The "not my favourite stove" idea

Discussion in 'Stove Forum' started by wheelyman, Dec 16, 2004.

  1. wheelyman

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    Hi all
    Hope you'll forgive the presumption of a newbie, but the idea struck me last night that it might be a bit of fun for people to nominate a choice of stove in a Worst Stove poll.

    I've seen loads of forums where people nominate their favourite item - you know, the one thing they couldn't do without - the single best thing since unsliced wholemeal bread - the nirvana in their field of expertise. You know the kind of thing.

    What I'm suggesting is that you pick your least favourite stove - the one you'd think twice about wishing on your worst enemy - the stove without a single redeeming feature. It must be currently part of your collection, though - if you've avoided an item, you can't include it!

    Any takers? What do you think?

    Best wishes

    Norm
     
  2. Ed Winskill

    Ed Winskill United States Subscriber

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    Tough one. I'll assume brass pressure stoves, not wickies. Right now I'm thinking Parasene. 'Course, it's not as bad as the conditions of your contest. But it's the one in my collection that I like the least. Good suitcase type tin, but it's all in little bits to be put together each time (like a 96, but no redeeming graphics or miniaturization). Works just ok.
     
  3. wheelyman

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    Thanks for starting things off, Ed.

    I perhaps should have added that it wouldn't be necessary to add any justification for any stove to be included - pure, irrational hatred will suffice - but, if anyone wishes to add reasons.....well, go for it!!

    Regards

    Norm
     
  4. Onepot

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    I've got a Primus gas stove (early 80s I think) that has the strangest feature. You have to refill the tiny gas canister every time you use it. This isn't so hard as you can use those cigarette lighter fluid aerosols... or another gas bottle.

    Er... why?

    Added to this, it's bulky and doesn't really put out much heat.

    My first petrol stove was a Coleman Featherlite and I have been tempted to throw this over the hedge on many occasions over the years.

    GC
     
  5. Ian

    Ian Subscriber

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    Any chance of a picture?
     
  6. Onepot

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    Here we go:
    |imgRemoved|

    Canister screws in underneath.

    Adaptor in front of canister is used when you want to fill up from a regular gas canister. When you fill up from an aerosol you just press the spout into the hole. One fill burns for about 25 minutes.

    The adaptor screws onto a boss on the pan handle and this too is clipped underneath for carrying.

    Cheers
    GC

    GC
     
  7. Georgi

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    Little Injun......worst coil burner on the block hands down.....close second is the lump of brass I call a Thermidor ( sorry UK!)

    She's British made but not worth a pinch of loon shit to me other than brass soldering experience.
     
  8. rik_uk3

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    not a stove, a lamp, a Tilley lamp. Got my two out to test for the festive power failures and one is playing up AGAIN :twisted:

    Its a good job I have my trusty hurricane lamps on hand to save the day in the event of a power failure!
     
  9. Jur

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    Colemans fickle, complicated, heavy, vulnerable (too many parts sticking out everywhere); more show than go and altogether not fit for serious camping. I would never take one of these when I have to really depend on my stove (sorry to you folks over there).

    Jur
     
  10. Dwight

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    I agree with Jur's comment about Coleman's; they don't have a soul.

    On the other hand, they do have a place. The Adventure Cycling Association uses two single-burner stoves with each outing. (12-14 riders, one to ten weeks) The advantages are:low cost, multi-fuel, easy enough for non-stovies use, able to hold a pot big enough for the group, two stoves let you cook two things at once, fairly reliable considering that they always have two of them...

    Still, I agree with Jur. The Coleman is not something I want placed in my casket when I'm burried. My faithful Svea gets that honor.

    Dwight
     
  11. Doc Mark

    Doc Mark SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Good Morning, All,

    Well, picking a stinker of a stove is going to be very hard, as I even lilke the stinkers! :D And, I agree that some of Coleman's offerings can be tempermental, and that they donot , as Dwight suggested, have as much of a soul as some others. Interesting to note, however, that the Indians of far Northern Canada probably use a Coleman 425 more than any other stove, and consider it to be a real workhorse. Also, when my MSR Whisperlite Internationale went south on us during our PCT trip (850 miles in 3 months), I turned to a Coleman Multifuel, and it worked like a champ for the rest of the trip. But, back to the matter at hand. As someone who actually carries his stove, and sometimes for 100's of miles, stove performance vs weight is VERY important to me. No matter how cool a stove is, if it can't perform well, under tough field conditions, I will cast a raised eyebrow it's direction. One of my stoves that comes to mind and fits that catagory is the little Optimus 199. This stove is outstanding in concept, and a failure in practice! I have three of them, and none will perform worth a hoot in the field. They have NO power to boil water or melt snow, and they have such a small fuel capacity for the size burner they use, they are not efficient, not convenient. I love them, though, just because they are neat. But, I would never take one into the field, unless forced to. Too heavy for it's small performance.

    Take care, and God Bless!

    Every Good Wish,
    Doc Mark
     
  12. Jur

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    Well, I admit to owning Coleman's (otherwise I couldn't complain about them anyway) several single burners because even if rather useless, they no doubt are impressive in their own way (and nice to look at and play with at that) and even a two-burner which actually did rather well when camping with the family (but only after extensive repairs in the course of which I painted the whole case a very businesslike matt black, so it does hardly look a Coleman anymore).

    To even the US-Europe score a bit further, in line with Doc's remarks about the Optimus 199 (indeed, one look is enough to tell you that such a thing can't possibly be a success as a stove; very different from its roarer burner brother the 99) how about the Optimus 1000 Eagle?

    OK, it will burn very much like the 123R it's obviously derived from. But only after lots of hassle with a windshield that leaves you trying to stick the regulating wrench in the right hole for the burner valve. After this has finally succeeded, then any pot is almost certain to tipple from the loose and very small pot stand - especially the huge pot which also serves as cover; which can only be handled by a loose potgrip for which there is no space at all either within the stove when covered by the pot, nor in the jazzy red bag supplied, and thus will be lost in no time. I can't think why Optimus ever thought this up, unless (sorry, can't resist this after all) it was for the American market where no matter what change from Coleman's would be heartily welcome anyway?

    Jur
     
  13. Ed Winskill

    Ed Winskill United States Subscriber

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    I have pretty limited experience with the Coleman one-burners off the bench, because I've only bought a couple, and as a collector.
    But the Coleman suitcase stoves are utterly reliable, never-fail workhorses in my experience, and this is presumably why they own the North American car camping market.
    We camped with one when I was a kid, often; I raised 5 kids camping with one, which I still have and now use with the grown kids and my grandchildren. I have no idea how often I've used that stove in the last 30 years... countless times. I've never done a single thing to it but wipe it down.
    As for "soul", they don't have it in the sense of a brass keroburner, obviously. But in the sense of family memories, they sure do.
    I doubt if there are many Yank households that have done any camping that don't have a Coleman in the basement somewhere.
     
  14. alanwenker

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    For me, my worst stove was a Coleman Peak 1- late 1980's version. The year I bought it I brought in along on 3 different trips and it crapped out on each one. After the last time I brought it back to REI and got a refund. Seems odd to me as so many people have had great luck with them.

    The other oddity I have is my coleman 2 burner (can't recall the model number). It runs well most of the time and then for reasons unknown will run poorly. This will happen on the same trip, one meal to the next. To date I have not figured out the cause. This may be why I found it at a goodwill. The great thing about this stove is the large burners and large pot supports when cooking for big groups. Hard to find this capacity in many other stoves.

    Finally my 111T is a hit or miss experience. I have a 111, 111B and a 111C and think these are wonderful. The 111T seams more tempermental. I need to fix the check valve and get it running again. I'd like all four 111's fully operational.
     
  15. Guest

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    I had a russian keroseene stove early 90s. Bought it in Tromso. It looked like Coleman 502, but the paintwork started to fall off first time I used it. It was not possible to get it to burn nice for longer periods. I had to dissamble it in bits and pieces several time, but no. In the end i trhowed it away. My first Optimus, 111T replaced it. Thank God for Optimus.
     
  16. bark2much

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    BAT.

    It worked fine, when it was young, but it went down fast the drain in about a couple of days of use. It is not constructed solidly. The burner riser lost its grip on the fuel tank, and spun freely, as I was trying to remove the burner head that was giving trouble. I will save its burner ring and the pump rod and bucket, however. They fit other Primus and Optimus Brass stoves.

    I thought Coleman Peak 1 400A was not really a good stove, but once I came to understand its weak points, it was okay. One just has to know how to treat it with the right touch. 1) Small nuts on either side of the gerator leaks fuel after a while, and one needs to tighten them for the first year of its use. 2) The cleaning needle which doubles as simmer control tends to clog up the generator, so one has to take apart and blowtorch it once in a while. 3) And the fuel tends to gunk up right at the jet, so one finds it necessary to move the cleaning lever back and forth quite often. 4) And 400A does not turn blue soon enough, if the fuel tank is full. 5) It also has trouble going, if the weather is too cold. 6) Finally, it stinks pretty bad, once it is turned off. The extra fuel within the cubic expansion chamber burns off incompletely.

    It does its share of load, however, if used within its own limitation, and if the user is prepared to treat its problems.

    I must concur with Ed on Coleman 425, also known as Green Suitcases. I used my 425F for 22 years (or was it 24?) before it developed a problem lighting. A blowtorch treatment of the generator tube took care of it, and I am afraid it will last another two dozen years! The recent ones come with a number of improvements, both burners being of the same size, especially, so the secondary burner can boil water relatively faster than the earlier models. I bought a used, like-new dual fuel stove (424, I think) that works fantastically. But I mainly use the old 425F.
     
  17. Guest

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    Handy Camper coil stove, hands down. Has an appetite for Carhartt jackets. Only redeeming feature is solder practice. (See 'Handy Camper in Orbit')
     
  18. Handi-Albert

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    Well reading all the comments to my suprise I see Coleman is high on this list.
    The next one is the 111.
    So this tells me these people has never owned a BAT. What a load of crap they are. :evil:
    bark2much has owned one of these I can tell. How many more do you want? :lol: I could get rid of some here.
    I listed a page full of bad points with these. Then I was trying to think of the good points and only 2 came to mind. :idea:
    1) is the spreaders can be used for other stoves. Most are steel Crap.
    2) is the plug that goes into the riser tube when testing for leaks
    Save these 2 things and crush the rest. You will be better off.
    Don't nock the others until you buy a BAT. :lol:
     
  19. Spiritburner

    Spiritburner Admin SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Worst stove for me? Got to be the British military No:2 & No:2 MKII. I groan whenever people who know I collect stoves ask me if I'd be interested in one. There's some bad ones out there but none that I could say I hate like I hate the No:2! :twisted:
     
  20. Canadian Iain

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    My nomination from camping with my Scouts would be any new Coleman 2 burner. The minute the temperature dropped, they got impossible to start without priming. Turning and stove upside down to pour the fuel out of the workings was on the scary side. Cursed things. Give me one that's 10 to 20 years old, please!!!