Chef

Brunton

From what I have read, Coleman, Brunton, maybe Camp Chef and a few others are made on the same line in China with Cook Partner being made here in the USA.  Have any of you had problems with dropping it and it not working?  What about breaking off exposed knobs?  One thing I would like would be dual-fuel.  I'd like to be able to hook up a propane tank if needed or just use normal kerosene.

As I said earlier, I'll have my WhisperLite for a back up (it's what I use when I climb and backpack) but I definitely want something that will last for a while.

Let the comments begin!  Beer on! 

 Wasn't on your list but I have an old two burner Primus. Burner on the right is great, left... not so much. Not real good in the wind even with the side screens up. Looking to get a newer model of something. This thread might help decide.

But for coffee in the am I use a single burner propane Coleman. Came as a lamp/stove combo, both are great and always take the stove with me.

If you know anyone who has back issues of Overland Journal, they did a pretty good evaluation of camp stoves about a year ago. 

Personally, I have never been happy with Coleman camping stoves (two burner kind).  When camping with more than one other person, I really like my Camp Chef.  The model eludes me at the moment, but I can tell you that it was made for white water rafters.  The body is aluminum, wth the burners, etc. stainless steel. It burns propane from a small 2 1/2 gallon tank, and can be mounted on the ground using the four detachable legs that come with it.   It can be adjusted from a whisper to a roaring 50,000 btu output in a second.  My only issue with it, and one that the Overland Journal points out about several other brands/models is that the burner is not close enough to the grill causing a lot of energy to be wasted.

When I am alone, I still use my Butterfly a lot.  I just picked up Craig's old JetBoil and will be using that most of the time when I go out alone (which is much of the time).  I appreciate it's heat output and like it both in the truck or packed away on the back of the dualsport bike.  The french press kit that came with it makes a nice cup of coffee FAST.

 Hey Guys,

I uploaded the article for you guys: https://www.overlandjournal.com/files/samples/overland_journal_stove_review.pdf

Hope it helps with the decision. FYI on the Brunton compact stove.  After a year of use, we reported that it was not as sexy with serious use than the initial testing demonstrated. . .

Scott,

Thanks for getting the article for us.  It's as good as I remembered.  Glad I'm a charter subscriber btw.

Before I bought the Dakar, I was thinking very seriously about a BMW F1150 GSA.  Had I made that purchase, the bike would have come with a set of large aluminum panniers.  I think they were H&B's, but could have been Jesse's, or BMW, or whatever.

At any rate I found a discussion about cooking gear on ADVrider.com and one of the fellows was talking about the custom grill he made.  This guy is an aircraft mechanic by trade and the ULTIMATE GRILL he came up with is something to behold.  Well, like any techno geek out there, I just had to have one.  Unfortunately, in some ways, I went with the Dakar.  The grill and stove are too big and bulky to fit into the Desert Basin saddlebags I use to carry my gear in.  But I thought you'd like to see some pics of this setup.

The system folds up and can be stores in a mesh bag approximaely 2" W x 7.5" T x 17" L.  Setup it measures approximately 13" W x 9" T x 18" L.  As you can see by the pics, it is made to be used with a Coleman model 533 dual fuel, or similar stove.  There is enough room for two such units under the grill.  The grills are made by Purcell Trench and are stainless steel.  The four knob ended bolts that hold it together store in a threaded enclosure in one of the side panels.  Thel whole things weighs in at somewhere betwen 1-2 lbs, excluding the stove(s). 

I wish I had more room to carry it.  I've only used it once but love the darn thing.

Our 2-burner propane Coleman is going on 20 years and still works a charm. It even does a very good simmer but can be slow on cold mornings. Propane/butane/iso-butane does suck more in colder weather.

You can refill 1lb. bottles (in fact you can overfill them if you freeze the 1lb bottle too long first) from a bulk tank with an adapter, but never use the Worthington branded ones if you do. They leak (even when new), bulge around the seams if they get too warm and are downright dangerous IMHO.

I can appreciate the allure of white gas/multi-fuel stoves but the filling, pumping, jet swaps and cleaning, priming is a bit of a hassle we'd rather not deal with. That being said, we do have a Primus mult-fuel that roars like a jet.

 I have thought about refilling the 1 lb bottles but for the cost vs the danger of one blowing up is just not worth it. I usually carry four or five plus an 11 lb tank in the trailer.

We keep the 1lb. bottles stashed inside the spare on the rear swing-out. We can fit four of them there. Kind of a Ford Pinto tailgating deterrent ;-p

Here ya go...

seattle.craigslist.org/see/atq/1736608273.html

Brand New Sears (Coleman) Camp Stove 1965 - $1000 (Sammamish)

Date: 2010-05-11, 10:13PM PDT
Reply to: sale-tchvn-1736608273@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}
 

Excellent, New Sears Camp Stove with original documents. Made for Sears by the Coleman company. Extremely rare blue and yellow details. Never been filled with fuel or ignited. Your chance for a piece of rare Americana.<!-- START CLTAGS -->

• <!-- CLTAG GeographicArea=Sammamish -->Location: Sammamish
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

<!-- END CLTAGS -->

PostingID: 1736608273