A couple of weeks ago, I bought a second Coleman Dual Fuel Single-Burner Stove, Model 533, much like the other stove I already have. I decided this stove worked pretty good, bar the occasional need to replace the pump (a $10 part available at every Walmart) and the need to occasionally replace the generator tube which sometimes becomes plugged from using gasoline.

Propane was totally off my list for camp stoves. I camp too frequently, which would make propane unaffordable  and pose disposal problems for the propane cylinders. I don’t have trash pickup at my apartment, and I certainly wouldn’t have to hold onto a bunch of empty propane cylinders to take for recycling center. Coleman fuel comes in 1 gallon jugs that last for a long time and are easily recyclable, and gasoline goes in the gas can that can be refilled.

There are lighter dual-fuel stoves for backpacking. They are probably fancier models. But I already had one of these stoves, and decided that standardization makes a lot of sense. By standardizing, you avoid having to have multiple sets of parts, and in an emergency, you can always cannibalize parts from the other stove. I also mostly use my camp stove for roadside camping, so portability is not a premium for me.

Likewise, I could have bought a two-burner stove. But the dual fuel two-burner stoves are big and bulky, and I would lose the redundancy of having two stoves and being able to cannibalize stove parts as need be.

So that’s that’s why I bought a second model of the stove that I already have.