The Best Duel Fuel cooker

[garethmob]

Hello guys

im planning on buying a little "camping" cooker for my trailer and i really want it to be duel fuel.   a few reasons,   not everywhere sells gas (i know thats a long shot, so i'll refrase it, not everywhere sells gas at a reasonable price),    the proprioty bottles (such as the coleman and campingaz stuff) well again not every where sells it, and the special liquids well again, same as the other two.    so its come down to getting a duel fuel (which will be solely used on unleaded)

a few weeks ago i took part in a 4x4 landrover show at one of the most darkest sites iv ever been to, near hay on wye and without electric i had a little prediciment (as my pop up camper i designed inside to be solely electric (i take my micro usually) and the lighting is a 12v electric RGB led stip lighting (so i can have white for usual and red for astro)

so in preperation i bought the coleman unleaded lamp,  great little thing with the mantel and all!  and gave off a nice warm light too (so heating was sorted) and for cooking i borrowed a friends coleman sports 533 cooker which i only used for tea but i found it was fantastic!

obviously i have to get my own so i was considering buying one but i came across the coleman duel fuel double burner,  and it would suit bigger pans for food better than the single for just a kettle,    but at about £100 i was wondering if any one had it (i know alot of people use them when night fishing) and could reccomend it or if there were alternatives.

or even if i should get the 533.   iv already got a tin cover to protect the inside canvas.

thanks in advance

[rowan46]

 I use one and  its a great cooker, but I would  never use it inside a tent.  it works great outside though

[garethmob]

thanks Rowan

im quite lucky with my popup camper in that its got fantastic ventilation (4 windows and a roof hatch)   and a smoke alarm thats sooooo sensitive i left the door open, the lantern outside in the awning and it set it off.    

how long roughly with experience does it last?

[rowan46]

I have gone electric so pretty much only use it for boiling potatoes now  i get about  a weeks worth of cooking from a litre of unleaded so thats about 30-40 minutes a day its a ferocious flame on it.  using unleaded only can shorten the life of the generator but if you disassemble the generator and soak in white spirit after a camping trip it lasts longer i am on my second generator in 15 years this one has lasted about 10 years because i take the trouble to clean it. the cooker doesn't owe me anything as its paid for itself with the fuel cost savings

[ollypenrice]

In my rather extreme mountaineering and high altitude cycling days I used an MSR multi fuel stove at altitude and now, in sad old age  , I still take it on numpty weekend breaks! You really do need to be careful with high pressure stoves, though. The really soft and easy stove is the Trangia. Low risk, low heat! It burns alcohol so you have to carry more fuel snce more energy is stored in petrol but a Trangia just works, without maintenance, forever. Not so petrol stoves, even the very expensive MSR. The Coleman is really meant to run on ultra clean unleaded, not car pump unleaded, so you can get away with it - but for how long? In the USA Coleman Fuel is dead cheap and widely available but in the UK it isn't...

Olly

[garethmob]

Thanks both,   you can get the alternative to the coleman fuel naptha which is sold under the guise of aspen t4 and panel wipe, but looking at the price of both its extortionate, i think coleman fuel is cheaper

the only fuel id put in there is the ultra unleaded but i know even that isnt that great (for example my mates dad created a 1 of a kind discovery, a combination of a rover vertesse 820 turbo and a normal 2l disco petrol engine, added a 20 boost on there and she only runs on ultra unleaded with about 2 containers of nitro boost aditive to try and bring it to 100 octaine as you can, so i understand the whole clean aspect,   and cleaning it isnt a problem the main problem for me is reliability,   im only going to be using this trailer 3 times it seems a year (for the time being) 2 star parties and a land rover show so id like somthing i know i can add fuel, pump light and away we are instead of messing around.  (it took me a few times to get used to the lantern and yet with the sporster 2 533 it was secconds to get running) 

is the cooker for the coleman  add fuel, pump and light like the sportstar?   

For the Trangia olly,   can it take any ethanol like the bio gel? or can is it more the liquid?    looking at the price it looks the same as naptha (coleman fuel) iv seen the msr one in go-outdoors but its fairly small about the same size as the sportstar, but what i do like is you can use parrifin as well in it

[Charic]

.....and unleaded is cheap?

These little cookers are great, and have 'electric start' and the Butane is fairly cheap too.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-portable-gas-camping-stove-p142491

I also use a Meths spirit Trangia, for cooking and brewing.  Its never let me down.

[garethmob]

Well i can get the massive gas bottles for £30 which is pretty reasonable, and have a few smaller ones, but its having to carry them around. and in the trailer i really really dont have the space for gas bottles to be sat on the floor or the cupboard when its all plummed in (and i dont really want to drill holes to the outside)  i have an old american RC style starcraft 1706 "starflyer" 6birth but foot space is limited really and i dont want to be keeping bottles on the beds.

well petrol is cheaper than naptha, panel wipe etc,  for like 1l of naptha/panel wipe is about £10, 5l abot £15.    with the current price in ASDA at £1.22ish a litre  the same unleaded costs £1.22 or £6.....meths looks pretty expensive too   why do fuels have to be taxed sooooo much compared to the US?

[rowan46]

.....and unleaded is cheap?

These little cookers are great, and have 'electric start' and the Butane is fairly cheap too.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-portable-gas-camping-stove-p142491

I also use a Meths spirit Trangia, for cooking and brewing.  Its never let me down.

At £1.30  for a weeks worth of fuel yes it is cheap.

Gareth yes they pretty much are pump and light.  there's a bit of a knack to it but it is easy to learn and pretty reliable providing you keep the generator clean  spares are relatively easy to get on the web. i have seen people using those cheap cookers outside  and using a whole bottle to heat a kettle of water  5 mins is about the time it takes a coleman

[rowan46]

I forgot to add there is one more downside to using unleaded in the coleman and that is soot . If the generator starts getting mucky the outside of your pans can get sooty. But all in all i think its a great cooker and is much better than cooking on propane. msr are great cookers but they are the sort of thing i would take backpacking or on a cycle camp however if you don't need the second burner I would seriously consider an msr  they are superb pieces of kit

[nightfisher]

For years i used a coleman petrol stove when fishing, but i had heard tales of them going "fireball", a mate had to "boot" his one into a lake!, in the end i bought a Web-tex warrior gas stove, for about £17 and its been fantastic, now also using one of those gas stoves that are in the plastic box

[Tiki]

I've been running a coleman sportster for over 10 years on unleaded. It is terrific. I have previously used paraffin stoves which are loads of agro when compared to the coleman.

[Charic]

.......some insights here........

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/expert-advice/guide-to-fuel-and-gas

Even though my Trangia never fails me, and I've no rush when cooking, meths burns at only  half the heat of most other fuels. The weight of the back-pack obviously gets lighter as the fuel is used, until I run out, Then its make your own fire!  There is a knack to getting wet wood/solids to light and burn!  It seems no matter what fuels you use, they all have their own effects and associated problems with additives that don't burn off, or block tubes/vents. You just can't always win.

[DrRobin]

In my rather extreme mountaineering and high altitude cycling days I used an MSR multi fuel stove at altitude and now, in sad old age  , I still take it on numpty weekend breaks! You really do need to be careful with high pressure stoves, though. The really soft and easy stove is the Trangia. Low risk, low heat! It burns alcohol so you have to carry more fuel snce more energy is stored in petrol but a Trangia just works, without maintenance, forever. Not so petrol stoves, even the very expensive MSR. The Coleman is really meant to run on ultra clean unleaded, not car pump unleaded, so you can get away with it - but for how long? In the USA Coleman Fuel is dead cheap and widely available but in the UK it isn't...

Olly

I have a Trangia, absolutely brilliant. Full stop, nothing more to add. I have used just about everything in my time, a Primus is a good second but too much of a faf, especially if it is windy and I wouldn't trust a petrol stove anywhere near a tent or camper van, they are simply just too dangerous. I am not keen on any gas stoves they are usually too weak to be used outside, but I do have an alternative to a Trangia, a Jetboil stove. It's a gas stove really meant to heat up your coffee, but you could put anything liquid in the pan/cup and I believe they do other pans. It is incredibly fast, I couldn't say how economic it is as it hasn't run a cylinder flat yet, but is probably reasonably pricy in comparison to a Trangia. Apart from that, go out for dinner and get a bacon buttie and coffee from a van for brekkie.

Robin

[L8-Nite]

Well i can get the massive gas bottles for £30 which is pretty reasonable, and have a few smaller ones, but its having to carry them around. and in the trailer i really really dont have the space for gas bottles.......................................

Gaz, have you considered getting an adapter to refill the convenient 1 pound propane bottles from a larger tank ?

I see these adapters for sale on Amazon.

[garethmob]

Thanks guys i'll have a look at these other brands

Hello mike

the big bottle and adapter is what id use idearly as i can get the gas pretty cheap, the problem with it is lugging the bottles around and storing it when i get to where im going,  iv got 5kg a 13kg (little too big) theres alot of space in the trailer but not if i start adding bottles and the such,   i know i could cook outside but well we all know what welsh weather is like haha.   it used to have a pipe that ran from the front door all the way through the cupboards to where the cooker lived, but it was sealed up for some reason and i dont really want to unseal it if it was done for a really good structual.  the trailer sadly is 40 years old.... (althrough from the outside she dont look it) so i dont want to do too much.

[L8-Nite]

I seemed to recall a photo of your trailer, and found it on the SWG-2 star party thread. Most all older American made trailers had a propane tank bracket on the A-frame behind the hitch. It was a simple angle iron affair on which five gallon tank (s) sat on, and were bolted through at the base. The tanks were exposed to the elements, but this was not an issue. 

Edit: If your Starcraft trailer still has these brackets, this may be your transport solution.

[garethmob]

Well mike it has the "dock" (i'll say dock as its the bit it docks or sits onto) for the bottle but the previous owner seems to have made ajustments to it to get rid of it,  including sealing all the channels where the pipes were laid.   when i had it, the bottle was inside with the cooker on a very very small line and theres loads of room in the trailer but not alot of walking room.   i really think the owners cooked outside as you can put it outside with the table,   but i dont really want to be putting an awning up EVERY time. 

[L8-Nite]

Don't understand why they would do that. Having the gas bottle on the outside, is much safer, only one internal connection with the remote possible chance of leaking.

[L8-Nite]

Speaking of gas bottles, I'm also working on a camping trailer, and am not too happy with the support method used for them here in the UK. The tanks that came with our trailer have just a simple strap to attach them to the back wall of the Bottle / Accessory compartment. I feel additional support is necessary.

[Ratcatcher]

I've been having good results with my Coleman 'duel fuel' stove, I run it on normal unleaded petrol from the pump and I have had sterling service! I went this route because I often observe in the winter and find it is not affected by the cold.