Camp Stoves

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