Winter Stove Favorites

[SherpaKroto]

When I was in Georgia with Gris he used the Svea. I miss my little Svea that somehow walked from my house to my brother's year's ago. I will be looking for a new one. I loved that little workhorse (and it only cost $11.95 when I bought it!). I've successfully used my Primus down to -17F. It takes some patience, but you can do it. Wrap a copper wire under the canister and over the burner and it will run fine. YMMV. Don't try this if you don't know what you are doing!

Hey Doug Paul: what's the SB score going to be? I couldn't find it on Dougipedia

 

[Oldsmores]

Actually, I would add that cooking in a tent is itself a no-margin-of-error proposition. I've had a little white gas spill over and flame up and it was incredibly focusing for the half a second before I smothered it.

Cooking in your tent is a risky business. Know it going in.

"... incredibly focusing..." Very well put!

 

[DougPaul]

Actually, I would add that cooking in a tent is itself a no-margin-of-error proposition. I've had a little white gas spill over and flame up and it was incredibly focusing for the half a second before I smothered it.

Cooking in your tent is a risky business. Know it going in.

If you must do it, a hanging butane stove is probably the least dangerous.

BTW1, down virtually explodes if it catches fire. And most of our mountaineering fabrics are meltable/burnable. (Wool is relatively fireproof--it only smolders.)

BTW2, there have been a number of tent explosions caused by the simultaneous use of two stoves. One runs out and someone goes to refill it--fumes from the open tank are ignited by the second stove...

Doug

 

[Silverfox]

Winter stove

I used the Svea 123 way back and except for a couple of blowtorch like incidents it worked fine.. now, since I haven't done winter camping per se and carry the stove for occaisional convenicence and emergency use I have both a Jetboil and a Snow Peak, both of which use canister gas.. the snow peak is very light and compact..the jet boil a little bulkier and heavier but I think more efficient..I have a little square of thin plywood I carry to keep canister off the snow which seems to help a little...

 

[Guinness]

Interesting post.......

With many deep winter experiences and as an owner of 9 different stoves I can offer testimonials that only the MSR XGK and MSR FireFly (for those of us old enough to own) can be relied upon for low AND high elevation cold weather reliability. I have used both at -35°f and below with great success. Other models have not done as well. To me the subject is closed.

As for cooking in the tent - no way. At best cook in the vestibule to reduce the condensation buildup. Please understand I have been tent bound at higher elevations -and- extreme cold temps and there is nothing more uncomfortable than falling snow all day/night from the buildup that happens when cooking inside the tent.

I have done the copper wire trick around the Isobutene canister many times with great success and I have promoted it, but when the temp goes below -10° be very careful, it is not as efficient. One way to extend the range of the combination with copper wire is to wrap a wind shield around the stove/canister, but be careful as that also introduces possible problems with the canister overheating.

 

[Jkrew81]

Never used one of these. What kind of residue does the fire leave afterwards.

This is something a bit different to try too.

It leaves the pot covered in soot so you need to keep it in a stuff sack or plastic bag so it does not get all over you stuff. It is very satisfyinf to use though as long as you have time and patience (i.e. it is not a fast boiler)