Hi guys. A cold walk with the dog this morning has gotten me thinking about the changing season, and I'm wondering what stoves people are using through the winter? I haven't done much winter camping & not sure if my Caldera alcohol stove will be up to the job. I've also got a MSR Pocket Rocket gas stove that I use for car camping but the gas cartridge can't be inverted so I'm not sure that'll be ideal in UK winters. Any thoughts? Is white gas the way forward or should I just keep using the alcohol stove? Cheers.

All 'man made' fuels need to vapourise to a degree in order to burn well. The cold makes this much harder for them to do, so performance tends to suffer. Meths is one of the worst but if you can keep your meths warm and insulate the stove it shouldn't be too bad ... maybe think about knocking up a foil base for your cone ?

The only fuel which actually 'likes' the cold is wood as the oxygen content of the air increases as the temp drops. Most stoves can't compensate so they end up running lean.

Meths all year for me.

Ha I've seen that picture before, most impressive :D . Sounds like I should keep using my meths stove then & see how I go, cheers. Fortunately, my Caldera Ti Tri came with a ti base so that should help some.

I've just realised how easily the food on that plate could have ended up looking much more 'adult'

You won't like the weight, but for ultimate cold weather performance, you should look at an MSR XGK or a Whisperlite.

Agree with flatfish though, we had meth's working fine in the first winter bivvy and it was -10 degrees.

Yep I was looking at those bottle stoves & hoping they wouldn't be the solution! The weight and maintenance hassle of them is off the scale.

Agree with flatfish though, we had meth's working fine in the first winter bivvy and it was -10 degrees.

Just awaiting Matt to tell us it wasn't -10 but was infact borderline tropical

Any stove which preheats the fuel (such as Ian mentions above) stands a better chance in the cold. Maybe I'll try adapting a remote feed meths stove and see how it fairs/if it improves cold weather performance.

Just awaiting Matt to tell us it wasn't -10 but was infact borderline tropical

Shh... I put that in as Tiger bait

just get a petrol one like Steve's it was a vaguely exciting display of flame

I've always been a fan of petrol stoves when the temperature drops but have been impressed with meths since I bought a white box stove - I may even try it on this years winter bivi!

MSR Dragon Fly,great sound aswell as loads of heat

Pocket Rocket on a cold MnB last january - needed the gas canister (can't remember if this was propane) warming in a jacket to get any life from it between brews/meal at high camp (?? -8 or so). Was OKish.
MSR Whisperlight would have been better, with a small bottle on the pump, for one night.