Campingaz Bleuet 206 - My very first camping stove

A really simple French stove

I bought this canister stove a really long time ago. Probably more than 5 years ago when I first wanted add some fun into my late night gatherings. I thought it would be awesome to be able to make myself a piping hot cup of instant noodles while chatting with my friends at Yishun Dam.

My first encounter with such stoves was during my Outward Bound camp at Pulau Ubin during my JC days. It was one of the items that made the time past a little easier since I wasn't particularly comfortable being in the outdoors. It was dirty, uncomfortable and full of mosquitoes waiting to take a drink from my bloodstream. It was hard to appreciate that sort of nature.

Nevertheless, I was pretty happy to have a hot satisfying meal after a day full of activities. The gas canister stove was also very easy to use - plug the gas canister in, turn up the gas and light it. Nothing more difficult than the stove we have at home.

I bought the simple looking Campingaz Bleuet 206 at one of the stalls at Army Market (505 Beach Road) for $25, I think. The gas canister, containing 190g of gas, cost a reasonable $2 then. The Bleuet was probably the most simple portable gas stove easily accessible to us Singaporeans. The original version had been discontinued and the official webpage removed. Fortunately, google cache still has it in its database.

The typical army mess tin easily fits on the supports and the flame is captured directly underneath the tin, minimizing heat loss through the sides.

Piercing mechanism for gas canister
Unfortunately, there is a reason why the gas canisters so cheap. These canisters, unlike more sophisticated stoves that use a valve that allows you to detach for easier storage when on the go, they cannot be detached before they are fully used up - the c206 canisters do not have a valve and rely on the stove's piercing mechanism to release gas.

Cost effectiveness
The inability to remove the gas canister before it is empty does have its advantages when it comes to price. A 190g pierceable canister cost $3.70 while a similarly sized 230g valved canister costs $11. Both are available at Army Market.

The dimple in the middle is where the stove pierces into the canister

These days, with the proliferation of portable stoves used for steamboat, the cheapest gas canisters are those that feed these. If you are really looking to cook a lot outdoors, you will be better off getting a stove that uses these. The stove may be more expensive, but it makes sense in the long run.

Only this size fits this stove. It is a good size - small enough to pack while being big enough to last several days of cooking.

Ease of use
Being an upright stove, it is sometimes a challenge to find a ground flat enough for the set up to be stable. The base isn't very big and will require some attention.

The flame is produced by the stove is easy to control and very clean burning. It will not soot up the bottom of your mess tin, which is nice.

The heat produced is reasonable, but do watch out for winds as they rob the little burner's effectiveness rather easily.

Conclusion
This is quite a nice kit as a first stove and cost effective for students on a budget. The heat output is respectable despite its small size and it can even be used as a home backup stove should your family run out of gas and needed something to continue cooking with.

Portable Kerosene Stove for Picnic and Possibly camping

I have finally gotten the time to visit the shop to buy my Butterfly brand portable pressurized kerosene stove. It is a rather simple self-contained device that has its own pot stand, fuel tank and stove head in one robust solid construction.

Its golden brass fuel tank is exceptionally good looking as an ornamental display if you just want to keep a piece of history in your living room.

Fuel
As its name suggests, it is a kerosene fuel stove. The instruction manual suggests that you use top quality kerosene and strain the kerosene before pouring it into the fuel tank. This is important because the jet that shoots out the kerosene to the burner head is very fine. A clogged jet will affect the flame pattern and generally the amount of heat produced.

I bought my kerosene from Home-Fix and it cost $3.40 for 500ml. It is rather expensive considering that petrol costs $2 per litre. This means that kerosene is 3x as expensive as petrol. Kerosene stoves seems a little out of place in this region since there are petrol powered camping stoves and the petrol is easier to obtain than kerosene.

Pot size
The construction is so stable and versatile that it can take your average family sized pots without any problems. These stoves are said to be exported to countries such as Indonesia, possibly for everyday cooking.

How to use - priming and ignition
Before the stove can be used, there is a need to heat up the generator tube which vaporises the kerosene because it does not burn as a liquid and have to be in gaseous state in order to burn. It is a slightly tedious process here. To heat up the generator tube, a more flammable liquid, alcohol, is used for the initial burn. Alcohol fires up instantly and cleanly. For me, I broke up small pieces of solid fuel in place of alcohol because alcohol is very expensive - a 100g small bottle sold at a pharmacy costs
as much as $6. Because of this priming process, it is not cost effective to start up the stove unless you intend to cook continuously for some time.

Nearing the completion of the priming stage, the vent screw is shut and here comes some vigorous pumping to pressurize the fuel tank. As soon as enough pressure is generated, the jet pumps out gaseous kerosene that burns as an beautiful efficient blue flame at the burner head.

As with most other liquid fuel stoves, this one sounds like a mini jet engine. It is not exactly very loud, but it is way louder than the LPG household stoves that we are used to.

My thoughts
It is a beautiful little stove that belongs to a different time. We have come so far that the most advanced, convenient and powerful stoves is also the cheapest. A full LPG gas tank costs $30-40 and requires replacement about 4 months of daily cooking. Cooking via electricity is also very cheap and even be operated in a badly ventilated indoor environment as it does not produce any nasty gases and is completely silent.

Nevertheless, the old kerosene stove is portable. There are still instances where such a stove becomes useful such as picnics, car/motorcycle camping, fishing and possibly even for travelling. But an event such as this would be centred around the stove due to the inconvenient starting procedure rather than being part of the experience.

In south east Asia, you'll be hard pressed to find it useful when there are so many cheap eateries that very delicious food that is part of the experience itself.