The easiest, cheapest, robust Scout backpacking stove ever?

I’ve been volunteering with a local Troop for 30 years.  After cycling through MSR & Primus Liquid Fuel stoves; we now use Brunton Raptor isobutane canister stoves.   (rebadged SOTO compact foldable stove  https://sotooutdoors.com/product/od-1bs-compact-foldable-stove/ )  No argument that it’s not the lightest possible option. But hands down the easiest, safest, most versatile, durable and robust.

I’ve been using 4 or 5 these stoves with my Troop for backpacking for the last 15 + years.  We paid $30 or so for them.  Great deal for something that holds up for 15 years of Boy Scout use.

Mine is always in my cook-kit , ready to go. No problem fitting it inside the nested pots with the usual cook-kit pot lifter ‘n’ stuff. Simmering performance is very good. The ignitor is very handy, but it is the one weak link. If you drop the stove in a creek, the ignitor quits. You can still light it with a match, though.

If you want to show Scouts the art of the possible in light-weight, build the homemade alcohol stoves as a demonstration.  They can make some cocoa or oatmeal.  I think that’s great idea!  For Scouts it’s a onetime use stove most likely.

If you need a tiny, bombproof, low-cost stove – that you can confidently cook a wide variety of backcountry meals on for years and years – in my opinion, you can’t go wrong with a canister stove.

My opinion – just keep it simple.  Use MSR Pocket Rocket for 3-season and MSR Windpro II for winter use.  Windburner group cooking system is also good for larger groups (say 12 on a Sierra Nevada trek).  No liquid fuel, period.

I’m a fan of the Kovea Spider for scouts due to the remote iso/propane tank and low cost..

When I joined our troop, I watched some inexperienced scouts try to use the liquid fuel backpacking stoves. It was not pretty.  I decided we needed to go to canister stoves.

I got these Olicamp Xcelerator stoves, which are similar to the Kovea Spiders.  I think they’re much safer and no stinky fuel to spill.

@69roadrunner,
I like that option, reason I like remote canisters for Scouts, is that it’s safer when using windscreens, and lower risk of canister detonation, or white gas flareups.

i guess I need to explicitly ban any liquid, gaseous or gelled fuel within it per https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss06/.  I hereby ban any use of liquid, gaseous or gelled fuel within either of the above-mentioned stove designs.

“Operate and maintain chemical-fueled equipment according to the manufacturer’s instructions”  And even though it’s not “chemical fueled”  to meet the policy’s intent, as the OEM / designer I should type up the above instructions and include it within the 1L pop bottle.  Or maybe, hmmm, have the Scout copy them onto the cone so they’ll be read at least once?   Something more to experiment with someday.

Oh, and just for the record... a remote canister stove is the cheapest, safest, simplest, most-reliable, multi-purpose, lightest, almost-most-powerful, and just plain best type of backpacking stove for a Troop.  I personally rock a Kovea Spider but many others work just fine too.

We just use MSR Pocket Rockets – simple, light, cheap, and pretty foolproof.  If we go winter camping, we use MSR Windpro II’s and turn the canister upside down for liquid feed.  Works great.  Used it on Mt. San Jacinto 2 weeks ago in 20 degree weather and it boiled water just fine.

If you’re buying troop gear AND plan to go to Philmont, you want a remote stove, not one that sits on top of a canister.  Philmont doesn’t want you putting 8 quart pots on top of the stoves that sit on top of canisters for obvious reasons.

Remote canister stoves are safer and simpler than white gas.