A backpacking stove has one job that a car-camping stove does not: it has to earn its weight on your back. That rules out the two-burner propane boxes and leaves three kinds of stove. Canister stoves screw onto a small isobutane cylinder, light with a click and boil water fast; they are what most hikers carry, and the best-value ones come bundled with nesting pots. Wood-burning stoves burn twigs you find, so there is no fuel to carry, at the cost of soot and a longer boil. Solid-fuel stoves burn hexamine tablets in a folding tin and weigh almost nothing, which makes them the emergency and ultralight choice. We ranked the backpacking stoves in our sports and outdoors catalog by fuel type and what it means on a trip, stated weight and packed size, what is included with the burner, ignition and wind protection, and what thousands of owners report after seasons on the trail.
We have not boiled water on every one of these ourselves; the verdicts rest on the published specs and the owner review history. Prices are not printed because they change daily; every button opens the live Amazon page. For car camping and group cooking, see our camping stoves guide, which covers the larger propane and butane burners this page leaves out. The pack these ride in is covered in our travel backpacks for carry-on guide.
How we picked
- Owner history. Every pick has hundreds to thousands of owner reviews with strong feedback; the top cook set has thousands.
- Backpack-sized only. Each pick packs small enough for a daypack; tabletop butane and two-burner propane stoves are in our camping stoves guide instead.
- Fuel honesty. We state what each stove burns and what that means for weight, cost and cold weather.
- What is in the bag. Two picks include pots, cups and cutlery, which changes the value a great deal for a first kit.
- No hands-on claims. We summarize spec sheets and owner review history, not our own boil tests.
The picks
Odoland Camping Cookware Stove Set with 1.2L/0.6L Pots and Protable Stove
For a first backpacking kit, or a second one for a partner, the Odoland set answers the question of what else you need to buy: almost nothing but a fuel canister. The nine pieces are a folding mini canister stove, 1.2-liter and 0.6-liter anodized aluminum non-stick pots with folding anti-slip handles, a spoon, fork and knife, a 16-ounce stainless cup with a silicone heat sleeve, and two carry bags, and the lot nests into one mesh bag with room for a small canister. Anodized aluminum conducts heat quickly, so the small pot boils a cup of water in a few minutes on the little burner. Owner feedback is excellent across thousands of reviews, the best on this page. The honest limits are the ones that come with any mini stove: the burner head is narrow, so the 1.2-liter pot full of water wants a flat spot and a steady hand, and there is no windscreen, so in a breeze you cook behind a rock or carry a foil screen.
- Complete nine-piece kit for one purchase, with the top owner rating here
- Anodized aluminum pots heat fast and weigh little
- Stove and handles fold; the whole set nests into one bag
- 16 oz steel cup with a silicone sleeve for coffee
- Fuel canister not included and sold separately
- Mini stove has a small burner head; big pots can be unstable
- No wind protection; shelter it or carry a screen
Coghlan's Emergency Stove - Lightweight, Portable Camping Stove for Backpacking, Survival, and Outdoor Cooking - Foldable Design with 24 Fuel Tablets Included (Compact for Travel and Storage)
The Coghlan’s Emergency Stove is the stove you buy twice: once for the pack lid and once for the car. It is a folding steel box the size of a deck of cards that stores 24 solid fuel tablets inside, and it needs no liquids, priming, wick or pressure, which means it still lights after years in a glovebox and can be carried where a gas canister cannot. Set the tin on the ground, open it into a pot stand, light a tablet and boil water for a drink or a dehydrated meal. Owner feedback is strong across thousands of reviews, and the common theme is that it does exactly what it says for very little money. It is not a stove for cooking: a tablet boils a cup of water slowly, cannot be turned down to simmer, blackens the pot and smells, and the open flame suffers in wind. As an ultralight backup, a survival kit item or a stove for a solo overnight where you only boil, it is hard to beat.
- Weighs almost nothing and stores its own fuel inside
- Nothing to pressurize, prime or spill; works after years in a glovebox
- Twenty-four tablets included, enough for many boils
- Least expensive stove on the page
- Slow to boil and hard to simmer compared with gas
- Tablets leave residue on pots and have a chemical smell
- Open flame with no wind protection
Odoland Camping Cookware Mess Kit, Lightweight Pot Stove Spork Set
The Odoland Mess Kit is the stripped-down sibling of the set at rank one, for a hiker who eats from the pot and does not need a second cup. It packs a folding mini canister stove, two anodized aluminum non-stick pots with folding handles, a spork, a cleaning cloth and a carry bag, and the listing makes the point that the pieces nest with space left for the gas canister, so the whole kitchen is one tidy cylinder in the pack. Anodized aluminum keeps the weight down and spreads heat, and the stove folds to pocket size. Owner feedback is strong across thousands of reviews, a touch below the larger set. What you give up is the 16-ounce cup, the silicone sleeve and the spoon, fork and knife, and you inherit the same two cautions: the small burner head is best with the smaller pot, and there is no windscreen. For a solo backpacker who wants a canister stove and pots in one purchase, this is the lighter, cheaper route.
- Six-piece kit that packs smaller and lighter than the nine-piece set
- Space inside for the gas canister so nothing rattles
- Anodized pots are light and heat evenly
- Includes a spork and cleaning cloth
- No cup or cutlery beyond the spork
- Same narrow burner and no windscreen as the larger set
- Canister sold separately
REDCAMP Wood Burning Folding Camp Stove Stainless Steel Grid, Portable Collapsible Backpacking Stove Survival Rocket Stove for Hiking Outdoor Tent Camping Picnic BBQ, Small
A wood stove turns the forest floor into the fuel supply, and the REDCAMP is the folding stainless version thousands of owners have taken hiking and picnicking. It opens to 8.3 by 5.9 by 5.5 inches, a rectangular box with a stainless steel grid backing plate that gives a pot a stable platform, and folds flat to an inch and a half for the pack. Feed it twigs, pine cones and leaves through the side and it burns hot enough to boil and grill; it also takes solid fuel tablets when the wood is wet. Owner feedback is strong across thousands of reviews. The drawbacks are real. At 1.9 pounds it is the heaviest stove on this page, so it suits short trips more than long ones; pots come off black with soot; wet weather makes finding fuel a chore; and in a fire ban a wood stove is as prohibited as a campfire. REDCAMP also notes a protective film on the steel that must be peeled off before the first burn.
- No fuel to buy or carry; burns what you find
- Folds flat to an inch and a half
- Stable cuboid shape with a grid plate for pots
- Doubles as a small grill for a picnic
- Heaviest stove here at nearly two pounds
- Soot on pots and the need for dry wood; useless in a fire ban
- Listing notes a protective film to peel before first use
Odoland 3500W/6800W Windproof Camp Stove Camping Gas Stove with Fuel Canister Adapter, Piezo Ignition, Carry Case, Portable Collapsible Stove Burner for Outdoor Backpacking Hiking and Picnic
The Odoland Windproof fixes the one problem the two cook sets above share: wind. Its burner sits inside a built-in windshield, so a gust that would blow a mini stove out just slows this one down, and the maker rates it at up to 6,800 watts with roughly a two-minute boil for a liter in good conditions. Piezo ignition lights it with a push, a flame controller takes it down to a simmer, and the box includes an adapter so it runs from both screw-thread isobutane canisters and other gas tanks, plus a carry case for the folded stove. Owner feedback is strong, though with hundreds of reviews it has the smallest base here. It is heavier and bulkier than a bare mini stove, which is the price of the shield, and it comes without pots, so pair it with the pots from one of the sets or your own. For exposed ridges, beaches and shoulder-season trips, it is the canister stove to carry.
- Built-in windshield keeps the flame working in a breeze
- Piezo ignition, no lighter needed
- Powerful burner boils a liter quickly
- Adapter fits more than one canister type
- Fewest reviews on the page
- Heavier and bulkier than a bare mini stove
- No pots included
Compare the picks
| Product | Fuel | Included | Wind protection | Weight class | Our score | Our score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odoland Cookware Stove SetOdoland | Isobutane canister | Stove, 2 pots, cup, cutlery | None | Light kit | 9.2/10 | 9.2 | See price |
| Coghlan Emergency StoveCoghlan's | Solid fuel tablets | Stove plus 24 tablets | None | Ultralight | 9.0/10 | 9.0 | See price |
| Odoland Mess KitOdoland | Isobutane canister | Stove, 2 pots, spork | None | Light kit | 9.0/10 | 9.0 | See price |
| REDCAMP Wood Burning StoveREDCAMP | Twigs or tablets | Stove and bag | Enclosed box | 1.9 lb | 9.0/10 | 9.0 | See price |
| Odoland Windproof StoveOdoland | Isobutane canister, adapter | Stove, adapter, case | Built-in shield | Medium | 9.0/10 | 9.0 | See price |
Canister, wood or solid fuel?
Canister stoves are the default for a reason: they light instantly, simmer, boil fast and leave the pot clean, and a small isobutane cylinder lasts a weekend of boiling. Their drawbacks are a canister to buy and carry out, poor performance below freezing as the gas pressure drops, and a flame that wind blows around, which the Odoland Windproof addresses. Wood stoves such as the REDCAMP carry no fuel and cost nothing to run, and there is a pleasure in cooking over found twigs, but they are heavy, slow to start, sooty and illegal under a fire ban, and they need dry wood. Solid-fuel stoves such as the Coghlan’s are the lightest and simplest of all, with nothing to pressurize or spill, and are the right choice for an emergency kit or a one-night ultralight trip where you only boil water; they are slow, smelly and cannot simmer.
What a cook set adds
A stove alone boils nothing. The two Odoland sets bundle anodized aluminum pots that heat quickly and weigh little, with folding handles so they nest, and the larger set adds a steel cup with a silicone sleeve and a spoon, fork and knife, which for a first kit means one purchase and one bag. Anodized aluminum is a fair choice for backpacking: lighter than steel, tougher than bare aluminum, and non-stick enough to clean with the included cloth. If you buy the Windproof, the REDCAMP or the Coghlan’s alone, budget for a pot; a 0.6- to 1-liter pot with a lid suits one person, and the pots from either Odoland set fit any of the stoves here.
Safety and fuel notes
Every stove on this page is for outdoor use only; never cook in a tent or a closed vestibule, where carbon monoxide builds faster than you notice. Canister stoves need a level spot and a canister that is screwed in straight; check for a hiss before lighting, keep the canister cool and never put a windscreen fully around a stove that sits on top of its canister, since trapped heat can overheat the fuel. Wood stoves need a bare patch of ground, a few feet of clearance and water to kill the embers, and they are off the table during fire restrictions. Solid fuel tablets should be lit with a lighter rather than a match held close, and stored in their foil so they do not absorb moisture. Pack out every spent canister and tablet wrapper.
What is the best stove for a beginner backpacker?
The Odoland Camping Cookware Stove Set. It bundles a folding canister stove with two pots, a cup and cutlery that nest into one bag, has the best owner rating on this page, and needs only a fuel canister to be ready for a trip.
Which fuel canister do these stoves use?
The Odoland stoves screw onto standard threaded isobutane canisters of the kind sold for backpacking; the Windproof model also includes an adapter for other gas tanks. Canisters are sold separately in every case. The Coghlan stove burns solid fuel tablets and the REDCAMP burns twigs or tablets.
Can I use a wood-burning stove during a fire ban?
Usually not. Most fire restrictions treat a twig stove as an open fire and prohibit it, while canister stoves with a shut-off valve are often still allowed. Check the rules for the area before you go and carry a canister or solid-fuel stove as a backup.
How long does a solid fuel tablet burn?
The Coghlan stove ships with 24 tablets, and one tablet is typically enough to bring a cup or two of water to a boil in calm conditions. Tablets are slow and cannot be turned down, so they suit boiling for drinks and dehydrated meals rather than cooking.
Do I need a windscreen for a canister stove?
In any real breeze, yes; a mini stove loses much of its heat to wind. The Odoland Windproof has a shield built in. For the cook-set stoves, cook behind a rock or pack a foil screen, but never wrap a screen fully around a stove that sits on its canister, since trapped heat can overheat the fuel.
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