Important information about camping stoves...

What type of camping, hiking, or backpacking do you do? Do you camp at parks, out of your car, or do you carry everything on your back? Do you camp only in North America?

Do you need a camping burner for winter camping or do you mostly camp during the summer when it's warm out?

Will you be carrying it for long distances? What type of fuel do you want to use?

How many people will you be cooking for?

If you don't know the answers to some of these questions this camping stoves guide will help.

In general camping stoves that are easy to set-up and take up as little room as possible when you break them down are better. Fuel supplies that can be disconnected from camping stoves also make life easier. Good camping stoves should have a good base-of-support and avoid ones that tip on less-than-ideal surfaces or when they have a big pot on top of them.

You want the most reliable, durable, compact, light, easy-to-use, camping stove that performs well in all the conditions you encounter. For example if you travel outside the U.S. take a look at multi-fuel camping stoves because white gas is hard to find. If you cook for your family then you'll want at least two burners.

Two burner camping stoves, for families and groups, are bigger so you can heat more than one pot at a time making meal preparation much easier. They're great for camping at campgrounds or whenever you don't need to move them around much. If you're hiking or backpacking though you'll want to avoid dual burners and look at lighter camping stoves.

Light-weight camping stoves can weigh less than 4 ounces, not including the fuel and container. Better camping stoves are designed to fit inside other equipment used for camping, like cookware or even part of itself. This makes packing and carrying easier and less time consuming. Both two burner and light-weight stoves are divided into two types, liquid fuel or canister.

Author: Marc Wiltse