A History of Portable Camp Stoves

by Howard Hicks
Camp Stove Pro

The history of portable stoves used for camping dates back as far as the 1600's when the Japanese developed the Shichirin, a lightweight, compact, and easy-to-move cooking stove. This type of stove eventually evolved into the modern day hibachi grill.

It is widely believed that the first portable stove created in north America was invented in 1849 by Alexis Soyer. The "Magic Stove" as it was called, had a wick that was used to draw fuel from a tank or reservoir to a burner.

Carl Richard Nyberg began manufacturing Primus stoves in 1892 and the primus brand is now one of the best and most respected brand names in the industry.

W.C. Coleman began selling lanterns around 1900. He then began making his own lanterns which he sold as the "Coleman Arc Lamp". In 1901 he moved to Wichita Kansas and created the Coleman Lamp and Stove Company. It is now one of the largest and most well known brands of camping gear and stoves in the world. In World War II the Coleman company produced the "G.I. Pocket Stove" for the U.S. military. In 1942 5,000 of the stoves accompanied U.S. forces to North Africa. Over one million stoves were produced during the war, and it has been said that it was almost as useful as the "Jeep" in the war effort.

In the U.S. around 1960, due to a national campaign against forest fires that would leave an area barren for three years or more, outdoor enthusiasts turned from open campfires to camp stoves in an effort to save the beauty of the forest areas where they love to hike and camp. This is partially responsible for the wide use of camp stoves today by outdoor enthusiast of all kinds.

Today, camp stoves come in a wide variety of types, as well as using many different kinds of fuel. There are single burner stoves that are light weight, compact and very popular with hikers and mountain climbers because they fit very nicely in their backpacks. The two burner and three burner stoves, are used mostly by campers that set up camp in a specific area such as a campground or by a lake, where they plan to spend the majority of their time.

In the early days of the camp stove animal fat was the main source of fuel. Today a variety of fuel is used it can be either propane, white gas, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas,alcohol or butane.

Because the portable stove has evolved into so many different types, styles and brands, the stove an outdoor enthusiast ultimately buys will depend largely on the type of outdoor activity he or she is going to participate in.

The basic concept of the portable stove hasn't changed, but over time the increasing variety of uses and demand created by a growing outdoor enthusiast market has produced portable stoves of many shapes, sizes and fuels.

If you are looking for a more detailed and comprehensive explanation on this subject you can go to wikipedia.com, then go to the search bar under the globe and type in portable stove.

Once you obtain the stove that is right for you, your adventures in the great outdoors can be even better!

Author: Howard Hicks

Article submitted Saturday, May 07, 2011 & read 51 times.

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