Need a propane stove/grill combo...

[SirLancelot]

My family and I returned last week from a 13-day car camping trip and during the trip (day 3, actually), our propane Brunton stove/grill combo started having some issues with the grill surface itself. One of the rivets holding on the heat sink on the bottom of the grill just up and broke. While scrubbing the grill surface itself after dinner one night the aluminized coating on it started coming off. This was with me scrubbing it with the abrasive side of a dish sponge, not an SOS pad or steel wool or something... We got back home and I returned it to REI where I originally purchased it. It had only been used once prior to our trip.

I want to replace it with a stove/grill combo again but am hoping to get some people's opinions on a couple of options. One I am looking at getting as a replacement is this one at REI:

http://www.rei.com/product/799796

Another that some friends of ours are encouraging us to get instead is this one:

http://www.rei.com/product/723286

The compact nature of the first one is certainly appealing. We would use it maybe a half-dozen times every calendar year. Does anyone know first-hand if the grill side of the first stove is durable? Obviously Coleman has a great reputation, but the Brunton stove wasn't exactly cheap itself... The extra cooking surface of the RoadTrip stove is certainly nice, but the extra weight and size is a consideration to deal with as well, considering it still all has to fit in a trailer with gear, bikes, a dog kennel, etc...

Thoughts on the durability of the 1st offering? Is the RoadTrip REALLY worth the extra $$?

[tplife]

I've had the smaller versions of the RoadTrip grill for evaluation and they are junk. The combo stove/grill idea looks good at first glance but the hardware, heat distribution and quality are sub-par. Coleman lanterns and dedicated stoves are renowned, but their new-product ideas often bomb like their terrible line of tents. We use a Coleman propane stove and a Weber tabletop propane grill. You might consider dedicated seperates.

[renodesertfox]

I use a Big Gas Grill by Camp Chef. We can simmer cook anywhere, any time and I run it off a 3 1/2 gallon fiberglass propane tank. Never ever scald water. And we jeep tent camp...but since you're touring and storing with a trailer, you should have room for the larger model. It'll pay dividends if you look around a bit more and don't decide so quick on just one of two models. http://www.campchef.com.

[Yukon Jack]

I'd stay away from the Coleman RoadTrip. I've never owned one myself but a friend bought one for Tailgating and it was junk. He ended up returning it just like you did with the Brunton stove/grill. Thank goodness it's so easy to return things to REI. My Brother-in-law has one of the Camp Chef stoves and they are built like Tanks unfortunately they also weigh the same. My choice has always been about the same as tp's a old school Coleman stove (I use White Gas) and a Weber grill. It's not as convenient as a all in one but it's the best solution I've found.

[SirLancelot]

I found a local store that had the RoadTrip and the Signature InstaStart grill in stock. The InstaStart grill surface itself appeared much better quality than the Brunton grill surface I had, but didn't seem super durable by any stretch to me. Our friends who have a RoadTrip and use it extensively absolutely *love* it. They go camping numerous times a year and use it all the time with no complaints. The grill surface of that is porcelain coated just like the expensive deck BBQ grill I have at home and appears significantly more durable than anything else out there apart from an actual deck BBQ grill itself. I may take the chance on it still.

[Christn2000]

Lance-setting cost aside, either one looks like they could have numerous things go wrong(breaking a piece, size/weight, etc). Personnally, I subscribe to the KISS philosophy. Do you camp in winter time? If so, keep in mind the 16.4 oz bottles, even when full, will act like they're empty if left outside in the cold long enough. That could be remedied by adapting to the larger gas bottles, as someone mentioned.
I'm single, so obviously I don't have to carry as much as you do. As far as cooking goes, I don't pin all my cooking on one method-i.e., I make sure I have my 2-burner cookstove as well as campfire site available. BTW, do you know how to cook with a dutch oven?

[trishaz717]

I love to cook when camping, especially for those few trips a year I go on with my extended family. I have my 25 yo (?) three burner coleman stove that I use on every trip. It's been somewhat converted. I can use it with both the small green propane bottles or with the liquid fuel (is that the white gas everyone talks about?). I also bring along my 12" dutch oven and make a few meals in it. I don't bring a grill, I just use a cast iron skillet I on the stove or some tinfoil over the fire grate. Since most of my camping is done solo, I don't want to have to bring more than I will need. I "discovered" dutch oven cooking last year and it's great. I've cooked stews, hungry man breakfasts, pizza and even a "peach cobbler" in it. I've been camping for a long time and have learned what works (for me) finally! I once went out and bought one of those big daddy skillets for cooking over the fire. You could cook a few dozen eggs and like 3 chickens in it. Well ... I removed the handle from that fry pan, set it up on my old coleman stove stand and use it when cooking in the DO. The prices on DO stands were too much for me, plus they weighed a ton! Good Luck with your search

[SirLancelot]

I don't know how to cook with a dutch oven, although my wife did pick one up at a garage sale shortly before our trip. We did pick one up at a garage sale a few weeks prior to our trip, although if I remember correctly the size and weight of it were the factors that made it stay home in the garage. We just need a basic stove for heating up pots of stew, tea pot (gotta have boiled water for my french press coffee), putting a skillet out for pancakes or bacon, etc. We need the grill side of it for the hamburgers, steak, and such. For sheer simplicity a stove seems much easier to cook over as opposed to a fire where the temperature is so much harder to moderate.

[Bigdog57]

Just use one of the flat grill gadgets for atop the campstove. I got a cheapy aluminum type before our Sportsman's Warehouse closed, but I have seen them at Wally's.