Car Camping
For car camping, when you drive your car to a campsite and pitch a tent, a two-burner propane stove is ideal. With a two-burner stove, you can heat water on one burner while you cook food on another. Coleman makes a great two-burner stove, the PerfectFlow InstaStart. The Brunton Gannett is another good two-burner stove with excellent simmer control.
Cartridge Stoves
Cartridge stoves are compact and light. Pre-filled fuel canisters attach to the stove, then you simply turn on the fuel line and light it. The downside to cartridge stoves is that you have to carry the used cartridges out with you in your backpack, and that takes up additional space and weight.
If all you need to do is boil water, it's pretty hard to beat the Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS) with its built in Piezo igniter for quickly lighting the stove. Jetboil makes an accessory kit that can convert the PCS into a more traditional cookstove. Jetboil also makes the Helios integrated cook system to meet group cooking needs.
Liquid fuel
Liquid fuel stoves are multi-fuel stoves. In the United States, backpackers and mountaineers traditionally use white gas (Coleman fuel) in these stoves. Overseas, they can use other fuels, usually kerosene, though these stoves even burn auto and diesel fuel. When it comes to liquid fuel stoves, MSR has the best selection and best product. Their XGK EX has been in production for over 35 years and been the trusted stove of many a Himalayan climber. Other good MSR stoves include the Dragonfly and the Whisperlite International.
