Gas, benzine or Esbit: comparing camping stoves

The biggest perk of gas stoves is that they’re easy to use. Models with integrated piezo ignition can be turned on and off in a matter of seconds and require zero preparation. You hardly need any expertise to use them, and most models give you very good control over the power – which is crucial for more elaborate dishes. Plus, gas stoves are comparatively lightweight, clean and need basically no maintenance. Just screw in the cartridge, ignite the fuel and get cooking.

There are two sides to everything. And, conversely, you need to make sure you can even get gas in the area where you’ll be using your stove. Why? Because gas cartridges can’t be taken on planes and, outside Europe, it’s often tricky to find the right ones. Even in countries near Switzerland, you can frequently only find cartridges with a camping gas connector. If you want to link these to a screw-in stove, you need a special adaptor. So, if you’re going on a lengthy outdoor adventure overseas, you should research where you can buy the right gas cartridges (e.g. a local outdoor equipment supplier) before you set off and ideally reserve the quantity you’ll need.

If you’re planning to use a gas stove in winter, you should know that ‘normal’ butane cartridges only work in temperatures above zero. When the mercury drops below this, isobutane gas offers a helping hand: this comes out of the cartridge in gaseous form until around minus 10 degrees (effective boiling point: -11.7). But that’s just the isobutane, not the butane itself! Alternatively, you can opt for a model like the Optimus Vega, where you can upend the gas cartridges. This helps the gas get to the stove in liquid form, so it’s no longer tied to a particular temperature. If you don’t have this kind of model at your disposal, you can use a hand warmer. These latent heat storage devices are activated by clicking a metal disc and can be positioned under the cartridge to heat the gas by a couple of degrees. Special winter gas is also a handy option, but it costs twice as much. In addition, you should never put the gas cartridges straight onto the snow or on a cold stone.

Fuel availability is crucial when choosing the right stove – and this is where benzine/multi-fuel stoves come into their own. You’ll be able to find some kind of liquid fuel in even the most remote location, whether at a petrol station, pharmacy, DIY store or even a supermarket. Primus’ Omnifuel and MSR’s Whisperlite Universal can cope with basically any fuel: white spirit, gasoline, petrol, diesel, aviation fuel or kerosene. Some models can even be converted to run on gas. Conversely, MSR’s Whisperlite Universal can only be used with liquid fuels.

The purity of the liquid fuel plays a key role in determining how well and cleanly the stove works. White spirit is always the top choice in this respect: you can buy it from Transa, in pharmacies or at DIY stores. You also have to carry, and use, the right nozzle for the various fuels.

You need to know what you’re doing when using a benzine or multi-fuel stove. Aside from actually running the stove itself, they also require a certain level of maintenance, especially if you’re using impure fuels like diesel. Plus, the stove could need to be thoroughly cleaned after every use, depending on the circumstances – and you have to learn how to do this before you set off.

Don’t forget about noise: some benzine stoves make such a loud hissing noise during operation that it’s hard to hold a normal conversation in the vicinity.

Unlike gas stoves, benzine stoves are resistant to cold and always free-standing. However, it’s not usually all that easy to adjust their output. Plus, benzine stoves are a little trickier to use than their gas-fuelled counterparts: first, you pressurise the fuel bottle using a hand pump. The fuel is heated and turns into vapour in the burner, which is where the nozzle is located. That’s why benzine stoves need to be pre-heated before you can cook on them. This preparation takes a good ten minutes, and can generate flames that are really quite sooty (depending on the fuel). Once you’ve turned your benzine stove off, you need to leave it aflame for a couple of moments so the excess fuel can burn out of the system.

Fuelled with spirits, Trangia stoves are constructed to be wind-resistant and come as a set comprising the wind-protected burner and stand, two pans, a frying pan and a pair of tongs. You simply pour the spirit into the burner and set it alight.

A Trangia stove’s output is a third of that of a good gas or benzine stove, at most. This may seem like a disadvantage at first, but it’s often actually a real boon, because it makes the stove quiet and slow. This lets you enjoy a cosy sit-down and even cooking more laborious dishes remains a stress-free experience. However, you need to pack a comparatively large amount of fuel, and the set takes up a good deal of space.

Esbit is a dry fuel that comes in cubes. These camping stoves redefine ‘slowing down’: they offer so little power that you can’t really cook big meals on them. They’re really designed for heating water.

Bushcraft-lovers, in particular, are keen on wood or hobo stoves. You just need to gather a few twigs to fuel them, so, if you’re travelling in forest regions, you don’t need to take any fuel with you. Wood/gas stoves are a particularly notable model in this category: thanks to their dual construction, oxygen is warmed before being fed into the fire, also enabling the smoke gases generated during combustion to be burned. This boosts the stove’s output and minimises smoke. Biolite stoves are a special case. They use a thermoelectric converter to turn heat into electricity. This is then stored it in a battery, which provides energy for a fan to support combustion.