And How to Choose a Good Backpacking Stove for Your Trip
Like all outdoor gear, the top backpacking stove for you is a personal choice. Everyone has their own preferences and kits. But we can help you narrow down your selection the top good backpacking stoves by weighing 3 factors.
Your environment,
Your trip duration,
and your preferences.
Different backpacking stoves vary dramatically in price, fuel sources, features, and weight. Some specialize in boiling water blazingly fast, some have features ideal for properly cooking food, and others are designed to be reliable even through the worst conditions imaginable -- think wind and snow.
Picking the “best” backpacking stove means picking the best stove for you and your particular needs. This guide will help you do that. We dive into the specific stove features to consider, the different types of backpacking stoves, and share our top backpacking stoves for every kind of backpacking adventure.
Key Insights:
Good backpacking stoves are lightweight, compact, and they boil water quickly.
Canister backpacking stoves are the most compact, but the least stable with little to no wind resistance.
Not all backpacking stoves have a variable temperature control for low to medium temperature cooking
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Car Camping Stove: Not For Backpacking! - Photo Credit: Andrew Welch
Backpacking Stoves vs. Camping Stoves (Propane)
Car camping stoves (propane being their traditional fuel) are a staple of any camping setup. It's a great back-up to have in case of rain or wet wood. So what makes backpacking stoves so different from camping stoves?
In short, the difference is portability and efficiency. Good backpacking stoves have only a single burner and are lightweight and compact. Many boil water in under a minute, which makes rehydrating meals quick when all you have to do is add hot water. But they don't give a lot of opportunities for simmering and temperature control.
Typical camping stoves are for car camping in developed campgrounds, where you can drive right into your campsite with all your gear in tow. They generally feature two burners, are fueled by propane, and operate more like the stovetop in your kitchen: they let you effectively boil water, simmer stews, and flip flapjacks. Camping stoves are versatile but are too heavy and bulky for backcountry camping when you are hauling all your gear in a backpack.
Integrated Canister Stove - Photo Credit: Kyle Peyton
Good Backpacking Stove Features
All good backpacking stoves are light and packable for travel in the backcountry, but different models will still offer their own particular sets of advantages and disadvantages.
Here are the most important features to consider:
Efficiency and Boil Time: Backpacking stoves often use the British Thermal Unit (BTU) to measure efficiency. The BTU represents the heat required to warm one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. Generally, a higher BTU indicates faster boil times and greater fuel consumption.
Wind Resistance: Well-designed stoves can balance fuel efficiency and boil times with wind-resistant features. Windscreens, aerodynamic designs, and auto-relighting burners will keep stoves burning effectively and consistently.
Temperature Control: Many backpackers only use stoves to boil water for oatmeal, coffee, and dehydrated backpacking meals. So, some backpacking stoves focus on boiling water quickly and efficiently, but do not give you much control over cooking or simmering “real” meals. More involved cooking requires a stove with good temperature control.
Weight and Packed Size: Almost all backpacking stoves weigh less than a pound, and many can pack up to fit right inside your kettle or pot. Ultralight, minimal options, like alcohol stoves, can weigh as little as an ounce or two. Integrated canister stoves and liquid fuel stoves will be heavier, but are far more versatile and efficient. (We’ll dive deeper into these different stove types a bit later.)
Ignition: Backpacking stoves require an external ignition source, whether it be matches, a lighter, or even a flint striker. You should always carry two ignition sources with you. Store them separately and in Ziploc bags. Having a stove, fuel, and ingredients for a delicious meal - but no way to make any of it useful - is an experience we would not wish upon anyone.
Screw-On Canister Stove - Photo Credit: Tommy Lisbin
Backpacking Stove Types
Most stoves for backpacking fit into five general categories. Each category has particular strengths and weaknesses, making them better suited to different environments, trip lengths, and experience levels.
Foreseeing what kind of backpacking trips you’ll be undertaking helps you find the best backpacking stove for your needs.
Screw-On Canister Stoves: These stoves screw right into tiny isobutane fuel canisters and are probably the most ubiquitous type of backpacking stove. They are light, easy to use, and not overly expensive. The best ones, like the MSR PocketRocket 2, even offer accurate temperature control, making them great for the more involved backcountry chefs.
The downsides of screw-on canister stoves are instability and poor wind resistance. The isobutane canisters themselves are the stove base and won’t safely support larger pots. This design also means you cannot use a windscreen, as trapping heat around the canister may cause an explosion. The flame will persist through most windy conditions, but boil times increase, demanding more fuel.
Integrated Canister Stoves: By combining stove and cup into one device, integrated canister stoves specialize in one thing: boiling water really fast, and really efficiently. These all-in-one stove systems, like the Jetboil Flash, have a heat exchanger and built-in windscreen to maximize efficiency. They are popular with beginner backpackers seeking a streamlined, easy-to-use cook system.
They are more expensive and heavier than other canister stoves, and only serve to boil water, but integrated canister stoves are worth it for those seeking simplicity and efficiency.
Remote Canister Stoves: Remote canister stoves share many of the same advantages as their screw-on counterparts but avoid their pitfalls by using a fuel line to separate fuel and stove. They are more stable, making them better for larger pots and feeding large groups. Separating the fuel from the heat source also allows you to use a windscreen, improving their performance in windy conditions. The best ones, like the MSR Windburner, are ideal for cooking real meals, or boiling water in greater quantities.
The fuel line does make them heavier than other canister stoves and adds another component to maintain and potentially repair.
Liquid Fuel Stoves: Liquid fuel refers to any fuel that is, well, liquid in form. This includes white gas, kerosene, diesel, and unleaded gasoline. Liquid fuel stoves can work with multiple fuel types. This versatility has made them a favorite for international travel, where you may not know what sort of fuel options will be available from country to country. They are also very repairable and fuel-efficient, ideal for extended treks. Newer models, such as the MSR Dragonfly, also have excellent temperature control.
The downsides of liquid fuel stoves include slow boil times, their many pieces and components, and a steeper learning curve: you need to compress your fuel bottle manually and prime the stove by lighting fuel in the stove area and letting it burn off. Once a backcountry staple, liquid fuel stoves are now mostly specialist tools for alpinists and trekking guides.
Alcohol Stoves: Ultralight backpacking enthusiasts are fond of alcohol stoves. They are cheap, have no moving (or breakable) parts, and are incredibly light. They are essentially just a metal container with air holes: you fill it with denatured alcohol, light it, and place a pot on top to boil water as the alcohol burns off. You can buy an alcohol stove, like the TOAKS Titanium Siphon, or even make your own from an aluminum can.
These stoves have a long boil time, offer no flame control, and don’t perform well in rainy or windy weather. An open container of flaming alcohol isn’t exactly the safest thing, either - especially not during wildfire season! Overall, alcohol stoves are not a great choice for casual backpackers. They are best for experienced thru-hikers hiking thousands of miles—when ultralight and failsafe gear is a priority.
Screw-On Canister Stove - Photo Credit: Kevin Schmid
Choosing the Top Backpacking Stove for Your Trip
Hopefully you now have a better idea of what to expect from a good backpacking stove. They all have pros and cons, depending on the type of trip you're planning. That means you may find yourself considering more than one stove, so you can use the best backpacking stove for your current trip.
If you’re just beginning your backpacking journey, a screw-on or integrated canister stove serves you well. They are easy to use, affordable, and super packable, providing everything you’ll need for most weekend trips in the woods.
Once your backpacking gear and new stove are in order, you need to figure out what you'll be cooking on it. So if you're looking for some mouthwatering backpacking food, then check this out. Delicious DIY backpacking meals are just around the corner.
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