Back to White Gas

[coloradowalt]

It seems that I have come full circle. Outside of backpacking I am now using white gas stoves and lanterns. Recent past camping had me using a propane lantern and propane coleman stove. Putting together a smaller kit for canoeing I tried my MSAr Windpro and Snowpeak lantern. I hated the collection of partial isobutane canisters I was collecting (yes I could a better job of managing fuel). Purchased a Peak lantern from ebay and a Sportster II single burner stove. Really like the size, performance and fuel. Stove and lantern are great, and non-canister fuel is wonderful. Fill up the tanks before we leave and take a small gas fuel bottle for extra. I am in a happy place!

[Mike]

Re: Back to White Gas

Yup. You found out the hard way. Most of us do. I still see guys carrying canister fuel stoves and I ask myself if somehow something changed and now they are more efficient, more economical, longer running, better..... etc etc, but the answer ends up being the same as it ever was; everybody has to have the opportunity to run the course with canister fuel stoves.

Same thing with alcohol stoves. It is a personal fad that runs its course.

The great escape from white gas is to use the later model Coleman dual fuel stoves and lanterns that can use automotive gasoline. They will eventually plug up, but for 99% of users, the stoves/lanterns will outlast the users. I have used them and they are nearly the same as using white gas. I have a 1990's Coleman Dual Fuel lantern that I have been using a mixture of automotive gasoline and kerosene. I have used it hundreds of times with this mixture and it still runs perfectly.

Automotive fuel stinks a little more when burning and there are occassional flair-ups, but automotive fuel is 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of Coleman white gas and a lot easier to get, so you might as well use automotive fuel. Either way, you will still be handing down your old Coleman stuff to your grandchildren.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Back to White Gas

I started camping way back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and white gas was the norm for lighting and Coleman stove cooking. When I began camping again I kinda automatically went back to what I knew and ignored propane. However I dinna resist change instinctively. Like others I learned that propane was more expensive, lasted less time (at least as far as sauté cooking is concerned) and in my case would require me to carrying another fuel( I know I'm dedicated to cooking w/ Coleman fuel but not so much for lighting- switched to batteries.....which better 'splains why buying 2 battery operated lights for 700.00 is a good thing in my life.......).

[Hugs With Trees]

Re: Back to White Gas

I also prefer a gasoline stove. However, when camping with others- They either don't know how, pretend they don't know how, or just won't pump the tank and go through the effort to get the stove turned on. They don't mind however, to either wake me from a nap or interrupt whatever it is I'm doing to come turn on the stove for them. Because their cup of coffee or Raman noodles must be WAY more important than anything else I might be doing.
I've gotten to where if I'm camping with others, it's usually a base camp and not backpacking, so I just carry in a big stove (two full sized eyes) or a crab cooker, and a propane tank.
I've considered switching to a propane system with the canisters and a single and double Coleman style of stove. To do it, I would have to have the adapter to re-fill the cans from my tank at home, I just can't stomach the idea of using the canister once and tossing it in the landfill. Except I've heard those adapters don't really work and only fill the canister about 1/4-1/2 full. Has anybody had experience with that? Or, has anyone heard of a more elaborate adaptor that has a pump and pressure gauge to assure the canister is completely full?

[coloradowalt]

Re: Back to White Gas

We ran the gamut; white gas, disposable propane cylinders, 5lb refillable propane tanks, isobutane canisters and now back to from whence we came. Still use the canisters for backpacking, and the 5lb propane for fish frays or our wild game suppers. But for camping and canoeing it's back to white gas. One more stove required, I need the MSR Whisperlite Universal stove. My Bemco oven requires a remote fuel stove, and my crew really likes the food that comes out of the oven.

I still have the Coleman stove and lanterns that my parents used in the 60s. Mom made Dad cook the fish outside so he used the Coleman stove for decades until we got him a Fry Daddy. Need to sell off some of the propane stuff to make room in the shed.

[Bigdog57]

Re: Back to White Gas

Depends upon the type of camping I do. I generally prefer the disposable Propane type - cleaner and less stinky. I can have my food cooked and half eaten by the time the guys with their white gas stoves get them lit and running properly. I like the convenience. No muss, no fuss. Just my preference. Sometimes I break out the Dinosaur stuff.

[MacGyver]

Re: Back to White Gas

I'm still pretty angry with Coleman for doing away with their Powermax fuel. I finally wound up selling off the supply I had left because I didn't want to be stuck with a nice stove and no proper fuel to run it. The canisters were tall and slender and made of aluminum, making them easy to pack and recycle. They also didn't seem to be affected by cold - I only had one instance in over ten years when I couldn't get a burner lit and that was due to a generator that needed to be replaced. They did come out with an adapter to run the more common fuel canisters, but that setup was just too clunky and required using the cans inverted, meaning sucking down fuel.

Going to replace the Powermax setup, I looked at the Whisperlite but went with the Windpro instead. I'm with Bigdog - I like the convenience of pressurized fuel and not having to worry about pumping up the stove and playing around with liquid fuel. My Coleman 3-burner, 2-burner and single burner gas stoves are long gone. If I was still backpacking, I think my next step for going simple and small would have been a collapsible wood stove.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Back to White Gas

We ran the gamut; white gas, disposable propane cylinders, 5lb refillable propane tanks, isobutane canisters and now back to from whence we came. Still use the canisters for backpacking, and the 5lb propane for fish frays or our wild game suppers. But for camping and canoeing it's back to white gas. One more stove required, I need the MSR Whisperlite Universal stove. My Bemco oven requires a remote fuel stove, and my crew really likes the food that comes out of the oven.

I still have the Coleman stove and lanterns that my parents used in the 60s. Mom made Dad cook the fish outside so he used the Coleman stove for decades until we got him a Fry Daddy. Need to sell off some of the propane stuff to make room in the shed.

UP until 5 years before I started camping again I still had my original early 80's era Coleman stove which had only been used for one season before I realised I had a choice between simmering the ex on it with a piquant wine sauce(he was already self marinated in wine and from Picardy. Ohh the possibilities..) or just divorcing him.
Hannibal Lector digression over.

So I gave the stove away and wound up buying a used older one for prolly less than I paid for the original.
Which merely proves the adage that revenge is a dish best served cold and a Coleman stove is not always necessary .........

[gmann]

Re: Back to White Gas

I'm a propane guy. It's the only set up I have ever used so I don't know anything different. Propane runs my Coleman lantern, Coleman two burner stove, Big Buddy Heater and my sunflower heater. I usually run the stove and heater off a twenty pound cylinder and the small disposable tanks for the lantern. Since I car camp the extra weight and space of propane is a non issue.

FWIW in a previous thread about lanterns I mentioned I purchased a Coleman Twin LED HP Lantern for $10.00 at a garage sale. It requires 8D batteries. I sold it today for $45.00. Go me!

[coloradowalt]

Re: Back to White Gas

UP until 5 years before I started camping again I still had my original early 80's era Coleman stove which had only been used for one season before I realised I had a choice between simmering the ex on it with a piquant wine sauce(he was already self marinated in wine and from Picardy. Ohh the possibilities..) or just divorcing him.
Hannibal Lector digression over.

So I gave the stove away and wound up buying a used older one for prolly less than I paid for the original.
Which merely proves the adage that revenge is a dish best served cold and a Coleman stove is not always necessary .........

You've got to love a reply with a Hannibal Lecter reference!!!

[MacGyver]

Re: Back to White Gas

You've got to love a reply with a Hannibal Lecter reference!!!

OK - So NYCgrrl's name is now Clarice. :p

[genewiseman]

Re: Back to White Gas

I have used white gas when backpacking but decided my Whisperlight stove was a lot of trouble and kind of heavy so I got a very light Primus canister stove. I hated ending up with partial canisters of expensive fuel though. All I have been doing lately is car camping so I have been using a Coleman 1 burner propane stove and lantern. The stove seems kind of unstable as it is so tall. I am sure thinking of going to a one or two burner white gas stove in the future. I am going to keep my eyes open for some used Coleman duel fuel equipment and eventually completely switch over to that. It just seems to be the most practical way to go once you learn how to use it.

[James.]

Re: Back to White Gas

I've only used propane. I have a 4 burner collapsible grill that I use for tailgating and a 2 burner CampChef stove that I take camping. Both run off the 5 pound propane bottles.

[Irate Mormon]

Re: Back to White Gas

I dabbled in propane but for car camping white gas/dual fuel is the way to go. Backpacking is a whole different story - alcohol or Esbit works for me there. I have a White Box stove that really does the trick for alcohol, and at $20 it's way cheaper than a Caldera Cone. Not that I wouldn't want the CC Ti-Tri - that's a really versatile setup.

[tplife]

Re: Back to White Gas

At about 1/3 more economical, not clogging generators, not leaving smelly residue, easily transported, and most importantly, devoid of many of the volatile compounds that make pump-gas explosive, Coleman Fuel is a camper's best friend.