The Stove Collector

Fuel Types

The easiest way to keep all the different stove types apart is by what fuel they use. The problem for a collector is that the same fuel can have several different names from country to country and may also have changed its characteristics over time.

• Understanding fuel names
• BTU explained
• Multifuel Stoves
• White Gas Stoves
• Gas Stoves
• Kerosene Stoves
• Alcohol Stoves
• Solid Fuel Stoves
• Curiosities

Understanding fuel names

Kerosene is also known as paraffine. Lamp-oil is a product mostly based on clean kerosene, and can be used as a substitute.

White gas is also known as gasoline. It may also be encountered as benzin or petrol. When auto fuel is used, only unleaded fuel should be used. Cleansed gasoline can be obtained through medical sources, and Coleman produces their own Coleman Fuel™ which is essentially petroleum naphta - pure, low-octane white gas. The latter will also work on a WW2 propeller airplane, if you happen to have one. Keep in mind that unleaded auto fuel has a few additivies that white gas hasn't even if the lead is removed, and may be quicker to clog the jet.

Alcohol is also known as denaturated alcohol, spirit, methylated spirit or simply meths. Industrial spirit is easily found in paint stores, but in a tight spot you can always break out the whisky - which is sacrilege, of course.

BTU explained

BTU is short for British Thermal Units, and is the most common way of gauing a stove's heat output. According to Britannica Encyclopædia it was originally defined as the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one pound of water with 1° F, then redefined in 1956 as approx. 1,055 joules or 252 gram calories.

You will find that most new stoves in sale will declare their BTU output. Depending on fuel type and stove design, normal output will typically be between 5000 and 10000 BTU. But a stove with high BTU may still cook that pot of coffee slower than one with low BTU, if the latter is faster to lighten up and get a good burn.

Multifuel Stoves

Multifuel stoves are usually a white gas stove modified to use kerosene and - at a pinch - alcohol. Adjustment is done by switching fuel nozzles and fuel flasks.

Pros:

• The perfect all-year, any-environment stove
• Easy access to fuel everywhere

Cons:

• Usually the most expensive alternative

White Gas Stoves

This is the most effective stove of them all; white gas/Coleman fuel has the highest heat/ounce ratio, cooks fastest, and very often comes as a multifuel model that can burn both gas, kerosene and alchohol at a pinch. The two most usual versions are a sturdy tripod with a built-in tank, alternatively a small lightweight model with a detached tank. The only known bugs I know of, is a sometimes seen problem with clogging of the pipes, and at very low temperatures it can be a little hard to get it started.

I must admit being a bit leery about dragging high-explosive fuel along to the back country. Theoretically, the stove is a bomb - although statistics shows it is as safe as a kerosene burner. The weight-conscious backpacker will probably prefer this one anyway, and leave the kerosene burners to the romantics.

Pros:

• Delivers the highest temperatures
• Cost-effective
• Fast

Cons:

• Performs less good in below-zero temperatures
• More explosion risk than other types

Gas Stoves

The gas burner is a simplification of the kerosene burner; gas from a canister is set afire and led through a spreading device to ensure a steady burn. I must admit a grudging respect for the gas burner; it is gives a fair amount of heat with little fuss, and is quite simple to use. However, it is an expensive fuel compared to the alternatives, the boxes are both bulky and unrecycleable, and at high altitudes the fuel simply fails to work. Besides, a gas burner has no class - no fancy stuff, no copper anywhere, nothing to polish and put on a shelf.

There are several varieties of gases available. Butane and propane have been around for a long time, and these days isopropane is also on the market - a mix of 80 % butane and 20 % propane, which unlike pure butane will function well also under freezing point.

Basically, this is the burner I would send along with a boy scout bunch; easy to use, no liquid to spill, and not too heavy for a a night or two in the back country. And it is not expensive gear, either.

Pros:

• The units themeselves are usually of very small weight and size

Cons:

• Performs badly at below-zero temperatures (with the exception of isopropane)
• Canisters can't be reused, and  in most cases not be recycled either
• Canisters can explode if abused badly.

Kerosene Stoves

In 1882 the swede FW Lindqvist invented the soot-free kerosene stove, and it became an immediate international success. The modern kerosene burner is based on the principle of pressurized liquid kerosene being heated to gas, then put on fire and lead to a spreading device which heats your pan or kettle. Pressure is usually made by the application of a manual pump. To ensure that the  pressure is high, a pump is used to compress the air within the container, and more air is sucked in through a valve when vacuum is approached.

Kerosene burners are perhaps the most cost-efficient burners of them all - kerosene is quite cheap, the hour/ounce rate is great, and it burns steadily. Kerosene is reliable at both cold weather and high altitudes, and burns very evenly - IF you shield the stove from wind, that is. Also, the preheating phase can be a bit touchy; the amateur might fuss around a while until he gets the pumping and heat properly configured. If you hate tinkering, and have no patience, you might consider choosing another type of stove.

There are several types of kerosene; unscented lamp-oil is good but special stove paraffine is now available some places. There is a special lamp oil for ceramic lamps; this should be avoided as it freezes in below-zero temperatures. You can also use the common paraffine used for central heating. The latter contains a percentage of diesel and tends to soot a bit, which can clog your nozzle. Keep a pin handy for those times, unless there's one in your tank. White spirit can also be used in a pinch, but soots and doesn't smell very good.

The kerosene burner is my chosen love among stoves; the stoves are elegant, are excellent collection items - expecially the copper models, which have been churned out of factories for the last 100 years and still are.

Pros:

• cost-efficient: very cheap fuel
• very weight/warmth effective
• good steady fire
• Reliable at low temperatures and high altitudes

Cons:

• The stoves tend to be heavy

Alcohol Stoves

The alcohol burner is technically a rather crude device; hardly more than a cup with liquid which is put on fire. Usually the fire is led through vent holes, to ensure a steadier fire. It's hard not to get an alcohol stove to burn, as long as you have a matchstick that works. Trangia is king of this product area, with their Storm Kitchen models. Generally, alcohol stoves are much more popular in Europe and Scandinavia than in the US. These stoves are often popular for making food where simmering is more important than boiling.

Pros:

• Alcohol is available everywhere
• Very sturdy and light design
• Don't build enough pressure to explode
• Alights easily
• Cheap

Cons:

• Not cost-efficient
• Somewhat less effective in below-zero temperature
• Not recommended in tents; doesn't generate enough heat to warm the tent, smokes too much and is too dangerous in case of a stumbling accident
• Liable to soot your pans
  

Solid Fuel Stoves

Solid fuel used to be solidified kerosene as far as camping stoves were involved, but for the last couple of years this has been enlarged to also include carcoal- and wood burners with small electric vents or other increased-air devices.

Pros:

• Enviromentally safe

Cons:

• Needs batteries (in most cases) to keep functioning

Curiosities

Now and then a few unclassifiable stove models pop up. Solar ovens sound quite exotic and useless to North Europeans (what is sun?) but are a lot more plausible in sunny California and other areas with kind climates.