The 22 and 22b's are great, small double burners, but they have a few limitations that make them a poor choice versus a Coleman equivalent (depending on your needs). Coleman double (and triple) burners can support much larger pots/fry pans due to their larger surface area (can cook for larger volumes of people) and can support the portable (and not so portable) camping ovens. The 22/22B surface area is to small/narrow to support one safely, nor can they be positioned over a burner centrally. They will either overhang the fuel tank (creating excessive heat) or be completely off-balance. You can use those bundt-pan like Optimus Ovens on them, like you can on most any good-sized burner, but these limit you in what you can bake and aren't the most efficient. As far as what the Trangia can do, we've had this discussion before. Great little compact, no fail stoves, just a little slow for some and can't make certain meals requiring high cooking temps.
Don't think that the 22B would hold up that oven too well ... My vote is any Coleman 3 burner. Go big or go home !! Any of the Coleman suitcase stoves work really well and parts are easy to get. I guess it all depends on what your plans are. Backpacking, car camping or collecting? Anything single burner that's shiny seems to suit the collecting side of me. Coleman 500, 530, Solus and Primus 96 are what I have for singles. Need to find me some more brass ...
I haven't used my 3 burners for any practical reasons yet (testing them doesn't qualify), but the Coleman 443 is one MASSIVE triple burner. THis thing would have a problem fitting inside a small compact car. I can see her being a great hunt camp stove for a group of 6, or one long extended base camping trip setup in a mess tent (moose hunting/mining/forestry work/etc), etc. That thing could swallow up 6 Optimus 22's and still have room for some 8/8r's for dessert.
The 22 is a nice classic, but could never hold a candle to the Coleman 413 as a family car-camping two-burner. Two big stewpots, big pot plus oven, etc. It cooks for the whole gang.
Oh man, that looks good! Autumn is just around the corner and I've got the old 413 cleaned and ready for the road. The fact that one can make orange/cranberry scones and boil water for a big French press of coffee at the same time is all the reason you need to get a 413. A good one will set you back about $20 tops at a garage sale. I paid $10 for mine just because the family that had it wanted to "upgrade" to propane canisters! Regards, Ridge
The biggest limitation is that a 22 costs more than 20 times the cost of the equivalent Coleman! Yonadav
The first "real" camping stove I ever bought was a Coleman 425C in the mid '60's. I paid $8.95 at Pay 'n Save drugs in Ballard, WA. I got it specifically for car camping, picnicking, and power outages. In the mid '80's I gave it to my Son's Scout Troop who still use it. I got another a few years back at a Salvation Army store for $3. All it needed was a good scrubbing. I also have most of a dozen other 2 & 3 burner Coleman Suitcases including an alumin(i)um one and several steel and alumin(i)um stove stands and a few propane adaptors. In the US, the words "Camp Stove" and "Coleman Stove" are, for all practical purposes, synonymous. Dunno about Canada. Gerry
"The biggest limitation is that a 22 costs more than 20 times the cost of the equivalent Coleman!" if that was true (in england), i'd have one.
My first meal actually cooked on my own Coleman stove (425) was fresh caught brook trout with an egg broke over them on one burner and a pot of coffee on the other. That was over 40 years ago and I still own, and use, that stove. Yup. Colemant 425 = Camp cooking.
+1 on the 425 = 426. For big groups of 10 or more I've used my 426s for years and on countless occasions. I can't express how much the real estate on the top of that matters (again)! I've made large pots of chili, soups, stews or fried giant pots of french fries, and boiled up gallons and gallons of water at a time, 10 gallons at most. Don't get me wrong, 425s are not bad at all. When I go car camping with a couple of my kids I take a 425. I just went on a 3-day backpacking trip on the Continental Divide where Idaho and Montana meet. We had two Svea 123s and the accompanying Sigg-Tourist cooksets cooking for 11 people. They worked flawlessly at 8000 feet elevation. A butane stove was also brought and had a little trouble boiling water in the morning hours (55F) and at the said elevation. Out came the Svea 123s and a rolling boil came on shortly thereafter. During the daytime when it warmed up the butane stove worked a lot better. I continued to use the 123 set I brought. sam
how would a trangia 27/25 with a nova/omnifuel compare to the svea 123 and sigg tourist set compare? i would think the first would be more versatile. though it is not an apples to apples comparison. one is a prime and burn, where the other is a pump prime burn
Optimus 111 kero (roarer) or 8R for when I need a smaller stove. Although I love having an excuse to use a 96, 00, or 45
