Camping cooker: gas v. petrol
Discussion
Gas....clean, relatively safe, no f
king about priming, burns very hot, easy to manage if it leaks, but usually comes in pressurised one-use containers.
Petrol....easy to come by, easy to refuel, can be put in reusable containers (aka jerry cans) but makes a bloody mess and damages other stuff if it leaks, usually has some wacky light-up procedure.
Gas every time for me.
king about priming, burns very hot, easy to manage if it leaks, but usually comes in pressurised one-use containers.Petrol....easy to come by, easy to refuel, can be put in reusable containers (aka jerry cans) but makes a bloody mess and damages other stuff if it leaks, usually has some wacky light-up procedure.
Gas every time for me.
I've used CampinGaz type stoves for years, very easy to use. However, I went camping in the winter one time and the temperatures meant that gas stoves wouldn't work, so I went looking for a petrol stove. Ended up buying a Coleman Feather 442 for just under £40 on discount in my local high street camping shop
Once we got to the site the gas stove another rider brought was entirely useless, the only way to get it to light at all was to hold the cannister off the snow and rock it side to side. Even then it was weak to pointless, whereas the Coleman just got on with it...
Now, even in the UK where we'll never experience the kind of temperatures we had in Germany (minus five during the day, down to minus twenty at night) I take the Coleman every time I go away... Why? Primarily it's the power, the heat output of a petrol stove is massively more than any gas stove I've ever seen - you won't believe it until you try it but to give you an idea, it'll boil a pan of water before the bubbles start to form on the base of the pan using a gas stove. More importantly for me, when I'm travelling on the bike, I always have unleaded with me in the fuel tank, so I don't have to worry about carrying spare cannisters...
Now, lots of people will tell you that petrol stoves will kill your family but I've done many trips with mine and its never done anything to make me think it was less safe than a propane stove, follow the instructions on the side and you'll be just fine - Yes, as with anything flammable there's a chance of something catching fire, and petrol vapour is explosive, but on the other hand gas cannisters are pressurised, not something synonymous with safety...
It's not hard to light a petrol stove, yes it's not quite as simple as turn knob and light but it takes a few seconds at most, and once lit whatever you're heating will be done in about half the time. A full tank of petrol in mine will last a week of heating breakfast and hot drinks in the mornings and army rations and teas in the evening.
tl;dr: Long story short, Just my opinion but the few very minor negatives are outweighed by the major positives for using the petrol stove...
Once we got to the site the gas stove another rider brought was entirely useless, the only way to get it to light at all was to hold the cannister off the snow and rock it side to side. Even then it was weak to pointless, whereas the Coleman just got on with it...
Now, even in the UK where we'll never experience the kind of temperatures we had in Germany (minus five during the day, down to minus twenty at night) I take the Coleman every time I go away... Why? Primarily it's the power, the heat output of a petrol stove is massively more than any gas stove I've ever seen - you won't believe it until you try it but to give you an idea, it'll boil a pan of water before the bubbles start to form on the base of the pan using a gas stove. More importantly for me, when I'm travelling on the bike, I always have unleaded with me in the fuel tank, so I don't have to worry about carrying spare cannisters...
Now, lots of people will tell you that petrol stoves will kill your family but I've done many trips with mine and its never done anything to make me think it was less safe than a propane stove, follow the instructions on the side and you'll be just fine - Yes, as with anything flammable there's a chance of something catching fire, and petrol vapour is explosive, but on the other hand gas cannisters are pressurised, not something synonymous with safety...
It's not hard to light a petrol stove, yes it's not quite as simple as turn knob and light but it takes a few seconds at most, and once lit whatever you're heating will be done in about half the time. A full tank of petrol in mine will last a week of heating breakfast and hot drinks in the mornings and army rations and teas in the evening.
tl;dr: Long story short, Just my opinion but the few very minor negatives are outweighed by the major positives for using the petrol stove...
Petrol for us, Coleman dual burner, single burner and lamp. No lugging gas bottles around, no not being sure how much gas is left so wasting the end of a bottle to make sure we've got enough.
Minimum quantities aren't really an issue you can fill up a 5 litre can, I suspect in a small garage they would let you have less if you explain...
Some maintenance of the kit is required but the parts are easily available and there are loads of online guides.
I'd echo what others have said about the power output of them it's just awesome compared to gas. The dual mantle lamp is so bright at full power it's almost impossible to look at it, we use it on the lowest settings and it adds some warmth as well as light.
Minimum quantities aren't really an issue you can fill up a 5 litre can, I suspect in a small garage they would let you have less if you explain...
Some maintenance of the kit is required but the parts are easily available and there are loads of online guides.
I'd echo what others have said about the power output of them it's just awesome compared to gas. The dual mantle lamp is so bright at full power it's almost impossible to look at it, we use it on the lowest settings and it adds some warmth as well as light.
Piglet said:
The dual mantle lamp is so bright at full power it's almost impossible to look at it, we use it on the lowest settings and it adds some warmth as well as light.
Got one of those too and you are right. Nice bits of kit except when the mantle breaks and you don't have a spare. Used it without one of the mantles and it kept spluttering and popping and everyone kept a wary eye on it waiting for it to go 'boom'.Also got a traditional 'oil lamp' which although is less bright is much less complicated.
Ayahuasca said:
Got one of those too and you are right. Nice bits of kit except when the mantle breaks and you don't have a spare. Used it without one of the mantles and it kept spluttering and popping and everyone kept a wary eye on it waiting for it to go 'boom'.
I'd forgotten that, we are now quite careful with ours, it travels in the car in it's box rather than in the camping trailer as it's prone to blowing mantles. The original lasted forever, but the replacements don't seem to last as long.Piglet said:
Petrol for us, Coleman dual burner, single burner and lamp.
I have the Coleman 2-burner stove and the Northstar petrol lantern... a light so bright we've had people in other tents asking us to turn it down as they couldn't sleep... it WAS turned down!Neither gets enough use that unleaded has yet killed them and the Northstar travels in its padded Coleman case and is still on its first mantle!
I think the stove has spent more time melting scrap lead than cooking food
- speaking of which, you can buy a sit-on hotplate for the 2-burner that lets you do great fry-ups 
I love my Whisperlite, but on it's lowest setting it's still a lot hotter than my old camping gas one. Fantastic for boiling stuff quickly, but you do need to keep an eye on it when frying. As others have said petrol's way better when it's cold, I've had my camping gas one nearly go up in a fireball when it was producing liquid not gas Main reason I use a petrol is I don't need to worry about carrying spare fuel, I'm usually on the bike when camping so space is a premium, and I keep a short length of pipe under the seat to siphon fuel out of the bike tank.
Main reason I use a petrol is I don't need to worry about carrying spare fuel, I'm usually on the bike when camping so space is a premium, and I keep a short length of pipe under the seat to siphon fuel out of the bike tank.Gassing Station | Tents, Caravans & Motorhomes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff