Appreciation post: My Coleman stove almost started a fire in the White Mountains

I was boiling water at the Zealand Falls campsite last fall when the fuel line on my old Coleman Classic leaked. The whole burner area caught a small flame for a second before I smothered it. Everyone says these stoves are bulletproof, but that moment changed my whole setup. Now I only use stoves with a shut-off valve right at the canister. Has anyone else had a close call that made you switch gear completely?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_morgan82mo ago

My MSR PocketRocket has that valve. Switched after a similar scare in the Adirondacks. That direct shutoff feels way safer now.

alice_wilson732mo ago

Honestly that sounds like a maintenance issue more than a design flaw. Those old Coleman stoves are simple and you can fix almost anything on them with a cheap parts kit. @olivia_morgan8, a shut-off valve is nice but it's just another part that can fail. I've used my Classic for twenty years because I check the seals and fuel lines before every big trip. Switching your whole setup over one scare seems like an overreaction, don't you trust yourself to service your gear?

wendyc535d ago

Respectfully, I gotta push back a little here. An MSR PocketRocket is a totally different beast than a classic Coleman liquid fuel stove, and that direct shutoff valve can be a real comfort when you're tired and fumbling in the dark. You can fix a Coleman with a paperclip and some duct tape, sure, but not everybody wants to be a small engine mechanic on their vacation. That scare Olivia had probably felt pretty real, and peace of mind while you're cooking dinner is worth something. Plus, the PocketRocket is way smaller and lighter for backpacking, which is a whole different use case than car camping with a big steel tank. So I wouldn't call switching an overreaction, just a different priority.