-- which one to buy and which to avoid? If it is in decent shape and complete, and under $20-30 (prices seem to be going up), you can't go wrong with either size. We used a 425 car-camping when I was a kid and I have a few of those stashed away, but the 413 is the one I now use on a regular basis out back in the summer. It handles larger pots and fry pans better than the 425. The 426 is great but it is a lot to haul around, and they are harder to find cheap.
I got a 425 for Christmas in 1962 when I was 12. It was my first stove. I still have it. It has a burn mark on the inside of the case from a too big pot with too high a flame. That stove has been all over the Northeast and eastern Canada. I guess my stove obsessions date back to then. Steve
I agree on the 413 series till I got a 426 3 burner, never thought I would need 3 burners, WRONG its my #1 standing camp stove Jan
I echo Jan. Until I got a 426 3 burner, I was all about the 413s. There's just more real estate to cook on top of the beast and then, there's some room inside to store a few utensils, a little fuel, and other stuff. It is definitely a suitcase for cooking! My usual scenario is making hot water on the middle burner for drinking purposes, then the other two burners for bacon and eggs, or simmering some other delicious dinner time goodie, or parking an oven over the burner. Sam
I really recommend the 3-burner 426 as well. I can have two frying pans/pot combos and a coffee pot on it at the same time. There is also enough room inside to store extra fuel and/or a lantern. It is my "Go To" stove for family camping. I have the two other sizes as well, but I came across newer ones, the multi-fuel varieties of the 413 and 425, the 414 and 424. I have given away many stoves I have found and got working after a little paint and some cleaning. I only had to replace the leather pump piece in one. The others worked after soaking them overnight in some vegetable oil. I found the 426D in serviceable condition, but it needed cleaning and some paint. The 414 and 424 were in new condition. They just needed cleaning. The others I have worked on were mostly from the 70s and 80s. I have found new homes for them. I really don't need the 414 and 424 but will hold onto at least the 414. I might keep an older 50s or earlier stove if one came into my possession. Lastly, although they can be a little fiddly, it is worth getting the Stansport? propane adapter to work with the stoves, as that gives a lot of versatility. I use it with my 426D and a 10 lb? (refillable) propane tank and the additional hose connector needed to hook it up when I go camping. I like being able to refill it and not worrying about all those 1 lb. propane canisters. I imagine the old gas stoves would work with unleaded gasoline in a pinch as well. I think it would muck things up too badly to really commit to that fuel and the whole thing might need to be taken apart more often and cleaned (which isn't too bad) and with the corn and other additives and the initial exhaust smell, I don't recommend it, but the stoves are really versatile being able to use Coleman (white gas) fuel, propane, gasoline, and I would think kerosene would work, too, if it was primed. The pressurized white gas works better than the propane in colder temps. I wouldn't think of buying one of the new, poorer made stoves and would rather find an older, USA-made (Wichita Kansas) stove. You could easily find all three sizes for the price of a newer, poorly-made stove.
Welcome to CCS. My family campouts when I was a kid were with the 426. One of my brothers still has it. Mostly I used a 413 when my own kids were growing up.
Hard to beat a Coleman Canada 4M. Generous tank size and a fat generator. Lots of good memories in the hiss of those burners! Plus you can usually pick them up cheap (in Canada at least). Tim
Thank you for the welcome! I didn't have memories with my Dad taking us camping, but I'm making them. And, I love the fact that I believe my Coleman 426D is the same age as I am.
>>Of all the old coleman white gas 2 burner stoves, which one do i want to buy All of them. >>aand which one do i want to stay away frrom ? None of them.
