camp stove fuel type

[Miriam C.]

BTW, can anyone explain to me why typos never show up until after you hit the "Submit" button. Thinking

Puter grimlins! You can use the edit button if you catch one you really care about. The other thing you can do is use a Google tool bar which will not let you even get away with not capitalizing Google.

[Ncaoutdoors]

I do feel the nostalgia of cooking with a coleman stove using the white gas, and of course using the lanterns. I never did like having to fill them up. You lose the little funnel and your mad as . plus having to pump them up all the time is a real hassle. me, myelf I prefer propane. I think you wont be seeing much of white gas much anymore. Im sure they will find a way it causes global warming or something.

[Joanne]

Although I use propane for the convenience, I have had several occasions when I had problems with it because of the high altitude and cold weather. Still, I probably won't go back to white gas.

Joanne

I used to do camp cooking classes at REI, and here was the basic pros/cons stuff I mentioned.

White Gas: Good heat, and worked at wide range of temperatures and elevations. But, liquid fuel is not as safe to handle -- gases disperse imediately, while liquid fuel saturates and evaporates slowly. Some white gas stoves can also burn unleaded gasoline, which is available everywhere.

Propane: Not as hot as white gas stoves, but safer. It does not have the weather and altitude range of white gas, but it is pretty darn good. Being a gas, if it leaks, the gas dissipates into the air very quickly.

Butane: Often used for very compact stoves, such as for backpakers. Not as hot as Propane, and not good for very cold weather or high altitudes. Safe to use, for the same reasons as propane.

All types of stoves require occassional maintenance for best performance and safety. Liquid fuel stoves require considerably more maintenance than the propane and butane stoves.

My own stoves include a Coleman propane camp stove for my TD, and a tiny MSR butane stove for backpacking. I have seen to many camp stove fires with white gas. Some people love them, but they make me nervous.

That's my 2-cents worth.

[Mike C.]

We have 2 stoves that run on white gas, 1 that is propane, and 1 that is butane. For nostalgia's sake, I like the white gas, but the propane is new and works really well, so.... And the butane makes a really hot cook surface. I guess it just depends on what you, personally like. Which is pretty much the way everything on this forum works. Pick out what you like and go for it.

[raprap]

an alternate to white gas or butane/propane lanterns is one that does not use either flammable gasses or liquids. I have two uco candle lanterns that I use regularly http://candlelantern.com/advantage.html. I have also seen candles used for cooking in dire straights.

Rap

[doug hodder]

I prefer the white gas, or Coleman fuel...also marketed as CampMark or something like that I think...green can available at WalMart....more BTU's out of white gas than the propane. I have a dual fuel stove, and against a similar stove running regular unleaded gas, the white gas will boil a pot of water quicker, but it is more expensive, but not as bad as the little propane bottles. In Eureka at the Irg1 I paid 7.5$ a gallon at a grocery store...but picked it up locally for 4$ at Walley World...2006 pricing in Calif....I'll go through maybe 2 gallons total for the year, depending on how many waffle fans I'm going to cook for. Doug

[Q]

The teardrop has a built in 2 burner stove with a 20 lb propane tank. It supplies the stove and the furnace. For motorcycle touring I use a very old Swedish kerosene stove. It's made of brass and requires a squirt of alcohol to pre-heat it. One fill with kerosene lasts a very long time, and the thing burns really hot but is very adjustable. It's my favorite.

Q

[jeepr]

White gas for me. I have been using it for 30 years or so, and it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks..

I like my old stoves and there is something comforting in the ritual involved in firing up the two burner Coleman. Reminds me of camping as a kid.

[dreadcptflint]

I use White Gas in an old Coleman 2 burner that we picked up at an garage sale for $3 My lattern and backpack stove are both multifuel because of my paraniod nature.

[MrBuzz]

Love my Green Coleman white gas stove. I'm not a fan of the disposable 2# LP cylinders, seems like anytime I used them I ran out of gas and I really don't like throwing the cylinders in the garbage!
It's fun being more self-sufficient...packing a can of gas and refilling the tank isn't a big deal.
I also bought a Coleman folding camp oven that sits on top of my stove. Works Great!! Even when baking the stove doesn't use much gas. And as an added bonus it really cooks coffee fast!!

[Toolie]

Buzz,
I'm glad you posted recently so I can follow up. I still have my old Coleman white gas stove too but I don't use it anymore. The fuel has zylene or one of those other nasties in it, I think it was a carcinogen.

I still have a couple of gallons out in the garage.

Think I'll get rid of it before the cans rust away or something.

[gyroguy]

The Crocodile Tear has a 2-burner propane stove with space below it for a 20-lb. propane tank. I I were going to do it again, I'd just use the 1-lb. green cannisters instead of the 20 lb. tank.

The green cannisters of propane sell for about $2.50 in Wal-Mart. As someone wrote, they last 2-5 hours. But don't throw them away! There is an adapter that screws onto a 20-lb. propane tank and will fill the used green cannisters in about a minute. My adapter cost $19 at Northern Tool.

When I refill the 20 lb. tank, it costs $2.30 per gallon. The 20-lb. tank can safely hold 17 pounds ofpropane when 80% full. They never fill the tank completely full because it can heat up and vent liquid propane... that's a no-no!

When I refill the green cannisters, the propane costs about about 60¢ when it comes from my 20-lb. tank. Be sure to check that the refilled cartridge isn't leaking at the valve. If it is, put it outside til it emptys. Then discard it.

How to know how much propane is in your 20-lb. tank? On the lip of your tank you'll find Tare Weight or TW, which is the weight of the empty tank. Typically it is around 16 to 18 pounds. Weigh your tank, deduct the tare weight, and everything left is propane in your tank. Example:
34.5 pounds Weight of tank
17.2 pounds Tare Weight of tank
=17.3 pounds of propane in tank (tank is full)

You can do the same thing with the green cannisters. But you'll have to empty one first and get its weight in ounces. Then weigh a full one, and get its weight in ounces. Deduct one from the other, and you have the weight of the propane in the green cannister. I'd do the math here again, but all brands of green cannisters don't weigh the same.

Now, why propane instead of white gas?

1) It's is dangerous -- maybe stupid, too -- to refill a hot white gas stove with fuel. That's the cause of many fires. If you have your propane bottle at the end of a long hose, swapping bottles is no problem.

2) White gas evaporates slowly. A friend of mine, Craig Dixon, just spread most of a gallon on a brush pile to get it burning. The explosion that resulted was heard all over town. Many people saw the fireball, too. He was blown backward about 30 feet. He is recovering from 2nd degree burns on face, arms, hands, and legs. Propane is heavier than air but dissipates rapidly in a breeze.

3) Because it's liquid, white gas can spill. In an enclosed area, the vapors can be explosive. Propane doesn't spill. Your teardrop should have a hole in the bottom of the propane storage area to let out any propane vapors.

4) White gas eventually goes bad in storage, though not as quickly as reformulated gasoline does. Propane lasts forever.

I have several propane stoves which I use, and a Coleman white gas stove that's an antique. The only time it gets used is to demonstrate it to my Boy Scouts... and tell them to get a propane stove.

For info on the Crocodile Tear, go to my website: <crocodiletear.com>

[RiffRaff]

As a side note, Provincial parks in Ontario are asking people to not bring the 1# bottles into the parks, and ask that you use camp fuel or 20# bottles.

Also it's illegal to transport refiled 1# bottles.

[gyroguy]

it's illegal to transport refiled 1# bottles.

How could you tell if a green propane bottle has been refilled or not?

[PresTx82]

I use everything depending on what we are doing. I've forgotten my butane tanks back at the house and I luckily had my trusty Coleman Stove #502 that was willing and able. In this picture I had both!