Traverseon Windproof Infrared Solo Camping Stove Review
My latest sponsor, Traverseon, asked me to review some of their solo camping gear. Their whole one-person camping ensemble looks fantastic and I hope this review is just the beginning of a series of gear reviews to come.
The windproof flameless infrared solo camping stove is a great middle ground between a typical backpacker’s stove and a big dual-burner grill. As an infrared propane stove it works great in high wind environments, making it a natural fit for solo car camping trips.
At first glance this stove looks like a compact single burner, but explore it a little more and you’ll find fold-out brackets for larger pots. The gas line wraps around nicely and everything packs into a 6” x 6” x 6” cube. The 6” square base is solid enough that I’d trust it on a narrow ledge or a log, which is more than I can say for the PocketRocket. The end of the gas line is an adapter for both propane canisters and cylinders. I used a canister we had lying around that I thought for sure was going to be done after the first few meals; it lasted all trip!
Elizabeth and I brought this stove along on a cabin trip up to Talkeetna, car camping, and RV’ing down the Kenai Peninsula on tour with the Anchorage Bowl Chamber Orchestra. I used it in the woods, at the beach, at a lake, at a campsite, and on a farm. The weather was generally agreeable, so I didn’t get to test it in rain; but we had plenty of wind and it held up to its “windproof” identity at Bishop’s Beach in Homer, Alaska.
Large Colemans are so worried about wind that they typically come with windwalls. I’ve seen a light breeze in a parking lot keep a Coleman from igniting. The Traverseon doesn’t have that problem; it ignites in high wind, and the heat goes up, not wherever the wind blows.
If you’ve ever used a PocketRocket you know to always bring a backup lighter because the igniter never works, especially in wind. The Traverseon lit on dozens of “first tries” regardless of conditions. My only complaint is that the igniter can swivel underneath the frame if you don’t brace it against the side foot, so get in the habit of doing that from the start.
Making hot cocoa on the beach should be a painless task; boil some water and voila. But when you’re camping with a toddler and a baby, and see the wind picking up, you start to wonder what happens if the stove doesn’t light. Maybe we shouldn’t have told the toddler about the hot cocoa yet. Thankfully it lit on the first try and was boiling before Emmalynn got bored of digging in the sand and stacking rocks! Elizabeth was busy with baby Molly and was happy I could make dinner without the frustrations and delays that often come with camp meals.
Fair warning: the first few ignitions will startle you. There’s no visible flame, just a ripple in the air as the heat rises. The elements glow red over time but the heat goes up rather than out. Don’t worry, you can feel a little heat coming off of the sides to know it’s lit too.
The stove boils water almost as fast as my Jetboil and handled sausage, broccoli, and a full pot of mac and cheese on a windy night without complaint. The heat output is steady and exactly what you want from a single burner.
Before getting this stove our household camping kit included a large two-burner Coleman and an MSR PocketRocket. The Traverseon sits perfectly between the two – a single burner that’s more robust than the PocketRocket and takes up a fraction of the space of the Coleman. I love the idea of saving car storage space, and if I didn’t have a growing family I’d save on gear storage at home too. If you don’t have any stoves yet, or if you’ve realized you only ever use a single burner anyway, the Traverseon is the one for you.
A Car Camping Packing List for Alaska
Car camping in Alaska is a different animal entirely. You’ll want your typical gear plus a few Alaska-specific items, and to stay bear aware, especially while cooking.
- One-person tent or trekking pole tent
- Self-inflating or inflatable sleeping pad
- Sleeping bag
- Camp stove and chairs
- Bear spray – keep it accessible, not buried in a bag
- Bug net – if you’re sleeping in your car, look for nets designed to go over your door so you can roll the window down and still keep the bugs out
- The Milepost – the essential resource for any Alaska road trip
- Extra water – always have more than you think you need
- Extra blankets and warm layers – even in summer, be prepared for cold weather and the possibility of breaking down somewhere remote
- Garmin InReach or another satellite communicator – if you’ll be out of cell range, don’t skip this
Always plan for a longer delay than expected, whether from a breakdown, road construction, or just the general pace of Alaska. The state has a way of adding time to every plan. Pack accordingly.
