While you might think of camping the second someone mentions a Coleman stove, these portable cookers are great items, even when you’re not roughing it. If you want to have a backyard cookout but don’t own a barbecue, a Coleman grill stove might just be the perfect solution. But whether you plan on using it in your own backyard or on a camping or backpacking trip, the first thing is to make sure to pick the model that’s perfect for your needs.
Coleman stoves come in a variety of sizes and fuel types. All are easy to use. The food you eat on this excursion can make or break the entire experience. With the right stove, cooking, eating, and packing away after meal times will be fun and memorable. The two most common fuel types are gas and propane. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Gas containers are reusable, propane cylinders are not. Gas gives you more fire per container, propane needs more to go the same distance. Propane flames get hotter faster and stay hot longer. You can find a great Coleman camp stove for either fuel type.
Of the propane designs, the Coleman two burner propane stove is most highly recommended by seasoned campers for canoe trips and car camping, where weight is not an issue (it weighs 11 pounds). It’s large enough for family pans, the propane cylinders last, and is easy to use. For backpacking, however, you may want to ditch the Coleman propane stove design entirely.
A small Coleman gas stove, the Coleman duel fuel stove “Exponent Feather” is most recommended for backpackers. A mere 24 ounces, this Coleman camping stove will burn either white gas or unleaded gasoline, though white gas is cleaner. It has fold out legs to keep from tipping, is compact, and has an adjustable flame control. For trips longer than 1 to 2 days, you’ll have to refuel by boiling water or melting snow. For short backpacking trips, however, this stove is perfect.
Coleman has a number of other models, as well, but these two come with the highest recommendations. It is said that newer gas models of the Coleman two burner stove feel cheap and less durable than their older designs. The Coleman camp stoves from decades past can still be used with outstanding reliability. If you want a large gas stove, it may even be worthwhile to buy an old model for cheap and get it serviced. Most people don’t complain much about even about the newer Coleman camping stoves, however, so if that’s what you have as a gas option, enjoy to the fullest.
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