Portable butane stoves on advrider

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by jage

They're easy to find as long as you're in a Big 5. Nobody else seems to sell them as far as I can tell.

They're all over Amazon and Ebay, and in every sporting goods store around here.

[PeteM]

Originally Posted by jage

As far as cooking, they cook hotter. They cook better in inclement weather, and seems to use less fuel. In addition those butane canisters store much smaller and don't leak (unlike every propane bottle I've ever unscrewed)...

That fits our experience also. The butane stoves are very compact and appropriate for use inside the van. We have an Iwatani 35FW, the $80 Japanese manufactured version that features a 15000 BTU brass burner with excellent flame control, a small windscreen 'lip' around the edge that's helpful when used outside, and sturdy aluminum construction. Not sure it's really four times better than the $20 stamped steel units but storage space in the van is limited and having a stove that punches above its size is worth a few extra bucks.

If we know we'll be cooking/grilling outside we bring our propane combo stove/grill on trips. But if we might need to cook inside we'll bring the Iwatani instead, since works great inside and quite well outside (the only outside limitation being the windscreen is not very tall compared to the propane stove's fold-up cover). The Iwatani 35FW has the best (most controllable) burner I've seen on any campstove; it can fire up a true stir-fry if needed.

Butane cartridge availability is an issue. Walmart usually has the Coleman branded cartridges for about $3. The local asian markets have the best price with generic butane carts in multi-packs for just over $2 each. I've never been able to find them in small towns so we stock up before trips.

[daveb]

I got tired of hauling two types of fuel and mine is sitting with all the other camping stuff I used to use when tent camping. The canisters seemed to go fast IMO and I prefer to use a 1 gallon propane tank for cooking outside but they do a fine job for the limited cooking I did inside until I had my inside stove installed. The butane stove itself is large to store compared to my single burner propane I carry but I do like how well they cook with larger pans.