My stove insanity

My collection of camp stoves, left to right: Camp Chef Everest 2-burner, MSR Dragonfly, Doite single-burner, and MSR Whisperlite International.

As some of you who know me well understand, I am a gear head, I love gear, camping gear, biking gear, paddling gear, even photographic gear. Got no wife, no kids, but I have three tents, three sleeping bags, a pile of dry bags of all different sizes, shapes and colors, and, I have three camp stoves (four if you count my old, now antique SVEA 123 from decades ago). And, I ended up bringing all three on my trip to South America. And that isn't the worst of it. As it turns out, I am potentially only able to use one of them, and the problem, getting appropriate fuel canisters, meant that I had to buy another stove while here. Yup, now have four camp stoves and only one of them is really of any use down here. Pathetic. So, the problem? The problem is all about fuel, and trust me, I did my research before I left, and felt justified in bringing all three stoves. First, I have my 2-burner, Camp Chef Everest stove, love it, works perfectly in my van. I even designed my kitchen platform in my van to fit the stove beside my sink. The stove works great, but only with propane cylinders, cylinders with a certain thread size. Based on my research, it sounded like you could get these "gas" cylinders in larger cities, and especially in Chile where there is more of a camping culture when compared to Peru. NOT! I wandered all over Lima on my trusty steed, my Scott Scale 760 mountain bike, and visited every store I could find which sold camping equipment, nothing, no propane cylinders which would fit my 2-burner. What is going on Coleman? I figured Coleman 2-burners were everywhere, but I guess not. Bummer. In addition to my Camp Chef 2-burner, I also brought my always trustworthy MRS Whisperlite International which I have had forever. This is a great stove, boils water in minutes, works fine at altitude, and very fuel efficient, though dirty to work with, plus, which is key, it will burn almost any liquid fuel in additon to white gas, including unleaded gasoline, kerosene, even cow piss if you have to. If I cannot get white gas, prefer to burn kerosene, much cleaner, but could not find white gas or kerosene anywhere in Peru. Kerosene showed up at COPAC fuel stations in southern Chile, so my Whisperlite an option, in a pinch. I also brought my little MSR Dragonfly, tiny little stove, but only burns the isopropol mix you find in those red cylinders readily available in the US, a gas mix, and appropriately threaded cylinders, which I could not find anywhere, in Peru or Chile. So where did this all leave me? When I finally escaped La Punta, greater Lima, headed off to Paracas, I had no working stove. I did buy a gas cylinder, company call Doite, European I think, the only cylinders I saw anywhere, but my Dragonfly did not fit the threads, and they were a totally different thread design when compared to what my 2-burner needs. I am finally on my way, planning to camp in my van as much as possible, and I have no stove, nothing, even to heat water in the morning for coffee. Damn. Here I am, finally starting my South American adventure, my van and I are finally on the road, with three camp stoves, none of which I can use. Double Damn, and quite pathetic actually, especially when considering how much it cost me to ship all my gear on top of what it cost to ship my van. What an idiot.

Well, the stove insanity had to end quickly, had to have coffee in the morning, so when I got to Arequipa, I had to break down and buy another stove, yes, another stove, I now have three tents, three sleeping bags, and FOUR camp stoves. I bought a single-burner Doite stove which fits the Dolite gas cylinders which seem readily available, had no choice, needed a stove, a working stove. I am now hauling around four camp stoves, three of which I cannot use (well, Whisperlite will work if necessary), and the one I do use, not a fan, just seems cheaply made, definitely not of MSR quality. Plus, when screwed on top of the larger of the two sizes of gas cylinders sold, a bit unstable, and not great for cooking in the van. But what could I do, have to have coffee in the morning, a must, an absolutely necessity. I had to have a camp stove which works. So sad, and pathetic.
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My new, and only working camp stove, single-burning Doite burner on top of gas cylinder.