Coleman Triton 2-Burner Propane Camping Stove — 22,000 BTU, Wind Guards

Coleman Triton 2-Burner — Twenty-Two Thousand BTU and No Way to Light It

Camp cooking fails in two places: wind and simmer. Wind strips heat off the bottom of a pan faster than a small burner can replace it, which is why a stove that boils water in four minutes in a kitchen takes fifteen at a lakeside pitch. Simmer matters because everything other than boiling water — eggs, sauce, anything with dairy in it — needs a low flame that stays lit, and cheap camp stoves have exactly two settings.

The Triton is Coleman answer to both, and Coleman has been making camp stoves since 1923, which is worth noting in a category where most listings come from names invented last quarter. Two independently controlled burners produce 22,000 BTU between them, folding steel panels shield three sides, and the whole thing closes into a case the size of a briefcase. It is also the model that omits the one feature its own sibling has.

Quick verdict: the Coleman Triton camping stove scores 8.2/10 in this SoftPickr review. It cooks better in wind than anything else at this price, and you will need to carry a lighter for it every single time.

Key Specifications

The Wind Guards Are the Reason to Buy This Stove

Three steel panels fold up from the body — two sides and the raised lid at the rear — enclosing the burners on three of four sides. That sounds obvious and it is the single largest performance difference between a Coleman and a generic two-burner. Wind does not reduce a burner output; it carries the heat away from the pan before it arrives, and a stove without shielding can lose most of its useful output in a moderate breeze.

In practice this means the stove behaves at a windy campsite roughly the way an unshielded stove behaves in still air. Boil times stay predictable, a simmer stays lit rather than blowing out, and you stop building improvised windbreaks out of coolers and camp chairs. The panels fold flat into the case and add nothing to the pack size.

Two Independent Burners and Actual Simmer Control

Each burner has its own valve, so one can run at full output under a kettle while the other holds a low flame under a pan of sauce. That sounds like the minimum specification and a surprising number of budget stoves either share one regulator between both burners or provide a valve with three usable positions.

The low end is where this stove earns its reputation. It will hold a genuine simmer — a flame low enough to keep a sauce moving without catching, stable enough not to blow out under the wind guards. That is the difference between a stove you cook on and a stove you boil on, and it is a large part of why Coleman still owns this category despite competitors matching the headline BTU figure for half the money.

Propane Cylinders, Adapters and Fuel Logistics

It runs on the standard 16.4 oz disposable propane cylinder available at every outdoor retailer and most supermarkets, which is the correct fuel choice for car camping. One cylinder gives roughly an hour of combined high-output cooking, or considerably more at simmer, so a weekend for two typically needs one cylinder with a spare in reserve.

A hose adapter lets it run from a 20 lb refillable tank instead, which is dramatically cheaper per meal and worth doing for anything longer than a weekend or for a stove that lives at a fixed pitch. The adapter is not included and there is a real safety caveat: adapters must include a regulator, and running an unregulated line into a stove designed for a regulated cylinder is genuinely dangerous.

Portability and What Fits on Top

At 5 lb and roughly the footprint of a briefcase when closed, this is a car camping stove rather than a backpacking one. It packs flat, latches shut, and carries by a handle. The cooking surface takes one 12-inch and one 10-inch pan at the same time, which is enough for a main and a side but not enough for two large pans.

The stated open height of 24.8 inches is the lid standing vertically as a rear windbreak, not the height of the cooking surface, which sits a few inches above the table. Plan for a sturdy picnic table or a proper camp kitchen stand; the base is stable but it is not designed to sit on uneven ground with a full pan of boiling water on it.

Limitations and Compromises

There is no ignition system. Every single time you cook, on every burner, you need a match or a lighter — in wind, in rain, in the dark, with cold hands. Coleman own Triton+ model, sixteen dollars more, has InstaStart piezo ignition and is otherwise the same stove. That is a genuinely poor decision to have to make at the point of purchase, and it is the main reason this product does not earn a badge from us despite performing well.

The listed Included Components read “Stove, Grill/Griddle Plate”, which does not match what the base Triton actually ships with. A griddle plate is a separate accessory in Coleman range. This is the kind of listing error that produces disappointed buyers, and it is worth checking the pack contents on arrival rather than assuming a griddle is in the box.

The wind guards protect three sides and leave the front open, which is necessary to reach the controls and is where the remaining wind gets in. On a genuinely exposed pitch you will still want to orient the stove with its open face downwind. The panels are also thin steel that will bend if the closed case is dropped or packed under heavy gear, and once bent they no longer sit flush.

Cleaning, Cylinder Safety and Off-Season Storage

Clean the burner ports rather than the body. Boil-over residue bakes onto the burner heads and blocks individual ports, which shows up as an uneven ring of flame and a burner that will not simmer evenly. A soft brass brush and a pin clear them in a couple of minutes. Wipe the cooking area while it is warm, before spills carbonise, and never hose the stove down — water in the venturi tubes causes corrosion you cannot see.

Always disconnect the propane cylinder before packing the stove away, even for a short drive, and store cylinders upright outdoors or in a ventilated shed rather than in a car boot or a house. At the end of the season, remove the cylinder, check the rubber seal on the regulator connection for cracking, and store the stove closed and dry. A perished seal is the most common cause of a stove that hisses or will not hold pressure the following spring.

Who Should Buy It?

• Car campers and tailgaters who cook properly rather than just boiling water.
• Anyone who has fought wind at a campsite and lost — the guards are the whole point.
• Cooks who need a genuine simmer for sauces, eggs and anything with dairy in it.
• Buyers who want a three-year warranty from a company that has made these since 1923.
• People who want a stove that packs flat and latches shut into a briefcase-sized case.

Look elsewhere if you want push-button lighting, in which case the Triton+ is the same stove with piezo ignition for a small premium and is the obvious buy. If you are backpacking, 5 lb and a briefcase footprint rule this out entirely — a canister stove weighs ounces. And if you genuinely only boil water for coffee and dehydrated meals, a single-burner unit at a third of the price will do everything you need.

SoftPickr Verdict

The Coleman Triton camping stove earns 8.2/10. It is a well-built stove that solves the two problems that actually ruin camp cooking, wind and simmer, and it does both better than anything else near the price. Coleman has had a century to work out the geometry of a two-burner and it shows in every part of how this thing behaves.

The compromise is that Coleman sells the same stove with an igniter for sixteen dollars more, and choosing this one means committing to finding a lighter in the wind and the dark for the life of the product. That is not a design limitation so much as a product-line decision, and it is enough to keep this from being the obvious buy that a badge would signal. It is a very good stove that is not quite the right version of itself.

Price and availability change frequently on Amazon, and prices shown here may be out of date — check the current listing before ordering.

Coleman Triton camping stove — Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Coleman Triton camping stove have an igniter?

No. The base Triton has no ignition system and requires a match or lighter every time, on both burners. The Triton+, roughly sixteen dollars more, adds Coleman InstaStart piezo ignition and is otherwise the same stove. If push-button lighting matters to you, buy the Triton+ instead.

How long does one propane cylinder last?

A 16.4 oz disposable cylinder gives roughly an hour of combined high-output cooking on both burners, and considerably longer at simmer. A weekend for two typically uses one cylinder with a spare in reserve. A hose adapter to a 20 lb refillable tank is far cheaper per meal for longer trips.

How well does it work in wind?

Better than almost anything at this price. Folding steel panels shield the burners on three sides, so boil times stay predictable and a low flame stays lit in conditions that would defeat an unshielded stove. The front is necessarily open for access, so orient that face downwind on an exposed pitch.

What size pans fit on it?

One 12-inch and one 10-inch pan simultaneously. That covers a main and a side comfortably but will not take two large pans at once. The stove is designed to sit on a picnic table or camp kitchen stand rather than on uneven ground.

Ready to buy? You can check the current price of the Coleman Triton camping stove on Amazon — the listing shows live pricing and current stock, both of which move around more than the specification does. SoftPickr earns a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Related Reviews

If the Coleman Triton camping stove is not quite the right fit, these SoftPickr reviews cover the closest alternatives we have tested:

• Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0 — the fire that goes with the camp kitchen
• Blomoba Folding Wagon Cart — hauling the kit from the car to the pitch
• Alpha Grillers Instant Read Thermometer — cooking meat safely outdoors