Camp Stoves Petrol vs Gas
 

Happy New Year to all,

I have been reading through all the posts on stoves and most people seem to go for a petrol burning type. I see the advantages to this, one fuel type to carry and always have a big supply of it, you should be able to get fuel everywhere or you have other problems.

I will be going through Europe (west & east) soon and was looking at the gas container type stoves. They seem to break down a bit smaller and although petrol stoves don't seem tricky there is even less to the gas type. Something like the Campingaz Twister 270.

What is the availability of the campingaz gas containers like in western Europe ? is there a more popular brand ? or are they not used much at all hence why everybody seems to use petrol type ?

Any advise would be helpful.

Cheers

You have to look at the overall performance. gas canisters don't like cold and high altitude, it's the same for the trangia type alcohol stoves. I've never had any such problems with my Coleman 533. Ok, the performance drops off a bit in those conditions but it'll still cook your meal pretty quick. You can die of starvation waiting for some stoves!

I have always been a great deffender of Trangia type stoves, especially the military ones but have recently converted to a Coleman. http://www.johnscrossshop.co.uk/WebP...e=076501215366

It fires up really quick and is nearly as controlable as a gas stove. The other advantage is as you wrote, that the fuel is the same as the bike. OK, they don't pack down small.

Pack Size
 

Pack size is a factor as we will be on the road for 3+ months. I have no problem putting T piece and tap the fuel line to allow filling a Coleman like the feather.

But if the Campingaz or the Coleman gas stove cylinders are widely available it seems a bit easier. I don't think I will be camping at a very high altitude.

ive had both the coleman sportster and the pro/butane stove i use now, and ive used a trangia in the past.

they all had pros and cons, the petrol stove went like a rocket and you'll never run out of fuel, but was a bit fiddly and messy i suppose.
the trangia was slow and messy, but v.low tech for maintenance and a superb design for packing everything away.
the gas job is halfway between the two with no mess and tiny stoves but the bottles dont last very long unless you get the bulky big boys, but they are easy to find across europe.

the best stove for me would be the 27-series trangia with gas converter, but im not rockerfeller

For you, I think in Europe you can find cannisters for a stove and generally they seem to be pretty cross-compatible: I was able to use a Coleman cannister on my Primus so vice-versa etc.

Otherwise, consider a multifuel stove: they keep your options open:
I pushed the boat out and got a Primus Omnifuel when it was on sale. As the name suggests it will run on anything including compressed brown envelopes soaked in water... indeed I have cooked on petrol, but its messy (loads of soot)

Failing that you can get cooking fuel (white gas?): it is used the way petrol would be, but burns really cleanly, and the bottles it comes in can be recycled: I understood from one salesman in Ellis-Brigham or Blacks who was into his camping that the gas cannisters are not refillable: so they make a lot of waste to relatively few cups of brew: perhaps something to bear in mind.

Alternatively there is the a Trangia meths burner: meths is pretty universal....

Well here in France Campig Gaz is widely available, you just wander into supermarkets and voila.

Couple of things to consider. If your gaz stove has cartridges you pierce then look out for the packsize as you can't remove the cartridge once it's on, and secondly, environmentalistness. Unless you religiously recycle them the cartridges are a huge waste of metal.

For years I travelled with a Camping Gaz stove, and I still use it for festivals, as I can take my toaster, and it lights easier. But for travelling I use a Trangia with the multi-fuel adaptor, just for the fact I know I can always scrounge some fuel.

Confusion
 

Sorry guys I should have added a link, The campingaz stove and cylinders/canisters are of the Easy Clic type. You can remove them at will. I had one back in Aus but didn't use it much so never found out how long a cylinder/canisters lasts.

Alexlebrit, is it these campingaz Easy Clic canisters that available in France or the type you referred too only ?

You can see the different types on the link below. It also shows the Coleman versions as well.

http://www.johnscrossshop.co.uk/WebP...egoryCode=1500

Sorry for the confusion.

Being French (I believe) Camping Gaz of all types is easily found. Coleman being American might be different, but to be honest those canisters look the same to me, are there any differences?

Ah "Being French" is an important fact. I didn't know that. In theory the neighbouring countries should / might sell them.

Yup both the Campingaz and the Coleman have puncture type and detachable types. The Campingaz detachable type clips & clamps on. The Coleman screws on.

:thumbup1:

I bought my 270 stove in the UK, they are very popular cannister in France also. Note the 470 has double the gaz for just a small increase in price (same fitting). Also these use a mixture of butane and propane so work much colder than most. They are much used for soldering/brazing and can be had in any toolshop or supermarket. a cannister usually lasts for more than one season for me.

Hi there I have used camping gaz ones, trangia and have finally setteled on a msr dragonfly. This is mainly for two reasons, the first of which is the fact that you have a great amount of heat and control with the msr enabling you to actually cook as apposed to just boil water and reheat.

The other reason being I was away on a trip in wales, set up camp just started to cook with my camping gaz stove, and it started to run out of gas, it was a Sunday and I had been trying to find a spare to buy all day, but to no avail. Anyway it ran out with the pasta part rehydrated, leaving me with no brew and no dinner, stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Guess what I am saying is this happened mid camping season in wales which is built on camping caravanning tourism and absolutely riddled with campsites and camping shops. It might not be quite so easy in the middle of eastern europe.

Anyway there's my two penny's worth.

All the best and a happy new year Tom

additional. I always carry a spare cannister :)
second, make sure the flame area is shielded from the wind, can halve cooking time.

Very sound advice.

Also when you say "a cannister usually lasts for more than one season for me" is that going on bike trips ? if so how long ? ie how many hours do you get out of a 470 cannister ? I know it will depend on how high you have it turned up.

Cheers for all the help so far everybody.:thumbup1:

Axelbrit, does the multifuel adaptor also attach to gas canisters?

the euro screw type gas cans are readily available all over. when bike camping i generally get 3 or 4 days out of a 270, thats cooking breakfast and some dinners, lunch and as many dinners as poss eating out, im supposed to be on holiday!

in UK i cook myself all the time, as i can do a better job than the overpriced crap some foreign student undercooks for you. in france the stove only comes out for breakfast, when you can have a slap up feast in any roadside caff for a few quid whats the point?