Camp Stoves

Experiment with 3 tin-can Hex burners

I have been interested in the ‘outdoors’ for some time. When I say ‘outdoors’ that encompasses woodcraft, desert, jungle and arctic living and survival.


Anyway, I decided to test out three ultra simple burners made from tin cans and each using a single square Hexamine fuel tablet to see if they would work. The photo shows the three burner designs I experimented with. In all cases I used an army Crusader mug. This was filled with 500ml of cold water. A lid was made from a fairly thick aluminium foil obtained from a ready-meal of some sort. I put a hole in the lid to be able to see a jet of steam issue when boiling point was reached, rather than constantly lifting the lid.







Burner one  was a Tomato can with triangular holes cut with an old fashioned can punch and the large cut-outs made with some kitchen scissors. This burner did not work well with the tablet burning out after 12 ½ minutes, and before boiling was reached.

Burner two was made from a small Spam can. This was not as good as I had hoped and just managed to boil before the Hex tablet burnt out, again at 12 ½ mins.

Burner three  was made from another Tomato can but with the sides cut away and bent to locate the base of the Crusader mug as can be seen in the photo. This was the best burner, producing a hard boil in less than 10 minutes (tablet burnout 12 ½ mins.).

I did not use a wind shield and all three burners were tried out at the same time on several occasions, hence the rusty condition of the cans. A fireproof base is needed, as the burners get very hot and could cause grass or wood to catch fire, also flames around the mug can be quite large. I don’t like the Hex fuel tablets for the mess they make as they burn although it does wash off the mug fairly easily.

In short, the experiment continues.

RKDC

This blog post about remote camping and campstoves is one thats pretty much based on personal taste to be honest so if your views differ do let us know, we are always interested to hear others opinions - seriously!

Most people I will assume buy camping stoves for use at commercial (i.e. you  stay, you pay) campsites but it is becoming increasingly popular to camp remotely away from the hustle and bustle of everyone else but usually requires a hike in to really escape from it all.

I've camped remotely in the Lake District, Dartmoor and Snowdon for the most part - I find its difficult to find a place in the Brecon Beacons as there aren't many places away from the crowds wandering up Pen Y Fan from the nearby A road (so if you do know anywhere in the Brecons feel free to share!)

So heres my list of my preferred camping stoves to take with me on remote camping trips. Results are based on the following:

Weight of the camping stove
Easy set up?
Care free operation?
Stove size?
General boiling times - they're not officially timed to be honest and sometimes the wait for boiling water feels longer than it normally is!


Trangia Camping Stove 27-6

From my days of Air Cadets and Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme I've spent many a time cooking on trangia stoves. Even though made from aluminium the whole lot (bear in mind it can include kettles and frying pans) can weight in and if you add a gas or multi fuel burner (which is a clever but somewhat expensive idea) that adds again. I remember sharing out parts of the stove as it is quite bulky but then if you want to cater for groups in remote areas I don't think

MSR Dragonfly Stove

I know the MSR Dragonfly stove is popular with many and I admit its design is highly stable but I've never personally got on as well with these as say the Go Systems Trail stove. However thats not to say I discount it its just that given the option I'd go with something else. The arms of the stove do look like they could do with being slightly thicker (they look flimsy to me). Overall this stove is highly capable if a little noisy and to me a tad slow but then it works well at high altitude and runs on a variety of fuels. It packs away well into a rucksack and I think it will be a favourite for a long time to come (for others, just not for me perhaps)

GoSystems Trail Stove

I have to say I have a personal favourite here and one thats always 1st choice to take with me. The Trail Stove is very light classic cooking stove, and offers great control. When needed you can really crank it right up to get boiling water fast - though do note it eats gas cartridges for breakfast so you might think about taking 2 cartridges with you just in case (so it will end up adding in quite a bit more weight to your rucksack). Attractive price mind!

Jetboil PCS Stove

Weighing in at just 425grams (about a pound in weight) I can't I really even noticed this camp stove in my backpack as I hiked into Dartmoor one cold frosty Saturday morning earlier this year but I do know there are lighter camp stoves around. Dead easy to set up and operate I did however find it has to be carefully balanced... it looks little top heavy in my opinion so I probably overcompensate by struggling to find the perfect flat surface especially when out wild camping. The litre container quickly boils water - it took just over 2 minutes (though PCS suggest under 2 minutes) - it might just be that I filled mine slightly higher than required for 2 drinks (around 250ml). Probably not as popular as your MSR's or Primus stoves but certainly one that I'd take again.


Well hopefully I have passed on a little wisdom! If you want to find out more on Camping Remotely then I suggest you look here:

http://www.campingexpert.co.uk/staying-safe-remote-campsites.html

We stomped around Corndu, Pen Y Fan and Cribyn - in the Brecon Beacons - over the weekend. Keeping an eye on the weather we were told that even though the chance of showers was at a minimum the wind would be from the North East so we knew it would be cold. We didn't realise that it would be so windy - continual winds in places of 30mph plus, 3 gliders ridge soaring (a sight to behold) and the luxury of a multifuel Primus Omnifuel Stove which boiled us up a lovely cuppa over lunch.

We also grabbed some photos too for you to enjoy - take a look below!

My brother recently announced that he was going to buy a tent, sleeping bags and a camping stove and take the family camping this summer!

I’m sure that with the current economic climate and recent chaos across Europe caused by the volcano in Iceland he won’t be the only man considering a first venture into the world of camping.

Knowing that we regularly go camping he asked for some advice on what to buy, where to go and essentially “What’s camping all about?”

The first piece of advice I gave him was not to rush out and buy loads of camping equipment. The increased popularity of camping holidays over the past few years means that you don’t have to spend a lot to kit yourself out for a camping holiday, but why spend anything at all if you can help it?

I suggested he borrows the camping equipment (including camping stoves) he needs from us or friends for the first trip – plenty of time to buy his own once he knows if it’s something they want to continue.

Next piece of advice he needed was where to go camping and for how long?

A first camping trip is all about getting to grips with pitching your tent, sleeping under canvas & cooking outdoors on a camping stove. You shouldn’t therefore look to run before you can walk and make your first camping holiday 2 weeks rough camping in some remote part of the country.

Select a campsite with a few creature comforts to ease you into everything gently (decent showers / toilets really do make a difference in those early days) and keep the first trip to just a few days – stuck on the camping holiday from hell for a full 2 weeks is something to avoid at all cost.

Also, if at all possible, go on your first trip with experienced campers as this can help you feel much more comfortable about everything if you have someone with you to show you the ropes. Then if you get the camping bug you can be more adventurous on where you stay and for how long.

So with all of that understood my brother's preparing for his first camping trip with us over the summer holidays, fingers crossed all goes well.

As the weather starts to improve and the first rays of early summer sunshine come upon us our thoughts have turned this week to planning our first camping trip of the year.

First question to answer is where do we go?
Should we re-visit a tried and tested site or be more adventurous and look for somewhere new?

Living just north of Bristol we’ve opted for somewhere to camp in the South West and having done some research have come across a couple of campsites which we think look really good and worth a visit:

www.hiddenvalleypark.com

This award winning site in North Devon certainly looks a great unspoilt spot for a relaxing stay. The site appears to have a good selection of facilities for the whole family and what’s more their green credentials aren’t bad either!


www.trevella.co.uk

This Cornish campsite is situated in extensive parkland and can also be found close to the beaches at Newquay and within easy reach of other Cornish attractions seems to offer everything you could want from a family friendly campsite.

Now we have some ideas on where to go, the next job is to locate the tent and camping equipment from the darkest recesses of the garage and check everything is working correctly. Do we have any gas left for the camping stove or is the gas bottle empty like the one for the BBQ/ (Which by the way we found out just as we were about to light it last weekend)!

What happened to the new Primus Eta Pot we bought last year?

Campsite selected, tent and camping equipment ready – all we need now is for the weather to continue and we are good to go!

Some of these video's of tents on fire are extremely eye opening and show the dangers of how cooking inside your tent can lead to disaster IN SECONDS!

Watch the video's below to make your own minds up but we really do want to state here that we NEVER condone cooking inside a tent, in our opinion its just not worth the risk!















What To Do When Your Camping Gear Catches Fire - Useful Tips

Amazing Irish Landscapes.

We like to hear from all our customers from their trips in the Great Outdoors - for that reason we welcome anyone to send us their photos and even video of their trips in the UK or abroad. We'll give you full credit and for really good photos we offer discounts on camping gear - call 01454 315430 to find out more!

One of our customers recently went to Ireland and scored these amazing photo's - take a look below and see just how pretty Ireland is!

Some handy hits and tips on Camping Stoves to help you out!

Yeah it’s just a camping stove, it "don’t do much" other than simply heat water or cook or burn your food right? Depends on your outdoor cooking skillz we guess!

But is it “just” a stove? Isn’t it a lifeline out in wilderness areas at least? Isn’t it a source of motivation when the going gets tough (nothing like a hot cup of tea up a steep mountain in awful weather, trust us we’ve done that!)

So a camping stove – its something important – so important in fact this little piece below is worth reading – if only to make sure you consider some brief points to help you make sure you get the RIGHT stove. It’s too late to find out you picked up the wrong stove because you took advice from an inexperienced member of staff who knew very little, at a massive camping chain store, who was there for their derisory hourly rate and nothing else!

Get the basics right first by asking yourself these two questions:


1)      What conditions will your stove be used in?

Using it in a campsite in Cornwall and storing in the back of your car is a world away from carrying and using it in the mountains of Peru – your altitude and the temperature will make very different demands on the type of stove you should consider, so too will its weight and how small it packs down to.

2)      What fuels are available locally?

Remote area’s of the world just don’t give you full access to gas canisters or white gas so that’s important to consider if you’re far off the beaten path. If that is the case then you’ll very likely want to take a multi fuel stove with you.

Ten Points about Stoves you can take home with you RIGHT NOW! Thats right, absolutely free @ NO CHARGE! Yessirreee!

1. Fuels: gas is clean and easy to use however airlines won't let you carry gas so you’ll need to get hold of some once in-country and that could be difficult and time consuming to find. Kerosene (paraffin) and gasoline (petrol) are always obtainable even in the most unlikely of places (did you know there’s a petrol station in the middle of the Death Valley?!)

2. Maintenance: gas stoves need little in the way of cleaning, the same is true of Coleman Fuel stoves, but petrol can be poor quality and potentially dirty - this can clog a burner rapidly mostly because petrol does not burn at a high enough temperature to really get rid of all the additives. MSR's stoves are usually best to use with petrol as you can strip them down quite easily in the field giving them an advantage over other stoves.

3. Burn Strength: we admit the majority of our reviews are carried out at sea level and mostly in the UK so any results we give shows how long it takes to boil one litre of water in temperate conditions. At mid to high altitudes pressurised stoves and propane perform far better. Propane though needs big, heavy canisters and we can’t see them being popular enough that you’ll want to carry them up steep hills or mountains anytime soon!

4. Carrying Spares: Trust us your stove will at one day not light when you most want it to (so it’ll be cold food that night or if you’re lucky a trip down the pub). But if you're off on an expedition out in the wild, you'll certainly need a spares kit to keep your stove in "tippetty-top" (our favourite word right now!) condition. If you take an MSR stove with you we reckon you’d better count on carrying a spare pressure pump as well – they’ve been known to break on the very rare occasion.


5. Carrying Your Stove: We always recommend you store your stove in a thick plastic bag ensuring you keep any fuel and stoves away from your clothes and/or sleeping bag unless you want to be reek of fuel – trust us from experience you won’t have many friends till the smell goes away (plus you’re a fire risk!). We recommend you use proper fuel bottles to eliminate leaks and make sure all fuel is drained from any stove before you pack it away.

6. Lighting your Stove (aka Igniting!):  We don’t know why so many people bother with matches – we always tell customers to take  two or three disposable lighters instead (though watch yourself if you have to point the flame end into fuel like meths, probably not that recommended).

7. The Campers Kitchen: Unless it’s raining cook outside of your tent, if it is raining then use the bell end or porch if you really must but please, please try not to set fire to the fly sheet (we’ve seen this happen, its rather scary!)

8. Protection from Wind: an exposed stove loses more heat (just like your body) in windy conditions so try to keep it out of an exposed position wherever possible. We advise its a good idea to consider a wind shield and placing a lid on top your pot – this really will make a big difference to reducing boiling times.

9. Solid Fuel: Hexamine Stoves - from our cadet days we avoid these types of stove like the plague! There will be likely loads of you who disagree (harcore mountain racers probably) but its all or nothing with these so you never have the opportunity to simmer when needed.

10. Useful tip on melting Snow (who knows it might just come in handy!): If you have to melt snow, always keep a little water in the bottom of the pan thus allowing new snow to melt more quickly. Well this must be true - our mothers told us and they’d know wouldn’t they?  ;)


Our Preferences on Types of Fuel for Camping
When camping in the UK (or Western Europe) we’d definitely say that gas is the obvious choice to go for, as its clean, easily obtainable and pretty much maintenance free too. Coleman's gas fuel canisters work very well, but the cartridges look pricey and maybe less readily available (you’ll probably want to ring around a few stores to check if they have them). In our opinion they do last for ages so end up being very good value.

When travelling abroad we think you really can’t go wrong with multi fuel. If you’re going to be using petrol then we really suggest you consider MSR’s range of expedition stoves – they’re light, reliable and burn well even at a reasonable attitude.

Well thats it from us - any comments please feel free to leave below, we love to hear from our blog readers so comment away!

Done the 3 Peaks already?




Then the WATERRAID MUNRO CHALLENGE IS GREAT FUN.



The Munro Challenge aims to get teams to summit all munros and peaks over 3000 feet in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.



This years date is Saturday 12th June 2010



Check out the web site for more info

http://www.wateraidmunrochallenge.org/

The 3 Peaks Challenge is a really good challenge, especially if you are used to mountain walking and hiking. If climbing mountains (quickly) is not usually your thing it can still be achieved but from experience we suggest you get out there and start training!

Doing the 3 Peaks challenge is great fun but can present the inexperienced with a significant risk especially if they happen to be unprepared - so careful and detailed planning including time management is key as is having the right mountain walking equipment.

We recommend you have a seperate driver for the event and make sure they are prepared NOT to participate in the walking so that they can remain alert enough to drive you to and from each mountain. The driving can be quite taxing especially in the early hours of the night and if your driver has walked a mountain they run the risk of being seriously fatigued increasing the risk of a driving accident.

If there is a big group of you it’s best to be travelling in a mini bus rather than trying to all cram into small cars. If you happen to be lucky enough try to get MPV's - they're probably a little quicker and as we understand more comfortable than an old mini bus, useful of you're trying to get some rest ready for the next mountain challenge.

We recommend your driver not only takes care of the driving but also your meals, this will give the people doing the 3 Peaks more of a chance chance to rest and sleep. If the driver makes the meals and drinks for when you are about to return from the mountain this will save you time when you get back to the vehicle.

Driving Map


As a group you will have to  make sure you have enough water plus ensure the right kind of food is available for team members - pasta is usually chosen as it is a good source of carbohydrates and quick and easy to cook on a camp stove. Make sure you take tea too - a warming drink will certainly improve team morale.

We would recommend the Coleman Perfect Flow Propane Double Burner plus 2 cylinders of Gas as more than suitable to take care of the team.


Also for group use, you will need to take:

• Good first aid kit (one small per member and a group med kit)
• Survival blanket and whistle (1 per member), 
• 2 x Compass and OS map OL391 Ben Nevis, OL6 Scafell Pike and OL 17 Snowdon. One map and compass per 4 members should be sufficient. Plan your route well both walking and driving.

Each person on the 3 Peaks challenge should have the following:

• Waterproof and breathable Jacket and Trousers packed in your rucksack
• Walking Boots or Walking Cross Trainer(with good ankle support)
• Walking Socks plus thin layer of socks as a second skin if you prefer to help minimise blisters
• Baselayer T shirt(non cotton)long sleeved
• Quick Dry Walking Trousers 
• Lightweight Fleece Jacket
• Micro Fleece (100g) Hat 
• Sun Hat and Gloves. 
• Wicking and Breathable Underpants are a nice bonus as well.

Other equipment you will need to take:

• 25-35 Litre Day Sack
• Compeed (for blisters)
• Swiss Army Knife
• 2 Litre Platypus water Bladder (make sure you drink 2-3 litres per walk).
• 1 Litre Water Bottle
• Mars Bars and/or Kendal Mint Cake
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Head Torch
• Toilet Paper
• Ipod (for use in the minibus or car - NOT for use on the hill!)
• Small or lightweight Camera
• Whistle (one per member)
• GPS unit - recommended but we recommend you brush up on your map reading and compass skills - its too late if your batteries fail out on the hill in inclement weather

Good Luck on your 3 Peaks Challenge if you have any questions please contact us at on 01454 315430 or view our site http://www.campingstoves-uk.com

When you are going off backpacking in the uk It's best to make a check list off all the camping equipment you will need. Here is a list of some products and brands which are lightweight and really good quality.

Tent-Terra Nova Laser under 1kg

Rucksack-Lowe Alpine do a really good range

Sleeping Bag-depends when you are going out, Rab some some top end Down bags and Mountain Equipment some a range of down and synthetic sleeping bags.

Lightweight waterproofs-event fabric from Rab or Montane

Base layer T shirts and long sleeved-smart wool or lowe alpine.

3 season walking boots-Meindle or Salomon

Lighter
Head Torch-LED LENSER
Quick dry towel- Sea To Summit
Swiss Army Knife
Platypus 2l Water Bladder
Shovel
Sigg 1l Bottle
Whistle
Survival Blanket
Toothbrush and paste
Food-Travel Lunch
Walking Socks
Walking Trousers-Rab
Dry Bags-exped
First Aid Kit
Compeed
Sun Protection
Compass-Silva range
Os explorer maps
Camping Stove-SO many to chose from, If your going in cold or high altitude you need to go for multi-fuel stoves other wise gas will be ok. Check Camping Stoves out at http://campingstoves-uk.com/

Camping mugs, pots and pans-You can check these out at the above web site as well. Don't forget your Spork!

If you have room in your rucksack you could take a WIND UP RADIO with you, nice to have some music sometimes. Have a look at Powe Plus wind Up Products at http://www.campingstoves-uk.com/wind-up--solar-energy-products-15-c.asp

Remember always dress in the right clothing and be prepared. Happy Backpacking

Getting Beasted!

Army Training Weekend


Physical training too the extreme, pushing yourself until you drop, always hitting that wall where you think you can’t go on?!. Sometimes it’s the simple things that help, your pushing your mind and body to the limit and not refuelling!. Try a bit of QUIGGIN’S KENDAL MINT CAKE half way through your beasting, pure mint energy to push you further than you thought you ever could go.

Trangia's range of camping stoves have been popular for years especially for (from what our sales tell us) groups such as Duke of Edinburgh and Scouts on their expedition and camping trips. We've decided to post a detailed review on the Trangia 25-6 Campstove to help provide you with "inside" information if you're looking to buy a trangia stove.

All trangias have little to no moving parts so there really is nothing to go wrong when compared against other more advanced camping stoves.

The Trangia series 25-6 stove is designed to cook for medium groups of 4 people, always works well in very bad weather, is light(ish) in weight when carrying and is simple and very quick to set up.

The stove's burner runs on methlyated spirits and is silent during operation - positive side is you have a quiet camp setup but the downside is that if you don't keep an eye on the fuel in the burner chamber you can easily run out! Another issue is to decide how much to use, especially when its not recommended to pour fuel back into your fuel bottle OR pour fuel into an empty and HOT burner. We find a half full burner runs on average for approximately 20 minutes so plan your cooking accordingly.

Do note that meths burns more effectively in cold weather over gas so we usually grab the trangia over any other camp stove when we head off to the hills in the depth of winter. The trangia stove can be ran on bottled liquid gas but needs a further accessory to allow this operation to take place.

We always seem to find the simmering ring a fiddle to use but over the years we've developed the habit of throwing it (ok we place it on carefully) over the burner to extinguish the flame. Personally when camping we've always wanted our food or hot drink heated up quickly... if you want to cook more advanced camping recipes on your stove we recommend you look at a stove with a more control over simmering (try the MSR Dragonfly for instance).

We love the way everything packs down neatly into your rucksack, place the burner in a pot, place the pots together inside the wind shield, drop the frying pan/cover lid on top and strap together. Take care with the strap though, they seem to get easily lost in tents in our experience - strap it to a rucksack when not in use to prevent loss (even if temporary its a pain!).

Generously of Trangia they supply a kettle - though its not non-stick like the pans - so if you only use your kettle to boil water at home we'd assume thats all you would use a kettle for out in the field!

In conclusion we say the Trangia 25-6 Camping Stove is: durable, usable and practical and worth a purchase.
Its a star buy in our book!

We always like to find websites that provide useful cooking tips and camping recipes for when we're outdoors - heres a small selection of just some we like:


http://camping.about.com/od/campingrecipes/u/recipes.htm
We like the organised layout of this website but its not particularly personable... recipes are linked to by food type, course or method prepared.


http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/cat.asp?catid=5
Some interesting recipes on this website but seems to be just a mix without any categories or organisation (guys if you read this perhaps sort into Pasta/Casseroles/Stews etc) - still we think you'll find some camping recipes you'll really, really like - we certainly did!

http://www.netmums.com/food/Camping_food_recipes.2782/
Colourful website with a good list of the basics needed for campstove cooking plus links to seperate recipes.

http://www.scottishcampingguide.com/board.php
We love the recipe for the "Freshest Trout ever" - made us smile but oh its so true too! The tip on carrying bags of herbs is spot on!

http://www.recipesforcamping.com/
Over 1145 camping recipes so you'll totally be spoilt for choice! Downside is a lot of the recipes maybe a little American four our European tastes but don't let that put you off.

http://www.campfiredude.com/campfire-cooking.shtml
With only a few ideas for recipes but goes into some great details about different styles of campfire cooking.

We're big fans of MSR Stoves and thought it time to create a review on the MSR Dragonfly Stove, a camping stove you can even simmer on (according to MSR anyway but more later).

First released way back in 1998 MSR's Dragonfly Stove has continually proved to be popular - some say more so than the XGK stove.

Notably this camping stove consistently won Germany's Outdoor magazine's third position in their Gear of the Year awards in both 2005 and 2006 so its certainly been rated highly by experts (and demanding ones at that!)

But what has it won awards for?
Well for its clever and innovative dual valve design creativity - which mostly provides total and immediate control over the stoves burner flame settings.

With the ability to reduce its size to 1/3 of its usable size plus provided with extra wide pot supports this really is a practical camping stove for serious campers.

We do hear some people have had problems with the Dragonfly having to frequently strip the stove due to it clogging up but in our experience we have not experienced this problem - but we've kept to using clean fuels and avoided using different fuels to minimise clogging. Additionally we always keep our MSR camping stove regularly maintained to avoid any problems.

We love the suspended burner cup allowing maximum heat to get to the cooking pot together with the remote burner, pioneered by MSR (but you already knew that!) keeping the stove's cooking flame away from the fuel.allowing you to use a windscreen to help get even more heat.

It is a noisy camping stove though, if thats not for you and you want something quieter then we recommend you check out the MSR Whisperlite instead as the Dragonfly's burner is a lot louder.

The Dual Valve fuel system allows you to adjust the burner from full roar to a gentle heat to allow you the opportunity to even simmer - a rarity in outdoor camping cooking! We even here some people swear you can set the flame so low you can even bake on it (!!).

The final nice touch is a decent size stuffsack to allow you to store your Dragonfly stove whilst either in your rucksack or cupboard (or garage) when not in use.

Purchase a MSR Dragonfly stove online here.