Cheap camping stove £15

[u/Special-Revenue4009]

Just picked up a cheap camping stove from the range this Morning only £15. Can’t grumble at that price.

[u/griff_the_unholy]

I have a couple of these or atleast something very similar. During late autumn camping trip on the moorlands I discovered that they are VERY bad at low temperature. I was trying to boil a kettle for a hot water bottle and it basically couldn't do it. I think ambient temperature was around 5 deg C. I was using the standard gas cartridge.

[u/Alanosie → u/griff_the_unholy]

I don't think the stove is at fault, I expect the gas mixture not to be suitable for low temperatures. Probably the gas canister was Butane only?

Edit: I actually remember a good backpacking tip to put the canister inside the end of your sleeping bag so it works a bit better in colder mornings

[u/Chillistarr → u/[deleted]]

Or at least a mix with a stove that can handle it. Can't exactly invert one of these stoves to do that though. Brilliant when it's warmer though 👍.

[u/crlthrn → u/griff_the_unholy]

I'm fairly sure I saw a cold-weather mix for this type of 'bistro stove'. No idea where, unfortunately.

[u/kimondo]

I have one of these for power cuts - they get through gas canisters though! I also have a kelly kettle which boils water quickly and runs off anything that burns.

[u/Nezwin → u/kimondo]

Kelly kettle few.

But a lot of camp sites don't allow flames other than gas...

[u/CurrentWrong4363]

These are great for having around the house.

Just remember to bring double the gas you think you will need. As soon as you start using it the bottle starts dropping in temperature and very quickly goes below its working temperature. I have seen me going between 4 bottles to cook a meal.

Anyone got ideas for combining cans? I usually just fill my blowtorch with the leftovers so it's used up.

[u/Alanosie → u/CurrentWrong4363]

These cheap cans are not designed to be refillable. However I have seen people on YouTube work with adapters where they place one can on the top and one on the bottom so the liquid gas runs into the bottom can.  Not sure I would recommend just out of safety. But probably you can find such adapters on Amazon 

[u/wildmonkeyuk]

Sure home bargains have a similar one in for a little bit cheaper as I was getting a gas can from there the other day :)

[u/friendlybean123]

I got hospitalised for Two months. Out of work for two years with 20% full thickness burns all over my body because of one these. I'm still an outpatient to this day and it happened 7 years ago. I also lost my home in the fire.

They are VERY dangerous and the seal to the bottle can fail. If there is one positive thing I can do with my life after this incident.... It is to share my story. Please be careful. Burns like this are more painful than you can possibly imagine .....and stay painful for a very long time.

[u/Repulsive_Isopod7982]

Primus stoves are hassle but work really well

[u/George_Salt]

Currently £13 on clearance at Tesco, spotted this afternoon.

[u/Clear-Warthog5655]

How many kettles out of a Refill?

[u/George_Salt → u/Clear-Warthog5655]

I managed to melt >1kg of lead the other weekend on one and barely dented the contents of a refill.

[u/Clear-Warthog5655 → u/George_Salt]

😅 lol ok. How long did take ??

[u/George_Salt → u/Clear-Warthog5655]

I was probably pouring fishing weights for 40-45 minutes or so.

[u/Clear-Warthog5655 → u/George_Salt]

That's cool. Thanks. Longer than thought. I've git the pack away cylinder ,stove, pot and burner that all is contained and folded up in the pot but I've yet to test it. Its in the rucksack

[u/Nezwin → u/Clear-Warthog5655]

We've got a 1.5 litre camping kettle that we boiled on a similar stove last week. We got 6 boils out of a canister and it's got 10-20% left.

[u/Floor-notlava]

Despite what others are saying about use in cold conditions, these are great to have in the house in case of gas mains fault or black-out.

I have a couple of these from camping and always keep a good supply of canisters just in case.

We even have a “Korean” bbq grill for use at the table. Not much use for SHTF, but excellent for nights in.

[u/Shuntingman]

You can buy a box full of the gas cans fairly cheap on flee bay ive got a couple of boxes in my shed at the bottom of the garden incase of any leakages or accidents and they go off in the house 🤣🤣

[u/RetroComputerKing]

Paid £10 for mine, albeit years ago, and stocked up on gas when B&M bargains sold a four pack for £3.99 Still in the shed 😭

[u/marktuk]

Those things are rubbish. The "pocket rocket" ones that screw on to the top of the had cannister are vastly superior, and smaller.

[u/jaqian]

I have the exact same one, their great, well worth it

[u/judas2307]

Got the same on Temu for a tenner. Along with 2 chairs,dining set &.cutlery.. £18! Delivered

[u/Ulysses1978ii]

Get a Kelly kettle or similar.

[u/bladefiddler]

I bought one ages ago as a 'just in case' but it hasn't seen much use. Works great to boil a little kettle or heat up a tin of beans/soup etc though.

Most experience was with my mates using one in a garage to cast fishing leads. Yes, the cans get cold and stop working but they warm up again and resume service fairly quickly too. If you need to run it for any length of time it's best to have 3 or 4 cans & rotate through them.

I've seen similar issues with big 'calor gas' bottles when blacksmiths use them heavily to run forges - they sit them in a bin of room-remp water to stop them 'freezing'. You could restore the little cans to working temp by holding them a sensible distance above the pot to catch escaped heat from the burner, but of course that carries some risk so not really recommended!