I’m on a kick with gasoline / white gas camping gear lately. Here’s the links in reverse order:
- Camping Discussion: Let There Be Light
- Camping Discussion: WIN!
- Camping Gear Discussion: Photos & Testing
- Camping Gear Discussion: Restoring Old Friends And Buying Their New Counterparts
In the end I bought a Coleman Powerhouse Dual Fuel lantern and a Coleman 1 Burner Dual Fuel Sportster 533 Stove. I’ve used the stove several times and the lantern a few times. Both have been reliable and a memory of my youth.
Here’s the interesting part, when I sought the Dual Fuel Stove (in April) they were more or less gone. Coleman itself was sold out. So was every camping store in creation; physical or online. I wound up paying premium through a third party because I thought maybe the model had been lawyered out of existence.
It is three months later and they’re back in stock. Coleman has apparently pulled its head out of its ass and caught up with demand. I salute them for keeping up instead of quitting. May they long profit!
They’re available from Amazon and available (cheaper) from Coleman. Both prices are less than what I paid a few months ago. Oh well, you place your bets and take your chances. Also, I’ve enjoyed owning the set the last few months; so no regrets.
I’ll be camping this weekend and will have the two devices with me. I’ll enjoy the hell out of them!
However, I don’t recommend them for everyone. If you’re an ultralight backpacker, forget it… they both weigh a ton. If you’re easily freaked out by flames or worried about kids, they’re not ideal.
For light, batteries and LED devices are far less cumbersome. Though nothing lights up a campsite like an alien landing zone quite as well as a good old fashioned gas & mantle lantern. Flashlights and headlamps get the job done, a liquid fuel lantern is better for ambience.
For cooking, it depends on what you’re doing. If you want to cook fast with a light weigh device get a JetBoil. They run on expensive disposable little butane canisters but they can boil water as fast as a microwave! I used my JetBoil for years and it was a good piece of kit. The biggest drawback is you wind up with a bunch of half used canisters hanging around. Also, if you run out of butane, you’re screwed. The radiator fins on a JetBoil container aren’t useable over a wood fire. That’s a not a big deal until it’s the most important thing ever! (Don’t ask how I know.)
If you don’t care about weight and don’t want to think too hard just get a generic propane burner on a 1 pound disposable canister. (They’re dirt cheap aside from the propane canister. I own a few of them too.) You’ll end up with a bunch of half filled propane canisters (unless you refill them which is a sketchy hassle). Also, one pound disposeable tanks are ridiculously expensive in the Bidenverse.
The dual fuel Coleman wins if you’re willing to tinker a bit with the flame and wait a minute longer for your coffee to percolate. In exchange, you can use fuel that’s the cheapest of the bunch and available literally everywhere. The stoves have near bulletproof reliability… including in cold weather. (Gas fuels can and do freeze. The temperature at which they freeze and conk out are exactly the conditions when a froze up stove will kick your ass! If you’re a summer only camper you’ll never encounter this, if you’re a winter camper you already know it.) Also, I find the slower pace and more “campfire-ish” stove is a bit of a mellow pleasure. YMMV
One last note, all things go full circle. I started camping with basic foods from a grocery store, firewood from the forest, and a frying pan. Step by step I’m turning back to that path.
When I was a young Curmudgeon it was a pain in the ass. A frying pan is heavy, wood coals are a messy bitch to cook over, and it’s all very slow. Then again it was all I had and it worked. So that’s what I did.
Over time I got serious and went very deep into nature. I switched to boiling water with butane and wonder stoves. I’d dump the water into a Mountain House envelope and chow down. It was fast and easy but definitely lacks in style. No regrets, it was a good time.
Now I’m gradually reverting to the old ways. Here’s an small old frying pan I scrounged up for this weekend’s camping; whiskey bottle for scale. (Yes the whiskey goes camping with me too!)
Don’t get me wrong, Mountain House is great food; easy to make and carry. But for some reason, I feel like it’s time for something new. I’ve a primal need to fry bacon on a little skillet. Note too that I raised the bacon myself and the eggs come from my own hens!
I can’t remember where I got it but I doubt it’s a valuable antique. I thought it came in a novelty thing like a Pepperidge Farms type gift pack. Mrs. Curmudgeon thinks it came from a lawn sale in Maine 30 years ago. She’s better at remembering things than me.
It’s just the right size for the campstove but nothing is officially a good idea until I’ve tried it a few times. I’ll report back later.
As the world goes mad, the little things help keep you rooted. If an extra ten minutes percolating coffee (instead of a speedy JetBoil French press) and cooking actual eggs on a clunky iron skillet (instead of a freeze dried wonder meal) keeps me happy/sane… why not?
Of course, none of this rules out cooking on a legit fire; which I do whenever I’ve got time to kill, there are no burning restrictions, and it’s cold out. (All stoves, liquid fueled or gas fueled, are ok under most burning restrictions.) My truck always has my folding campstove. I usually carry a trashcan of pallet wood. Parks limit you to purchased firewood and they charge $7+ a pop. I get it, popular parks would be a desert if everyone gathered available fuels and shipping in remotely grown firewood brings bugs. Pallet wood is my solution. It’s 100% bug free. It’s kiln dried so it lights easy. I cut out every nail so it’s perfectly clean. It’s super convenient. A trashcan in the truck bed is a great way to carry it. It’s a goodly supply, it keeps the wood bone dry, and nobody ever questions or steals a trash can.
However you do it, get out in nature and away from the news. Happy camping y’all!
A.C.
(Note: The links go to Amazon. I put the links up to make life easier for people who want actionable information. I get a few percent kickback if you buy anything from those links and it costs you absolutely nothing. So if you’re planning on buying a Ferrari or something, please go through my link! Also, it’s not like I’m exploiting you to get rich. In the last 30 days I’ve made something like 57 cents.)