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Topic: Which stove for family camping?

Familycamper121

05/9/2013 at 12:58pm
Location: Essex
Outfit: Hi Gear Horizon 700 Nightfall

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Hi everyone. I am in the market for a new gas stove. There are several that have taken my fancy, however I am slightly concerned about versatility. My short list consists of:
Coleman fold and go double burner
Campingaz camping chef vario stove and grill
Campingaz 3 in 1 cv grill
Cadac safari chef lp portable gas BBQ.
I really like the cadac and vario.however having a single burner worries me a little as we are a family of 4 and sometimes you need to be cooking different things at the same time. The Coleman and vario are a toss up as I like the grill function but only to keep things warm as we all know they don't grill anything! But then the space the Coleman takes appeals to me. I think ultimately I am in the market for 2 stoves as I haven't found 1 that does everything I want. I like the versatility of the cadac and 3 in 1. I suppose what I would like is a comparison between the 3in1 and the cadac. Then a comparison between the vario and fold and go. Ideally I would like to just take 1 calor gas tank so are all of these stoves able to use any gas provided I change the regulator? Hope I haven't waffled too much, this is my first post on this site as I am a new member.

NickH

05/9/2013 at 1:12pm
Location: North Surrey
Outfit: Bailey Unicorn Valencia S3

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Hi FamilyCamper, welcome to the forum!

For this season we have the Cadac and a 2 burner & grill as part of the TT kitchen. Last year is was a charcoal BBQ and Campingaz 2 burner & grill. We often have the two burners and the Cadac/BBQ going at the same time for evening meals.

I am a charcoal BBQ person, but the Cadac was bought as we were venturing into Europe where BBQs are not permitted at some sites. The cadac is VERY versatile with the different cooking surfaces and gives instant heat which is perfect for me cooking parbaked gluten free bread.

You can run both from one gas bottle without an issue using a T piece and three bits of piping. We have two gas bottles for convenience and we have the room in the TT to transport them

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Nick

2017
April - New Forest(9)
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and five nights in the one man tent!

Familycamper121

05/9/2013 at 1:42pm
Location: Essex
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Hi nick. Thanks for the reply. I think the cadac and vario is my preferred optin. Just to save up now as we have a few bits to get before Easter when we go again!

NickH

05/9/2013 at 2:03pm
Location: North Surrey
Outfit: Bailey Unicorn Valencia S3

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You could go to the camping and caravan show at the NEC in either Oct or Feb, we go our cadac there at a good price. we were going anyway, but the saving on the cadac alone would of paid for the £7 tickets.

This forum will happily spend your money if you need advice on other bits of kit

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Nick

2017
April - New Forest(9)
May - Dorset (9)
August - Camping Le Pin Parasol, Vendee (18)
October - East Mersea (8)
and five nights in the one man tent!

NickH

05/9/2013 at 2:06pm
Location: North Surrey
Outfit: Bailey Unicorn Valencia S3

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Take a look at to make life easier these

and

this

some of this

and a few of these

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Nick

2017
April - New Forest(9)
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Tynxuk

05/9/2013 at 4:26pm
Location: Sunny Suffolk (West)
Outfit: inflatable dome Palamos6 frame tent

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We are a family of 5 and normally take along an electric double hob and halogen oven as use EHU. I have recently kitted us out with a sunngas platinum baby uno stove (small suitcase stove - not even big enough to pack away with a gas canister in as the canister sticks out of the back several inches), a Cadac mini chef and a stove top oven for our non EHU camping.

HEJC72

05/9/2013 at 5:03pm
Location: North Yorkshire
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I find 2 suitcase stoves are brilliant for cooking on and I use a grill plate on one that turns it into a BBQ/Griddle.

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Helen xx
Mini Mad Mum

Familycamper121

05/9/2013 at 9:47pm
Location: Essex
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Cheers guys. Well most of the bits are pretty much not up for comparison. More down to wether they are worth buying. We are looking at getting the canopy for the Icarus 500, I think this is a definite buy just waiting till I can get it cheap (yes I'm tight). Also we are considering the footprint, and carpet for tent, I'm just not sure if they are worth the money. Other than that I think all we are looking for is 2 decent double air beds that are nice and deep and stay up well.

mitzionline

05/9/2013 at 9:47pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: Cabanon Barbados & Cabanon Guadeloupe

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We opted for a 2 burner stove without grill (the Campingaz one).

The integral grills on the stoves we saw only heated a small area (size of a slice of toast) and we figured anything more than a slice of toast would be better cooked on a BBQ or frying pan. The stoves without grill are a bit more compact too.

To do toast we use one of these over one of the burners, they are inexpensive and fab, they will toast a slice of bread really golden in under a minute, so really efficient on the gas.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/toaster-folding-1-slice-p152188

Post last edited on 05/09/2013 21:54:37

Post last edited on 05/09/2013 21:54:54

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Aug 2017 St Martins Campsite, Scilly
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Mar 2017 Pitch Perfect camping Bath
Aug 2016 Brittany/Normandy:-
La Ferme Croas Men (near Morlaix)
Le Ranolien (Ploumanac'h)
Le Bois Courdrais (Cugen)
Chateau de Montfreville (Montfreville)

NickH

05/9/2013 at 10:06pm
Location: North Surrey
Outfit: Bailey Unicorn Valencia S3

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Hi Familycamper,

when we have the tent we had the canopy, footprint and carpets......

Footprint - this stops the bottom of the tent getting dirty and when you get back you you only have to pull out the footprint and clean, not the whole tent and potentially getting it wet.
It also adds extra protection against stones.
An alternative for the footprint preventing dirt is to get the cheap disposable decorators sheets and put them under the tent and chuck away at the end of a trip. Don't forget to cut slightly smaller than the tent so water does not get in between - smelly after two weeks and can cause leaks
You can also make one from a cheap tarp cut slightly smaller than the tent

Carpet - adds warmth from extra insulation, homeliness - we go for 2 weeks for our main holiday and if you have a dog it can help prevent claws going through the groundsheet. we can also take them out and wash them
An alternative is to get a couple of cheap picnic rugs and they will do the same thing.

Canopy - we have found ours invaluable for cooking under during our sunny weather! It also meant that we could sit outside and read/play games even if it was chucking it down.

Airbeds - don't over inflate at night time as when things warm up in the morning the air expands and can weaken the seems. Whilst in the tent we went through at least one air bed per season! To help things you can put a rug or SIM (Self Inflating Matress) under, it will also make it more comfortable and warmer.

Agree with mitzionline, the grills are pretty useless. I do all my toast on the cadac now, can do about 8 slices in a minute (using the grill plate)!

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Nick

2017
April - New Forest(9)
May - Dorset (9)
August - Camping Le Pin Parasol, Vendee (18)
October - East Mersea (8)
and five nights in the one man tent!

phathamster

05/9/2013 at 10:33pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: raclet quickstop 2008

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i have the campingaz cv 3 in 1 (picked it up for 35quid on ebay argos clearance last year!) i really like it the grill bit is abit naff though but its easy to clean and basically a large frying pan, seems very frugal on gas too, i use this and a simple suitcase stove, which i find boils a kettle quicker probably due to less escaping heat as its a tight fit.

works for the 3 of us easily, i do think you need a double burner of some kind as not everything can be an all in one pan wonder. i would like to have a webber babyq bbq to go with it ideally but they are too expensive whilst saving for a T4

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