Budget Stoves at 10F-20F?

Brad, I assumed the canister is at the air temp.

If you put the canister in your sleeping bag, that’s another good way to operate in cold temp.  If you take it out of your bag it will take a fairly long time to cool down.  For each pint of water you boil it will cool down as much as 6F.

If your canister is full it will cool down less, maybe 2F for each pint of water you boil.

Thanks Jerry.

Hi Brad,

Just to add my 2 cents. I use the Trail Designs Caldera Keg-F alcohol stove system. (System uses a Foster beer that holds 2 cups of water and costs $59.95.). Why? I’m a solo winter backpacker/camper in the Colorado Rockies. (I live in Colorado Springs). I look at stove selection from both a weight and risk management standpoint. Having no moving parts the Caldera Cone is highly reliable and easy to use. I worry about easily starting a stove in a vestibule when things are starting to go south quickly either mentally or physically. I’m not against using other stove types and would probably due so if I wasn’t going solo. (I have a basement full of other stoves including a MSR Whisperlite,  a MSR XGK,  a Jet Boil and a Bush Buddy Ultra.) I also readily concede that alcohol is only about 1/2 as efficient as white gas or propane/butane and because of this  you need to carry more weight. But alcohol stoves are also quite and I value this while sitting in my tent reflecting on today’s activities. There are no winners and losers here. Only intelligent choices that fit your own situation and enjoyment in the wilderness experience.

Russ

@Russ Thanks for the input. Alcohol/solid fuel is not off the table-I have no experience with either.

Brad,

According to your title, you are looking for a Budget Stove.  What is your definition of budget as that will help to steer a solution to meet your needs.  My 2 cents.

$75 or less. Used is ok.

The first two responses in this thread gave you reliable answers (as have others): remote inverted canister or propane. Your budget is fine for most of them. Recapping:

Propane is great (close to -40) but the canisters are heavy (the common green “1 pound” Coleman tank weighs close to two pounds when full). Flame King sells a quarter-pound refillable tank, and Ultra Flame in Canada sells propane in lighter-weight canisters. You will need an adapter to use propane with most stoves (search “Coleman-to-Lindal adapter”).

Fire Maple makes some nice remote inverted canister stoves (look at their Polaris), as well as the Kovea Spider. BRS even makes a $25 remote inverted canister stove that will do the job, although it is two ounces heavier than Fire Maple or Kovea.

Combining propane with a remote canister stove would give you a more stable platform for cooking that will work in any temperature that you’re likely to want to.

However, whatever stove you have now will probably work long enough to boil water if you keep the canister warm (jacket, sleeping bag, Hothands, lighter). You can place the canister in a pan of water to keep it working for longer if necessary.

@Bill Budney Thanks. I think I will experiment with my current stove, MSR canisters-stowed in the sleeping bag- and bring along a couple of handwarmers.

Just thinking out loud here, I wonder if burning a small amount of steel wool to pre-heat the canister could replace the hand warmer.  I think that they both work on the same principal.  Just a thought.

Yes, I would think that steel wool, or really anything would work to pre-heat the canister. People do it with a lighter. A votive candle would probably work as well. A couple of those can double as a boot drier.

Note: I would probably find something else to prop the boots on rather than fuel canisters.

PS: Perhaps the main appeal of a hand warmer is that it has no open flame near your fuel canister.