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Tramping stoves
Introduction
Whether you're a serious mountaineer, a backpacker or picnicker, a tramping stove makes an excellent travelling companion.
We take a look at the main types of stove and their advantages and disadvantages. We also check out what food to take tramping and try out some ready-to-go cuisine.
Note: This is a buying guide only and doesn't contain test results or brand-specific recommendations.
Types of stove
There are two main types of stove: gas and multi-fuel.
Gas stoves
Gas stoves are fuelled by propane/butane canisters - the pressurised canisters burn slower at the high altitudes and cold temperatures. They take between three and five minutes to boil one litre of water.
A 230g canister costs around $8 and equals about two hours worth of cooking. Once dismantled, the entire stove (including canister) should fit inside a medium-sized billy. They're perfect for most camping trips in New Zealand.
- Price: A typical stove costs between $60 and $100 depending on the brand. Some come with a self-ignition button called a "piezo".
- Good points: Lightweight. Inexpensive. Efficient. Easy to use.
- But: Gas canisters are relatively expensive and not refillable. Replacement canisters might be difficult to find in remote locations. Canisters can't be transported on aeroplanes.
Multi-fuel stoves
Multi-fuel stoves are dependable. They work in all weather and can burn many fuels.
Multi-fuel stoves are perfect for international backpackers and serious trampers. Most of them come with a compact case, which makes them convenient to pack.
- Price: Varies between $180 and $320, depending on the range of fuels it can burn.
- Good points: Dependable. Able to burn a variety of fuels. Fuel bottle is reusable. Replacement fuel is cheap.
- But: Expensive. You must prime the stove before you cook. Components need to be cleaned regularly. Spilt fuel is dangerous and can soak your pack.
Other stoves
Other stoves use alcohol for fuel - and they have a staunch following because they burn "clean". The classic alcohol stove is the Swedish-made Trangia (first sold in 1925).
Alcohol stoves have several benefits: they pack down inside their own cooking pot; they burn cheap and stable methylated spirits; they come in an array of sizes ($60 to $209 depending on the size and alloys used to make the stove); and they're incredibly robust.
Their main drawback is they cook slowly (because of alcohol's low heat-output).
Essential equipment on Everest
As they try drifting off to sleep, climbers at Everest's advanced base camp put up with a cacophony of coughing and vomiting. At 6400 metres, altitude sickness makes it difficult to stomach food.
Mark Inglis reckons tramping stoves are critical to life at advanced base camp: "All water is melted from glacier ice: run out of fuel and you'll run out of fluids."
The gas is shipped in from Kathmandu in 15kg cylinders. The cylinders are mixed with a higher proportion of propane so that the gas burns at high altitudes.
Beyond base camp, every tent is issued with a simple Primus gas stove. Mark found gas cookers easier to light than more complex stoves when he was befuddled by the altitude: "Above 8000 metres, it would be hard to assemble a complex stove without spilling fuel or burning the tent down."
Parts of a stove
Gas stoves
1. Threaded valve
2. The regulator allows you to toggle between simmer and roar while cooking. (Look for stoves with a large toggle you can operate with your gloves on.)
3. Trivet for balancing your billy.
For more information about the pros and cons of gas stoves, see Types of stove.
Multi-fuel stoves
1. Valve
2. A pump primes the priming pan and element. It takes around 20 strokes to prime the fuel bottle. You need to maintain pressure while you cook by adding another 10 strokes every 10 minutes.
3. Priming pan
4. Interchangeable jets
5. Trivet for balancing your billy.
For more information about the pros and cons of multi-fuel stoves, see Types of stove.
Tramping food
Picking food for your expedition is no small matter. A day's tramping can burn anywhere between 12,000 and 20,000 kilojoules.
You'll need to replace them with a diet that's high in proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
You'll also want to pack products that are non-perishable and light. Too much packaging means extra weight and rubbish to cart out of the bush.
But tramping food doesn't have to be rice and tuna monotony. Fresh food can be packed for the first day or two. Some trampers freeze steaks and allow them to thaw throughout the day before eating them that night. Others swear by freeze-dried or boil-in-the-bag meals (See "Ready-to-go meals").
Tip: Cooking requires fuel, so food that requires the least cooking time is ideal.
Fluids
You lose a lot of water carting a 70-litre pack around. Always carry fresh water with you and drink regularly to avoid dehydration. Mountain Safety Council programme manager Chris Tews packs three litres of water when he sets out each day: "for drinking and cooking."
Rivers: There are many streams in the outdoors but the water isn't always safe to drink. If you take water from a stream, boil or filter it first. Purification tablets are available from outdoor stores or travel-health experts like the Travel Doctor. However, you should only use purification tablets if you've run out of other options.
Tank water: Many Department of Conservation (DOC) huts have tank water that you can use to cook or replenish your water bottles. Giardia may be present in the water so boil it for three minutes first.
Snacks
Scroggin (a mix of nuts, raisins, dried fruit, and chocolate) is the favourite snack of trampers. You can buy ready-made scroggin - or make your own - from the pick 'n mix barrels at supermarkets. And you can re-use the supermarket's snap-lock bags: they're handy for storing maps, playing cards, matches and other water-sensitive items.
High-energy gels and bars are packed with sugars, carbohydrates and caffeine to give you a kick up the final hill of the day. Mark Inglis devoured his own brand of gels and bars (called PeakFuel) while climbing Everest because he couldn't stomach much else. On the morning he made the summit, Mark drank some powdered soup and PeakFuel shake: "Dorji (my Sherpa) ate half a preserved chicken."
Emergency food
You can be delayed in the bush for a hundred reasons - a wrong turn, poor weather, slips or swollen streams. Pack extra food to avoid a day or two starving in a hut. It's not always possible to cook in emergency situations, so set aside extra dried fruit, muesli and energy bars alongside rice and powdered soups.
Eating al fresco
Here's a very basic menu that you can build on for your next tramp.
Breakfast: Cereals and powdered milk can be easily packed in snap-lock bags. Porridge and hot drinks require boiling water - but hot food makes a cold draughty hut much more bearable in the morning. You'll digest cereals quickly so consider a second course of bacon sandwiches. Bacon is a great tramping meat. It's high in fat, easy to pack and cook, and longer-lasting than fresh meat. Table spreads can be used both as a spread and cooking oil.
Lunch: Lunch is often a meal of convenience. Sandwiches are quick, easy and filling. Salami is another long-lasting tramping meat that's easy to carry, and most cheeses will last three or four days in your backpack (although they tend to sweat). Pick hard dry cheese like parmesan rather than softer cheeses like Edam. You can add extra taste to a plain sandwich by packing pesto, hummus or sun-dried tomatoes. Crackers and peanut butter are a salty way to round off lunch.
Dinner: Powdered soup needs only a little boiled water and it provides a great entrée while you're preparing the main course. You can also buy hearty gourmet soups in pouches - although these are bulkier and more expensive.
Pasta's an ideal tramping food. It's light, carbohydrate-rich and easy to prepare. There's plenty of self-saucing pasta flavours to suit all tastes. Tuna's high in protein - an excellent way to bulk out dinner (tuna is one of the few canned foods that most trampers are happy to lug).
Dessert: Instant pudding is a sweet powdered dessert: all you need to make it is an instant pudding sachet, powdered milk and water.
Ready-to-go meals
Back Country Cuisine specialises in freeze-dried meals whereas companies like Kaweka make "boil in the bag" meals. Both forms of food are popular among trampers because they're compact and preserved.
In the name of "research", Consumer staffers tasted a day's worth of ready-to-go meals. Here's what we thought:
Breakfast
Back Country Cuisine Porridge Supreme ($10.95: two serves); Uncle Tobys Oats Temptations ($7.10: twelve serves); Back Country Cuisine Cooked Breakfast ($7.90)
Back Country porridge was the pick of the breakfast bunch. It was tasty and filling - but expensive. Our tasters agreed that you could make your own porridge "creation" for less. Uncle Tobys Oats Temptations (porridge by any other name) was much cheaper but too sweet for our liking.
Not many of us would ask for seconds of the cooked breakfast. The hash-browns, sausage, and egg were all bundled together in a yellow mash: "a very odd taste" as one staffer put it. The baked beans came in a separate packet and were more palatable than the rest of the meal.
Lunch
Back Country Cuisine Lamb Fettuccine ($7.90); San Remo La Pasta Carbonara ($2.10)
Back Country's lamb fettuccine had plenty of vegetables and diced lamb which made for a tasty meal. But at $8 most staffers still wouldn't buy it for a tramp.
We enjoyed San Remo's packet carbonara even though it required more preparation than Back Country's fettuccine. The carbonara was cheesy and cheap. You'd need to add vegetables or salami to make it a proper meal, though.
Dinner
Back Country Cuisine Moroccan Lamb ($7.90); Kaweka Moroccan Lamb ($7.90); Vimal Aloo Mutter ($3.60)
Dinner was the best meal of the day. Both Moroccan lamb dishes were tasty, although Back Country's dish was more filling because it came with couscous. Of all the Back Country meals we tried, the Moroccan lamb would be the dish we'd pack for a special treat.
Vimal's Aloo Mutter was about half the price of the two other dishes. Like the Kaweka meal, you cooked it by placing the pouch in a billy filled with boiling water. The Aloo Mutter was without rice or couscous - but very tasty. We'd recommend it.
Stove safety
Tips for stove safety:
- Whatever stove you're using make sure you're in a well-ventilated area. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a real danger if you're cooking in a cramped space. A yellow flame indicates that your stove is not burning efficiently - possibly because of a lack of oxygen.
- Common multi-fuel stove accidents occur when refilling the fuel bottle. Wait until the stove has cooled before removing the bottle and attempting to refill it. Take both the bottle and spare fuel outside, away from camping gear and other stoves.
- Don't stand over the stove when you're lighting the priming pan, as most flare briefly. (Cover the stove with an upturned billy if it flares dangerously.) When cooking make sure the fuel hose is fully extended and the fuel bottle is as far away as possible from the naked flame.
- Make sure a large billy doesn't deflect flames back on to your gas canister or fuel bottle. Both containers can handle some heat - but a direct flame may cause an explosion.
- Make sure your stove is set up on a stable platform. Alcohol stoves use an open fuel bowl: it can be catastrophic if it tips over. Keep synthetic clothing well clear of the cooking flame - polypropylene can melt on to your skin if it comes in contact with a naked flame.
Other equipment
Billies (camp pots) are made from stainless steel, titanium or aluminium. A 2-litre stainless-steel billy costs $17: that's all you'll need for most meals. You can buy branded cookware - including two pots and a frypan - for between $60 and $180.
Eating utensils usually consist of a large metal bowl or mug for both food and drink. You can buy camping cutlery (a knife, spoon and fork) that clips together for $10. But "sporks" - combination spoons and forks - are cheaper at $5.
Cleaners like a pot scourer and a small bottle of eco-friendly detergent are handy extras. Stainless steel billies are thin-bottomed so food often sticks to them. If you forget your scourer, sand will do the job.
Matches and a lighter are essential if your stove doesn't have a piezo. It's wise to take both in case one gets wet or the other doesn't work. Keep them in separate water-proof bags.
More information
- New Zealand Mountain Safety Council: www.mountainsafety.org.nz
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Report by Luke Harrison