Camping isn't nearly as much fun if you don't have the means to at least boil water and cook simple meals. A camping stove is an important piece of equipment. The most important function of a stove stand is stability. Stabilizing your stove minimizes the risk of injury or accidental fire. Campfires are often banned in wilderness areas and when the weather is hot and dry, but bans generally don't include camp stoves. Under those circumstances, a camping stove is your only source of heat for cooking. Never set up a camp stove in your tent because of the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Backpacking Stoves
Small and extremely light camping stoves that use denatured alcohol as fuel are popular with backpackers. Homemade versions use cut-down aluminum cans as the base. Set the can on level ground and stabilize within a ring of small rocks or prop tent stakes against the can. Turn a plate or wide cup from your mess kit upside down for a stove base. Commercial stoves often come with a stand or legs. Tiny pocket stoves that use fuel tablets set easily on flat rocks and tree stumps.
Small Stoves
Single-burner canister stoves attach directly to a gas canister that acts as a base for the stove. Small stoves that use liquid fuel attach to a fuel bottle with a short hose, and the stove itself has legs for stability. Once cooking vessels are set on both these stoves, stability is more uncertain. If you're backpacking, set the stove on clear, level ground or use a dish from your mess kit. A short, collapsible metal grid meant to be set over a fire for cooking can act as a table for a canister stove. If you're car camping, you can use an overturned water bucket or dish pan as a stand.
Large Stoves
A two-burner camp stove is ideal for car campers and cooking for families. The flat bottom of the stove already provides stability, so your biggest concern is a stand that will provide a comfortable height for cooking. Picnic tables are often available in established campgrounds, and camping supply stores sell collapsible tables that work well for stoves. Folding tray tables support a stove, but you may need to set up two adjacent tables for larger stoves. Or, take open-ended plastic crates, like old-fashioned milk crates, turn them on their sides and stack together to provide both a stove surface and storage space. Lash the crates together for stability. Four crates create a large cube that works well with this arrangement. If you bring a large hard-sided cooler, you can set a stove on top.
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