A quick look at the Coleman 533 Stove

[556mp]

The Coleman model 533 Dual Fuel stove is an inexpensive, versatile, and indispensable tool. These stoves are sold at many chain and outdoor stores thought the US. I purchased mine for just under fifty dollars, and they can be had for much less on websites like Ebay or Amazon. Prices do vary from store to store so keep an eye out. I have seen them for as low as $30 on eBay, and as high as $75 on Amazon.

The versatility of this stove is unsurpassed for the price bracket that it is in. The model 533 will run on Coleman Fuel, or unleaded gasoline. The stove will boil a moderately sized pot of water in about four to five minutes. According to the literature supplied, the 2.1 pints of fuel that the 533 holds will burn on the highest setting for about two hours.

A stove of this size that will run on gasoline can be indispensable during an in home survival situation. During power outages this stove can be great if you have an electric stove/oven like I do. It would also be great in a situation where you ran out of propane, or there was a large snow storm etc. Though, the most use that this Coleman stove will probably get will be on overnight backpacking trips in the local mountains.

I hope that this write up was informative. If anyone has any questions, or would be interested in a short YouTube video, please let me know.

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/556mp/IMG_1002.jpg

[just a scout]

I had one of those back in Germany for years in the 80's. Burned damn near everything. Used the hell out of it, kept us warm during Reforger. Lost it shipping my Bradley back to Germany from Desert Storm. Loved that stove, even had the square cook set that worked as a case for it. Need to get another one.

[MarshallDodge]

I have a couple of the old Coleman dual burner camp stoves and they work great. These would be better for those looking for something a little more portable.

Is there anyway you could run alcohol in one?

[sadmin]

Thanks for the writeup! Damn im ready for camping season!

[556mp]

Is there anyway you could run alcohol in one?

I'm sure there is. I believe some people run a mixture of kero and alcohol in the stoves designed for kero.

I also read something about Coleman white gas fuel being Naphtha. Which I use for some automotive painting.

Sadmin: Its always camping season! :D


and..
I just realized that in my tired stupor last night, I forgot the "e" in every Coleman that I typed... oops.

[hikeeba]

The little Coleman single-burners with the integrated fuel tanks are great little stoves. They may be a little on the heavy side, but they make up for it with near bomb-proof reliability. I've had my Coleman Peak 1 Feather 442 for about 20 years now, and never once has it let me down, or given me any sort of hassle whatsoever.

The Feather 442 is very similar to 556mp's 553 above, except the 442 has smaller tank with fold out feet for stability. Here's mine in action during a head-to-head test I did with most of my camping stoves last fall:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/_hikeeba_/Gear%201/JBPotStand.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/_hikeeba_/Gear%201/JBPSBoil.jpg

Details from that session:
Stove: Coleman Peak 1 Feather 442
Fuel: Coleman white gas
Wind: light breezes
Air temp: 49°
Pot: 1 liter stainless steel with lid
Water amount: 16 oz
Boil time: 2 minutes 15 seconds


Out of the 7 stoves I tested that morning, the 442 tied my wood-burning, forced-air Sierra Zip stove for the fastest boil time.


If you live in a climate where you have this season called 'winter,' or if you experience temperatures below 40 degrees, these little Coleman stoves can be a valuable asset. The Coleman Fuel, or 'white gas,' isn't adversely effected by the cold. And as long as you can adequately pressurize the tank and have a source of ignition, you're pretty much guaranteed to have a flame. Because the stoves put out a decent amount of heat, little time is needed to boil two cups of water for say, a two-person dehydrated meal or two cups of tea/coffee/hot water. Fast boil times mean the stove can be shut down sooner than later, which promotes efficient use of fuel.

In comparison, the isobutane- and butane-propane fuel canister stoves (Jetboil for example) that are popular with the fast and light folks tend to not work as well or as efficiently as the ambient air temps fall to around and below freezing. This is because of the low boiling point for their fuel mixtures. Ambient temperatures closer to the boiling point of the canister fuel mixture means less pressure will be built up in the canister for vaporizing the fuel. To add insult to injury, as a canister stove operates, the energy given off by vaporizing the fuel mixture further cools off the canister. The result can be a canister stove that has low output to begin with, and then shuts down completely. Not so good if you could really use a hot meal or beverage to fuel a long winter hike, or charge you up for a night's rest.

I don't mean to poo-poo canister stoves. They're pretty great, and I do have several, including a Jetboil. Just know the limitations of your particular stove(s) when including it(them) in your emergency plan.

[556mp]

Hineeba - Great info and thanks for the addition.

[MarshallDodge]

This post got me thinking about a couple good uses for one of these so I found a company on ebay, tulsaemarket3, that seems to sell a lot of camping closeout/open box type items.

They had four used 533 stoves for $34.95 + $12.95 shipping. I took a chance and bought them. They arrived pretty quickly and I was able to play with them this afternoon using unleaded fuel from the pump.

#1 looked brand new and fired right up.

#2 had signs of use but it fired right up.

#3 had a loose fitting on the tube that goes to the burner. I tightened it then put fuel it. At first it did not want to light but it got going eventually. I could not get the orange flame to completely clear out to blue. Lots of soot. I am thinking that the previous owner must have put something oily in the tank and that it is burning that out.

#4 looked in great shape but was missing the fuel cap. I could get another from Coleman but I am thinking that I will just set it aside for spare part or just use the cap off #3 if I can't get the soot to go away.

I am going to put one of these in the camper to go along with our little gas grill. The other two I am going to keep in the garage in case of a power outage, etc. We have an electric range so if the power goes out we use the gas grill but these will be nice for boiling some water or general cooking.

[556mp]

Nice score man! Glad you found a good use for them. Great little stove for the money, no?

[MarshallDodge]

Nice score man! Glad you found a good use for them. Great little stove for the money, no?
Yes, good little stove.

They even work well in a strong wind. We are having 20-30 MPH winds today so I put one on the back porch to see how it would do. It lit right up, even with the wind blowing hard, and heated a cast iron skillet in no time. :cool:

[Suwannee Tim]

I used to carry this canoe camping:

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr228/allentimfrank/IMG_5982.jpg

I now reserve it for car camping and home emergency use. I take the 533 canoe camping now unless cooking for a group. Notice foods from the coffee food group, the Pringles food group and the chilli food group. Gotta eat a balanced diet. The 533 will burn the shot out of you if you are not careful how you pick it up after using it. Couple of other shots:

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr228/allentimfrank/IMG_5985.jpg

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr228/allentimfrank/IMG_6360.jpg

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr228/allentimfrank/IMG_6019.jpg

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr228/allentimfrank/Okefenokee%202009/IMG_5596.jpg

[556mp]

Very nice. That Canoe camping looks like a blast! I'll have to try that sometime!

[Suwannee Tim]

This is the season for it, at least in the South. We are planning 3 or 4 days in the Okefenokee for Veterans Day weekend, for spring break, 4 or 5 days. It makes me wistful and impatient just to post the photos. About a week in the wilderness and I'm ready for a warm bed, some climate control, a hot shower and the thing I miss the most in the wilderness, ice water. Couple of days at home and I'm ready to go again. Alas, I have this recurring problem: work.

[556mp]

I have the same problem with backpacking :) and work. After several days of backpacking I'm ready to go home. Then I get home and I'm ready to go back out in the woods.

Here is another of my favorite "camp stoves"
If you look at the top right of the picture you can see one steel tent peg in front of the log. There are three more next too it in the shape of a square. That is also one of my favorite fire stoves.

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/556mp/IMG_0960.jpg


And here is my country:

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/556mp/IMG_0959.jpg
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/556mp/IMG_1012.jpg
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/556mp/IMG_1007.jpg
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/556mp/IMG_1004.jpg
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/556mp/IMG_0957.jpg

[Von Rheydt]

Nice. Can I come visit.

I'm still trying to get to grips with Florida.

[556mp]

You don't want to visit now, Its getting cool and soon will be cold. Florida is better this time of year ;)

So Ive been backpacking every weekend for the last month.
On my latest adventure I was accompanied by two friends who did not have any stoves. So, we all used mine. I can say that while Coleman's claim to a two hour burn time may not be entirely accurate, I did however manage to boil a total of 1.5 Gallons of water over the weekend while still having some fuel left. I would estimate that the stove used 75 to 90 percent of its fuel during this outing.

A non stove related comment. I came across a backpacker who was on his was to Maine from Georgia, via the Appalachian Trail. It only took him 5 1/2 months to get to NY :D Thought that was cool.