[spotlightin]

I am looking at a few different brands of survival stoves that burn just about anything, but do not know which brand is the best or if a better exists, any suggestions???

[kevin]

MSR makes the best commercial fuel burning stoves in my opinion.

[snowshoe67]

I got a jetboil. Hmmm nice but in cold weather a little hard to keep the fuel from freezing

[kevin]

Originally Posted by snowshoe67

I got a jetboil. Hmmm nice but in cold weather a little hard to keep the fuel from freezing

good thing those canisters are so small, you can tuck them inside jacket to keep warm.

[ozarks dave]

i prefer my kelly kettle. expensive yes but it wont let me down. i can burn anything in it. and heat water at the same time. cant beat it.

[Dang]

Don't own either yet, but working on it...

if size is no problem, I'm going with a Kelly Kettle. If compact is the plan, I'm going with a Bush Buddy.

Both burn leaves, sticks or whatever.

Now if we're talking base camp, truck load of gear...not sure what I'd go with.

[Celticwarrior]

Yeah, I have several options myself. I keep a Sierra Zip Stove http://www.zzstove.com/sierra.html that will burn like a forge, consuming anything from charcoal briquettes, pine cones, scrap wood, esbit tabs, or stick-litter from the forest. The Bush Buddy http://www.bushbuddy.ca/, Kelly Kettle http://www.kellykettle.com/ and Foldable (pocket) Woodburning Stoves http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/c....aspx?a=288270 all take sticks and twigs as well, and don't require the single battery that the Zip Stove does, but they don't burn as hot or as quickly. All of those though give you the option of using the fuels around you, without packing in gas or liquids.

For times or areas that are rich in those man-made fuels, but poorer in natural materials (urban areas for instance), you might want to stick with a multi-fuel stove that can take things like white (coleman) gas/naphtha, liquid parrafin, Methyl alcohol, diesel, unleaded environmental gas (no additives), aviation fuel, kerosene, and heating oil, like the Optimus line (now by Katadyn): Svea, Hiker and Nova (for the ultra-lightweight), which work with many of these fuels, provided they are clean (not crude or filled with particulates). http://www.optimusstoves.com/seen/ or http://www.katadyngroup.com/usen/

Kovea http://www.kovea.com/product.php?brand=1&code=01000000 makes a hiking multifuel stove that can use propane/butane carts AND white gas cannisters. MSR's Whisperlite http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/category can use either white gas, kerosene or unleaded petrol. Primus http://www.primus.se/Templates/Pages...SectionId=5888 makes the Gravity MFand Omnifuel stoves, that burn white gas, kerosene and LP gas cartridges. Coleman's new Fyrestorm http://www.coleman.com/coleman/Colem...ategoryID=2005 burns propane/butane carts, unleaded gas and white (coleman) gas. With almost any of these stoves, and the Optimus ones above, filtration and fuel quality are of utmost importance. You won't get a good burn, or may clog up your stove to unusablity entirely, if you use poor quality fuel and don't filter out any particulates first. You may also need to purchase and install special parts to the stove to allow some of the fuel options to be used, since gas and kerosene for example don't vaporize the same, and adaptors would be necessary to convert a liquid fuel stove to working with propane/LP/butane carts.

That all adds cost, weight, and trouble in conversion, but will allow you to use your stoves in virtually any environment, wilderness or urban. By keeping a wood burner or even a hobo stove, and one of the techy liquid/gas fueled units, you increase your chances of being able to cook and heat an area with little trouble, and useful in areas where a full cooking fire would be undesirable or even illegal.

While we are on the subject of multi-fuel devices, you might want to take a look at the Petromax line http://www.petromax.com/lanterns.htm of lanterns. They run on darn near anything and will provide near-electric quality lighting. Not bad for a bug out or power outage. Make sure you get the real deal though, not just the "Kerosene only" look-alikes. Their Britelyt multi-fuel stoves are amazing too, and burn pretty much any liquid fuel out there. http://www.petromax.com/stoves.htm

[Craig]

My favorite lightweight, affordable, durable, easy to use camp grill:

Weber at Lowe's: Replacement Cooking Grate

[swamprat]

I have heard good reviews on the pocket cooker - but have never used one. It weighs a little less than a pound and is supposed to burn real hot with a minimal amount of sticks and twigs. Have any of you tried one?

[snowshoe67]

Swamprat Big PIC!!! a friend of mine has one like it,compact!