The History of the Camping Stove
The next time you fire up your 2 oz. titanium butane stove before you enjoy (or tolerate) some freeze-dried delights, you might want to give a quiet nod to Alexis Soyer: chef, humanitarian, and inventor of the first portable stove.
His pioneering Magic Stove paved the way for early camping stoves like the original Primus and started the evolution that eventually lead to the back country cooking convenience we enjoy today. It's astonishing to think that in the nineteenth century Soyer could have even envisioned the concept of a multi-fuel portable stove when the convention of the day was to literally pack up entire kitchens and reassemble them in the countryside for the Victorian version of "roughing it". If you want to get a good perspective on how far we've come with backpacking stoves, read the full article here.
His pioneering Magic Stove paved the way for early camping stoves like the original Primus and started the evolution that eventually lead to the back country cooking convenience we enjoy today. It's astonishing to think that in the nineteenth century Soyer could have even envisioned the concept of a multi-fuel portable stove when the convention of the day was to literally pack up entire kitchens and reassemble them in the countryside for the Victorian version of "roughing it". If you want to get a good perspective on how far we've come with backpacking stoves, read the full article here.
The History of the Camping Stove
Reviewed by Jason Klass
on
June 29, 2010
Rating:
Reviewed by Jason Klass
on
June 29, 2010
Rating:
11 comments
Fascinating article, thanks for posting this Jason.
Wow, thank you dude! Wouldn't the cowboys have loved to have this instead of taking a whole "chuck wagon.
Very interesting! I would have never guessed that backcountry stoves originated from that long ago. Thank you Alexis Soyer for making it so that I can now have a stove that fits in my hand for backpacking!
Sure thing guys! I found it interesting that the initial drive was to produce a more portable stove for the Victorian elite, but then it turned into something to work in soup kitchens. Interesting juxtaposition.
If you ever find yourself up in Boulder (not far for Jason) then I would suggest stopping by Neptune Mountaineering. Its a gear store, but its also a "mountaineering museum" and in the stove section they have a lot of really old stoves that people have used over the past few decades. its amazing to see what people used to drag around, and amazingly most are much larger than the one in the article here.
If you ever find yourself up in Boulder (not far for Jason) then I would suggest stopping by Neptune Mountaineering. Its a gear store, but its also a "mountaineering museum" and in the stove section they have a lot of really old stoves that people have used over the past few decades. its amazing to see what people used to drag around, and amazingly most are much larger than the one in the article here.
Matt,
How is it I've never heard of that place? Well, I know where I'm going this weekend. Thanks for the tip!
This is the first article I have seen about this subject. Thanks for the in depth analysis.
Nice. That's quite a write-up. It looks like your having a great time sharing to people wonderful information. Keep up the good work. I love all your articles.
Thanks Jason. Great post on camping stove history.
Hey,
Getting a camping stove is not easy, that too with very less big companies, as we can't find the best camping stoves.
But I have not only purchased one of the best camping stoves but also helping peopel do so on my website and you have also written a good post on this.
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