I have trudged through camping without a lot of things: clean socks, dry shoes, a headlamp. But in temperatures when you can see your breath in the morning, skipping hot coffee is a hair too far. So when my Jetboil Flash stove sputtered out of gas on a car-camping trip years ago, it was worth the hour-long drive into the nearest town for more.
Or would have been, if I had found any. While every gas station and general store I stopped in carried the cheap, ubiquitous green bottles of propane, the Jetboil’s fussy isobutane canisters were nowhere to be found.
After gritting out the rest of the trip on cold instant coffee, I knew there had to be a better way, and found it: the Camp Chef Stryker. Just as fast as the vaunted Jetboil, but cheaper and easier to fuel, it’s hands down the best way to heat up water anywhere, for anything from coffee to ramen.
Camp Chef Stryker
Faster than your home stove
I have used antiquated white fuel stoves, cheap Amazon stoves and even built my own methanol stove out of a Rolling Rock can. None of them compare to a stove and pot built to work together.
Hold your hands above the Stryker when it’s on, and you’ll understand why so-called “integrated canister stoves” have become every outdoor geek’s favorite way to heat water. Instead of waste heat rolling up the sides of the pot, you’ll feel almost nothing. Corrugated folds of metal welded to the base of its pot work like radiator fins in reverse, sopping up heat that would spill out of a conventional stove. These stoves are so fast, they can boil two cups of water in under two minutes. That’s faster than even a home gas stove – I tested.
Jetboil invented this design but only ever built it for backpackers and their lightweight fuel of choice: isobutane. It comes in steel canisters that cost about three times as much as propane, by weight – if you can find them. And when the tiny canisters run out, Jetboil wants you to buy a special tool to safely dispose of them.
Propane canisters, meanwhile, can be refilled from the cylinder you probably already own for a gas grill, using an inexpensive refill adapter. (Manufacturers recommend against refilling single-use canisters, but a certified refillable version costs $22.) Propane contains more energy per pound, and it works at lower temperatures – down to -43F. At the risk of going full Hank Hill, propane is the superior gas. But switching to it is just one of several upgrades Camp Chef made.
Like the name brand, but better
The first time I used the Stryker at camp, there was no going back. Screw on a propane canister, open the valve, click the integrated igniter and the Stryker boils half a liter of water in 1 minute and 37 seconds, by my watch. That’s similar to, or even faster than, a Jetboil depending on conditions, but who’s counting seconds? (We are.)
Unlike the Jetboil, the Camp Chef also includes a tiny tab on the top of the lid that makes it easier to lift than the Jetboil’s Tupperware-style lid that dares you to scald your fingers. And a spring-loaded handle makes it easier to pour than a Jetboil, which you simply grip by its insulated sleeve.
My older Camp Chef Stryker 150 uses only propane, but the newer Stryker 200 includes an adapter that allows it to use either fuel, in case you really want to pare down weight for backpacking. You can get a similar adapter for your Jetboil, but after destroying the valve on my $100 Jetboil with a $10 adapter, I’d advise against it. A Jetboil also lacks the stabilizer ring that snaps onto the base of a tall propane canister and prevents it from easily tipping over.
I’ll concede that the Stryker weighs more, at 1.2lb to 0.9lb for the Jetboil Flash (with stabilizer), but I’ve never minded carrying a bit of extra weight for something that works this much better.
Hot whatever, wherever
This isn’t just a camp stove: Throw it in your trunk for mac and cheese on a road trip. Pair it with an Aeropress for coffee at the park. Dig it out during a blackout for a cup of tea to warm up.
When it’s this fast to heat up water, you’ll invent new reasons to use it. I have heated hot water for washing camp dishes just to spare my hands the agony of cold creek water.
The Stryker is so efficient, it uses just 5 grams of propane to heat two cups of water. At that rate, you could make 90 packages of ramen from a single 1lb propane cylinder. And when you manage to kick a can … you can fill up another for $1. Try that with a Jetboil.
Other pieces you might enjoy from the Filter, the Guardian’s guide to buying fewer, better things:
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The best camping chairs in the US are like having a La-Z-Boy in a bag
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Buzz off: this pop-up screen shelter provides a safe retreat from bugs and mosquitoes
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This $380 foldable kayak fits in my Prius and goes from backseat to lake in 10 minutes
