How to heat up water camping? Learning how to boil water while camping is a basic skill that everyone who enjoys being outside should know. However, while preparing hot water might appear to be a simple endeavor, it turns out there are many diverse methods for doing so in the great outdoors.
Each water boiling approach has advantages and drawbacks, so you must choose the best option for your needs. We will show you how to heat water while outside in the upcoming section. You may avoid having to drink lukewarm water ever again in that manner.
Kettle Over The Campfire
The most popular technique for campers to boil water when outside is to use a kettle over a campfire. The majority of camping kettles are roughly 1 liter in size, implying that they will take around 5 minutes to fill and put over high heat. It is going to take somewhat longer with bigger kettles.
Make sure you do not go too big, because when full of water, it may be difficult to pour out the water. Because it is simple to pour boiling water for coffee and cooking meals like oatmeal and rice, a kettle is preferable. When pouring hot liquids, wear a glove to prevent burning your hand on the handle.
Make sure you have a grill plate to lay on top of the campfire ring so your kettle may rest securely during heating. For longevity, select a cast iron grill plate.
Liquid Fuel Stove
The most popular liquid fuel stove is the classic model. Liquid stoves, such as the MSR Dragonfly, are a relatively environmentally friendly yet extremely efficient way to boil water on the trail.
White gasoline (typically naphtha) is what you are most likely to come across in an outdoor equipment shop, although there are different sorts of liquid fuels. Because it burns cleanly and efficiently in almost all weather conditions, white gas is particularly ideal for camping.
Liquid fuel stoves, unlike solid-fuel models, are more durable and heavy (more on them later). They are also your best bet for winter usage since they include pressure controls in their pumps. That is because liquid fuel stoves feature pumps that allow you to adjust the pressure of your fuel. As a result, they are an excellent choice for frequent excursions into tough environments.
Electric Kettle
If you have an access to an electrical connection at your campsite, which is more common at public, state-owned sites, an electrical kettle can quickly boil water. The majority of electric camping kettles are quite inexpensive and take around 2 to 3 minutes to boil water.
Better yet, more contemporary electric kettles feature special settings for not just boiling water but also keeping other liquids like coffee warm, which comes in handy on chilly camping days.
Propane Stove
Propane stoves, which are also known as gas or natural gas stoves, are another popular choice for heating water. For propane stoves, use either 20lb or 11lb propane cylinders, which can be found at most hardware stores. These stoves are quite big and bulky and work best in a car camping setting due to their size and bulk.
Propane stoves, on the other hand, are typically more convenient. This is because they usually come with a slew of extra features, including auto-ignition buttons and easy-to-use heat control dials.
The second major advantage of propane stoves is that they almost always include two or more burners. While a single-burner propane-powered device is available, the majority of these stoves have two or three burners, allowing you to boil water and prepare a meal at the same time.
Internal Flame Kettle
There are a variety of kettles on the market that include a location inside the kettle where you may light a flame. The Ghillie Kettle is one such example.
Because the fire is within the kettle, water heats up and eventually boils faster than in a regular kettle. Size and weight are two of the major benefits of this sort of kettle. Because it does not require a fuel canister, it is ideal for backpacking camping.
Canister Fuel Stove
Canister fuel stoves are portable, lightweight camping cookers powered by canisters of isopropyl or butane gas. These are relatively new to the world of camping water boiling solutions, having debuted only a few years ago.
Stoves like the MSR PocketRocket, which are popular among hikers and backpackers, tend to be tiny and light. They are meant to be used with fuel canisters (usually isobutane/isopropyl blends), which were made with weight reduction in mind as well.
Because of their small size, canister fuel stoves are highly preferred for remote regions. However, because of their very restricted cooking area and lack of simmer control, these stoves are difficult to operate for large groups.
In the summer, canister stoves are not ideal since the iso-butane blend in fuel canisters degrades at low temperatures. These stoves, on the other hand, are a tremendous tool for summer backpacking if you want to preserve weight.
A Trusty Pot
A kettle and a campfire are all you need to make this simple recipe. It is as easy as making tea or coffee. Fill up a pot and set it on the fire to boil over.
It is somewhat sluggish when compared to some of the more technology-savvy choices, such as a Jet boil or even a kettle with an internal flame, and pots are relatively hefty, making it inconvenient for anything other than car camping.
However, a camping coffee pot is cheap and simple to boil water in. If at all possible, look for a pot with a pointed spout to make pouring out water into a specific container like a French press coffee maker easier.
Biofuel Stove
Biofuel stoves, such as the BioLite Campstove 2, are a wonderful water-boiling technique in wooded areas for the more environmentally conscious among us.
The combination of a gas-powered camp stove’s energy efficiency and the environmental friendliness of biofuels makes this sort of stove ideal for camping. You will not have to worry about transporting fuel or running out of fuel while you camp because they operate on burning twigs and other forest debris.
