Classic, Indestructible Car Camping and Tailgating Stove from Coleman Delivers Volcano Heat
Written: Jan 26 '05 (Updated May 25 '05)
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Pros: Lasts forever. Very hot flame not effected by cold or altitude. Lower cost fuel.
Cons: More complicated operation than propane stoves.
The Bottom Line: This stove will serve your campout cooking needs for a lifetime with better performance and lower cost but more complicated operation than propane camp stoves.
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| jsquarejj's Full Review: Coleman Compact 2 Burner Gas Stove, 425f499g |
The Coleman two-burner gas camp stove is one of those rare products that has achieved a state near perfection. In a world that often produces goods with disappointing performance and planned obsolescence, it stands out as a reliable workhorse that owners keep for 10, 20 or 30 years and even hand from generation to generation. How does something as mundane as a camp stove manage that?
1. Gas is the Right Fuel
The stove was originally designed to run on Coleman gas (which is really a liquid closely related to gasoline), also called white gas, which is available virtually everywhere from your local hardware or sporting goods store to the most distant outpost frequented by campers. Coleman has developed a “dual fuel” version of this stove which will also run on unleaded gasoline, but the original will work well on gasoline in a pinch. I’ve used it many times when I either ran out of or forgot my Coleman fuel. WalMart sells a slightly less expensive white gas under the brand Ozark Trails.
The alternative to a white gas stove is one that runs on propane or a related gas mixture (these are actually gases, not liquids). By my estimate, it costs about twice as much to run a propane stove as a white gas stove. Don’t be fooled by the relative cost of a gallon of white gas vs a propane canister. You have to consider the amount of cooking you can get done with each. A good way to estimate this is to compare the boiling time for a quart of water on a white gas stove with that on a propane stove, measure the burning time of a known amount of white gas vs a propane canister, and use that information to compute the relative cost.
The white gas alternative seems to cause less waste. When you’re done with a gallon of white gas you can just crush the can and throw it in your recycling bin. Empty propane canisters (the small camping, not the outdoor barbeque variety) are another story.
At sea level and 70 degrees, a propane stove will perform almost as well as a white gas stove, but as the air gets cooler and/or you go up in altitude, propane performance drops off pretty fast while white gas performance hardly changes. On an group camping trip in April 2003, we found ourselves preparing dinner in very cold, windy conditions. The two burner propane stove was nearly useless (couldn't even boil water) while the white gas stove performed like a champ.
One more little glitch is the “end of canister problem.” When a propane canister is near empty, pressure and stove performance drop off. You can easily substitute a fresh cannister, but that means you’ve wasted some propane. With white gas, performance seems to hold up right to the end, but all you have to do is add more gas to the tank, not wasting a drop. Better yet, just top off the tank before you start cooking.
2. Convenience
The stove is like a small suitcase complete with a carrying handle. It’s pretty light and can be used on any fairly flat surface such as a picnic table, tailgate or the ground. It has plenty of room inside to store the removeable gas tank, a fuel funnel and a few other things. I keep a box or matches, steel wool cleaning pad, sponge, small grill scraper and kitchen glove inside for convenience. The only other thing you need to take is your can of white gas.
The built-in grate and wind screens complete the package.
3. Setup
Setup can take a few seconds to a few minutes. Just place the stove on a flat surface, and open the top. Tilt up the grate and remove all the stuff you’ve stored inside, including the fuel tank, and mount the fuel tank on the outside. If there’s already fuel in the tank, you’re done. Otherwise, unscrew the caps on the tank and fuel supply can, and use the funnel to help fill the tank. Replace the caps. That’s it.
This part is a bit more time consuming than the setup of a propane stove, where all you have to do is connect the propane canister to the stove.
Once the stove is set on a flat surface, it is very stable. There's really no way for it to tip over. Furthermore, since the grate area is fairly large and perfectly flat, pots and pans set on it will be perfectly stable as well
4. Operation
To run the stove, you perform a ritual passed down through generations of campers.
First, turn off the main valve and the second burner valve. Use the pump built into the fuel tank to pressurize the fuel (about 30 strokes), then screw the pump shaft into place. Point the “start/run” valve straight up. Open the main valve and light the burner with a match or other lighter. You should immediately get a clean blue flame. After the flame warms up the “generator” for a while, turn the “start/run” valve to point straight down. That’s it.
Now you can use the main valve to regulate the flame. Occasionally, give several more strokes on the tank pump to keep up the pressure.
To light the second burner, just open the second burner valve and apply a match or lighter. Regulate the flame using the valve. You may also have to adjust the main valve. It’s lots of fun!
Note that you must have the main burner on in order to use the second burner, and you must turn off the second burner before you turn off the main burner.
If you’ve got things right, you should be able to boil a quart of water in about four minutes with the main valve wide open and the secondary burner turned off.
Newer stoves have a placard with these instructions inside the stove top, but old timers did them from memory
Here again, operation of a propane stove is quite a bit simpler and somehow not very satisfying. And, the last propane stove I used took 11 minutes to boil a quart of water.
FYI, Coleman rates the burners' energy output as follows: with only the main burner on, 21,000 BTUs; with both burners on, the main burner gives 11,500 BTUs and the secondary burner gives 9,500 BTUs.
5. Cost
When I bought my stove brand new about 20 years ago, it cost under $20. Inflation has now carried the price up to about $49. But you can still find deals on eBay with new stoves going for around $30 and used ones for as little as $10.
6. Recommendations
Based on its performance, size and weight, I recommend this stove for activities where you don't have to carry it a great distance such as car camping, backyard and tailgate parties. The cooking capacity is sufficient for a family and possibly a group of up to 10 people. Beyond that, I'd double up.
If you get this stove, you should consider getting a separate fuel strainer or a funnel with a built-in strainer (especially if you're using gasoline poured from your own container). This will almost completely eliminate "gunk" in the fuel tank, probably the cause of 90% of all operational problems.
7. Related Links
For a nearly identical but more versatile stove, check out my review of Coleman's dual fuel two-burner stove.
Recommended:
Yes
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jsquarejj
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Member: Jim J
Location: Santa Cruz, California
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About Me:
#7 in Personal Finance, #14 in Travel. My goal? Saving you money.
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