Best UL stove for use in random international places

An old Svea 123 without the regulator. Look on ebay. An MSR Whisperlite Int'l would be an option too.

The best ultralight stove is not so much an issue of the stove. More, it is an issue of the availability of fuel.

You can look at pressurized liquid stoves that burn variations of gasoline and kerosene. You can look at unpressurized liquid stoves that burn variations of alcohol. You can look at stoves that burn commercial solid fuel like Esbit. Then you can drift down into other fuels like wood twigs, wax, etc.

In most parts of the civilized world, there are petroleum fuels. Most gasoline mixtures are dangerously flammable, and you may not want to fool with them. Airlines won't let you check baggage or carry on baggage with them. You might be able to purchase fuel in each new location, or maybe not.

In most parts of the civilized world outside of Moslem countries, you can purchase alcohol. However, to be a good fuel, you generally need to get up to about 75% pure ethanol. Maybe methanol also. Alcohol is a crap shoot.

In most countries outside of the US, UK, maybe Canada, maybe Germany, and maybe a few others, it is very difficult to find Esbit fuel, so you might as well forget it.

Now you are back to the wood twigs and wax. Those are easy to transport, but not the most efficient fuels for a backpacker.

If I had to do this trip, I would take two stove systems in order to hedge my bets. I would take one good international-type multifuel pressurized liquid stove and one empty fuel bottle or maybe two. Then I would take a multifuel thing like a Trail Designs Ti-Tri Caldera Cone in order to burn wood twigs and wax. The Ti-Tri comes with a lightweight alcohol burner as well, and that would cover you for almost anything.

In Nepal, they collect yak dung from the fields and sun dry the patties. Then they burn that inside in a good stove.

–B.G.–

Trail Designs Ti-Tri kits.

http://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-sidewinder

The Sidewinder is by far our most popular 3 fuel system! It includes the Ti-Tri titanium cone custom sized to fit in your pot, the titanium GramCracker solid fuel kit, the lightweight aluminum 12-10 stove with integrated primer pan, fuel bottle kit with measuring cup, Tyvek sleeve to protect your pot, and two titanium stakes for wood burning and alcohol mode.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention gaseous fuels like butane. It is easy to fly around with a butane burner, but not with a butane canister. I would expect a lack of availability in lots of Asian countries off the beaten backpacker track.

–B.G.–

fuel.papo-art.com tableoffuelnames

While this doesn’t address direct availability, it does note the names the various fuels have globally.

Doesn’t mention canisters since I assume that’s not a fuel type technically.

I know I tried once to do white gas on a long trip before it was easy to find in europe, and that got messy at times, I would go for denatured alcohol in its various forms, and just carry a lot with me and not worry about it between airports. It’s also worth remembering that it’s generally legal to check in commercial alcohol like, say, vodka, which looks just like denatured alcohol…

Is alcohol fuel available in Spain along the Camino hike?

> Is alcohol fuel available in Spain along the Camino hike?
Provided you are willing to carry a one litre bottle between towns, then mostly yes. You would have to buy it in the supermarkets I think, and it would probably come in one litre bottles anyhow.

But you could do the Camino with just a poncho and a toothbrush (and a credit card). Hordes of kids do it that way each year. They seem to have fun.

Cheers

I'd bring a mix of burners. There are burners that are so tiny and light, that they pale in comparison to the fuel you'll carry for any cooking task. For butane canisters, I've used this one a number of times. I think BPL just threw up a review of it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261596613395?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It's really tiny and light.

And I'd bring a lightweight alcohol burner.

Both of those are very light, compact, cheap, and easy to transport, unlike a multi-fuel stove that you've ever put gasoline, white gas or diesel into. If your airlines luggage gets inspected, it will likely be forbidden.

Does anyone know of a cheap, light burner that uses those 100% butane canisters used in tabletop burners?

I've seen those fuel containers in places that had no backpacking-style butane such as smaller Hawaiian islands. They are used a lot in Japan and Southeast Asia.

I'm not admitting I've done this, but I certainly have never been caught while checking a bag with a Scope mouthwash bottle holding alcohol and a bit of green food dye. A drop of mint extract and it would even pass a sniff test. Less than 3 ounces / 100 ml and you could even carry it on. If you keep the tiny mint extract bottle and add some green food dye, you could mock up some more as you're on the road.

How about a Tri Ti or Sidewinder ti sheet metal stove WITH the Inferno wood burner insert.

You can use alcohol, ESBIT tablets or wood with that outfit. And it's very light. Mating pot is best but it works well with a larger pot setting on top. Still very wind-worthy.

Is there a country where you can't buy diesel ?

No you can't get an UL diesel stove but an MSR XGK or equivalent could be better than taking a few stoves.

Half her listed countries were going to be connected by surface transport, so maybe an unused XGK, filled with diesel when she steps off the plane could work. Diesel certainly is available anywhere. Kind of hard to fill your 1-liter bottle from a truck-stop fuel hose, but I guess is you bring a funnel. . . But you'll never get it clean enough again to pass the airport security sniff test, so you should expect to leave it there.

Diesel is much harder to prime, smells bad when it burns and worse when it spills. And it always seems to spill. Even if you're really careful, there's always this oily residue around that then permeates your clothing, your food, and your pack. People look at you funny on the bus and the security checkpoints, and until you get to a real washing machine with modern detergents, you won't get rid of the smell.

I could see a diesel stove for the universal fuel availability and cheap price for a base camp somewhere – a big multi-person expedition in Asia, archeological dig site in Africa, etc. But on my own vacation, I'd just eat cold food before fussing with it.

I'd strongly suggest getting to an REI (at least their Seattle Store has a stove-testing spot) to test fire an XGK a few times or talk to a stove expert like Hikin' Jim about all the tricks of a diesel stove. I'd want some alcohol, white gas or "fire ribbon" (that napalm in a tube stuff) to ease priming and start up in cold conditions. And if you need can source one of those, you could have used it as a cleaner burning fuel in the first place.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/58209

Some buy butane adapters on ebay to use asian store canisters.

No need, based on my experience walking the Frances route July/August 2014. If you want to cook for yourself, most of the albuergues have kitchens (and even cooking vessels). The exception is in Galicia, where apparently they want you to patronize the local restaurants/bars (same thing over there).

Having spent most of the last couple years in south asia, getting any type of canister fuel is hit or miss. Some places have the screw type used by stoves in the states, some times you can find puncture type or the coleman type, but often not.

What I have done it use a multifuel stove and clean it REALLY well before traveling. Then pack the pump and burner separately. So far, no problem. The fuel bottle needs to look like a water bottle. I have used MSR, Brunton, Sigg, and Quechua bottles. The MSR ones are the most difficult because they have FUEL written all over them. Put a bit of duct tape around them, which comes in handy for repairs anyway, and you might get by.

If you use the MSR Whisperlite universal, or Primus omnifuel or omnilite ti, then you can burn liquid fuel or canisters as available.

Diesel is terrible for smell, soot, and clogging. Though not ideal, petrol/gasoline is much better. Not nearly as clean as "white gas" but very usable. If you use a bit of alcohol to prime, then you avoid some of the soot, but when you turn the stove off, it will have a carbonizing yellow flame which soots up the bottom of the burner. I try to blow out the flame and let the gas evaporate rather than have it blacken the stove.

The one downside to the whisperlite universal is that it is a little bit more difficult to get REALLY clean. I mean, unused looking clean, as the simpler burner head of the Primus.

Just some thoughts, good luck.

The pot, stainless steel foil lid(more durable than aluminum), stainless steel wire pot supprt, aluminum pot support stabilizer, carbon felt ground protector and stainless steel Esbit tray combined total weight is 27 grams.

Foster pot has 2 cup+ capacity. The ridgeline in the center of the “F” is the 2 cup mark. The pot has an aluminum bottom and top rim.

The stove has integrated parts, nothing loose that can get lost.

"Diesel is much harder to prime, smells bad when it burns and worse when it spills. And it always seems to spill. Even if you're really careful, there's always this oily residue around that then permeates your clothing, your food, and your pack."

I can testify to the truth of what David stated. I spent the winter of 1970-1971 in Korea, and our only heat was from diesel space heaters. Yup, the oily spills on clothing are pretty bad. Just the smell of it on your hands will ruin your appetite.

On the other hand, it is a hot fuel, and it seems to show up everywhere that trucks operate around the world.

–B.G.–

I have not read others folks replies, but I would take a Primus Omni fuel and a Caldera Cone ti tri, they would allow to use nearly anything as fuel.