Tembo Tusk or conventional stove?

[Chris Zawacki]

Hey all, some of you might know that I'm slowly starting out with overlanding and camping so I am building my arsenal haha. I like the Tembo Tusk skottle and the fact that its a small business. My question is, which should be my first purchase? A Tembo Tusk or a Coleman stove top grill? What have you guys found works best all around?

 

[1Louder]

1. What are you cooking?

2. For how many people?

I have a stove and grill and use the grill for meats and stove for sides. With a skottle you can do both but space is limited. I am thinking about getting a plow disk from Southwest disk to use with an existing burner I have. http://www.southwestdisk.com

Not sure if the TT can use something other than the green bottles that end up littering my desert with bullet holes in them. I hate those things.

Some people use the single burner "cooking show" butane stoves. They are cheap and work well. I use one for group events to keep food warm.

Bottomline everyone's cooking needs are different. I have friends that only cook over wood fire. For groups a Camp Chef setup with griddle works great as well.

There I did my job and added 4 more options without providing any solid advice!!!

Come camp with me and you can try every option for yourself!

There is a Coleman stove with a small grill side and single burner. Not a bad option.

Here's all the gear I have:
Primus Dual burner stove from REI. It is wider than most and can accommodate larger pans

An O-Grill - single burner cast iron grill and packs flat

A single burner butane stove with case. I think it was around $30 from Amazon. Butane also works better at higher altitudes I believe

A JetBoil

Trailer has a dual burner stove built in

I want a plow disc for group meals

PS: I don't cook. Ha ha.

 

[Billy "Poserlander" Badly]

The skottle looks super cool, but if you don't have a basic two burner camp stove (Coleman or other), I'd personally start with that. I have the Coleman w/ a single burner on the left, and the grill/griddle on the right. Very versatile. I also use a larger Camp Chef 2 burner set up with groups; it's really useful if you're cooking for more than a couple people.

 

[SLO Rob]

Hey all, some of you might know that I'm slowly starting out with overlanding and camping so I am building my arsenal haha. I like the Tembo Tusk skottle and the fact that its a small business. My question is, which should be my first purchase? A Tembo Tusk or a Coleman stove top grill? What have you guys found works best all around?

The TT Skottle setup is so that you can easily remove (really, like just slide it out) the single burner stove, set it down, and then use just that. So if you wanted to set a coffee pot or something on top of it. That's one of the reasons I love the skottle. It's replaced the two burner coleman and the need for any type of skillet or pan.

 

[Wolfy]

Skottle seems bulkier than a stove considering you still need pots. But it has it's own table essentially. I'd like to try one.

 

[Billy "Poserlander" Badly]

The TT Skottle setup is so that you can easily remove (really, like just slide it out) the single burner stove, set it down, and then use just that. So if you wanted to set a coffee pot or something on top of it. That's one of the reasons I love the skottle. It's replaced the two burner coleman and the need for any type of skillet or pan.

If I'm in my rig, I want at least two burners available, but maybe that's just me- I love cooking (it's probably my 4th favorite camping activity). I guess you could bring a Jet Boil or something to have a second option...

 

[SLO Rob]

Skottle seems bulkier than a stove considering you still need pots. But it has it's own table essentially. I'd like to try one.

I think it depends. It eliminated our skillets/frying/pots/pans. We still have a dutch oven for that kind of thing, but don't use it often at all. We slide the single burner stove out from under it and into its own stand (this is the coleman single) to boil water for coffee. As far as bulk, one bag have the legs in it, so that easily fits into spaces between. The bag that holds the actual skottle is fairly flat, and takes up just about the same space as the coleman 2 burner, BUT, it's too wide to fit into my plano case. To me, it's less bulky because I'm no longer bringing a pan or skillet. Also, we have left ours outside our house next to the grill. It's pretty cool. I hope you get a chance to try one.

 

[Chris Zawacki]

Well Id only be cooking for two, including me.

So far it seems I could go either way. I like the idea of the skottle because its basically a frying pan with legs so that eliminates the need for a few pans.

 

[MOAK]

I've had two Coleman dual fuel stoves my entire life. The first one lasted over 30 years and I bought it used at a garage sale. 4 years ago we bought a new dual fuel and we burn gasoline ( non-ethanol ) in it. The Coleman fits perfectly in our kitchen. If we want to grill, or slow cook in our dutch oven we use our Volcano grill. I've seen the tembo tusk, it looks like a good idea, but, I'm stubborn and old, so I usually stick with tried and true. We do carry propane with us, but it is a dedicated tank used only for our tent heater.

 

[benchoochoo]

Conventional stove from Craigslist is a good way to go for that recession special. Could get away paying 40 bucks for a dual burner. And I can refill the green bottles with an adapter I bought. I'll add a link if you want me too.

 

[Billy "Poserlander" Badly]

Conventional stove from Craigslist is a good way to go for that recession special. Could get away paying 40 bucks for a dual burner. And I can refill the green bottles with an adapter I bought. I'll add a link if you want me too.

You can refill the disposables? That'd be awesome- I hate wasting those...

 

[Lassen]

You can refill the disposables? That'd be awesome- I hate wasting those...

I'll be darned:
And here's a YT video on it:
In checking this out, I came across several articles, all highly stressing the dangers of doing this. If you do this, be safe about it!

 

[Billy "Poserlander" Badly]

I'll be darned:
And here's a YT video on it:
In checking this out, I came across several articles, all highly stressing the dangers of doing this. If you do this, be safe about it!

Yeah, I did some research after posting my question, and discovered the same thing. As much as I hate tossing the canisters, I think I'll probably skip trying to refill them.

 

[RaggedViking]

Yeah, I did some research after posting my question, and discovered the same thing. As much as I hate tossing the canisters, I think I'll probably skip trying to refill them.

A lot of campsites around the country offer recycling for these canisters. Each canister is different - some you can puncture with the right tool and recycle yourself - others should be done by professionals.
I wouldn't advise refilling these bottles on your own.

 

[BlkWgn]

I am a huge fan of the skottle and have been using it almost exclusively for a year. I still carry a small 1 burner butane stove for the occasional side dish like mac and cheese or the coffee percolator but pretty much everything is on the skottle. I have a full review of it on my blog here https://familyoffthemap.com/2016/06/01/review-tembo-tusk-skottle/

 

[Billy "Poserlander" Badly]

A lot of campsites around the country offer recycling for these canisters. Each canister is different - some you can puncture with the right tool and recycle yourself - others should be done by professionals.
I wouldn't advise refilling these bottles on your own.

I have had a helluva a time finding a place that'll recycle them, personally (talking about the 1lb cylinders, not the backpacking stove version). I'm going to investigate this option for future trips:
http://www.kampspropane.com/products/little-kamper-refillable-propane-cylinders-for-camping-and-tailgating/

 

[pwhumberto]

My two cents... I have used Coleman and Camp Chef stoves and both of them are great. Since I purchased the Tembo Tusk Skottle I have not use my other stoves at all. It really comes down to the type of meals you prepare, how many people you are cooking for, how your rig is set up and what kind of space you have in it.
I do not carry pots or pans any more (less is better), I know a lot of people do not like the canisters but they are very practical and you can purchase them anywhere. With the Skottle you can use canisters or you can use a large propane tank if you prefer (again how much room you have in your rig to carry a big tank of gas)
Hope this helps and adventure on....

 

[RaggedViking]

I have had a helluva a time finding a place that'll recycle them, personally (talking about the 1lb cylinders, not the backpacking stove version). I'm going to investigate this option for future trips:
http://www.kampspropane.com/products/little-kamper-refillable-propane-cylinders-for-camping-and-tailgating/

Technically, and I don't like doing this, you can put those Coleman canisters in the trash - but........

 

[Lassen]

Technically, and I don't like doing this, you can put those Coleman canisters in the trash - but........

Yep, I remember one time asking what to do with it and was told to just put in garbage. I couldn't believe it. Nowadays, though, I don't use them.

 

[RaggedViking]

JetBoil came out with a can cracker a few years back so you could recycle small cans from them, Primus, MSR, Snowpeak, etc.
But I think the issue with the bigger 1 pounders is that they have thicker walls and it would be a nightmare to try and use a can cracker on them (if even possible).
So in the few places I have recycled these cans - I wonder what REALLY happened to them???

Here's a tried and unsuccessful program from Coleman from 2009:
http://www.srmtenv.org/web_docs/swm/Green-Key.pdf