By now, odds are good we don’t have to convince you of the virtues of car camping. We’ve been evangelizing it for years, preaching the virtues of everything from camper vans and off-road travel trailers to rooftop tents and pop-out boxes that convert SUVs into de facto residences. Car camping, simply put, lets you bring more of the comforts of home into the wild. The clearest example of that is sleeping quarters — a real bed in lieu of a sleeping bag. But the second-most important piece of car camping gear? A stove.
After all, as anyone who’s watched Alone on the History Channel can testify to, you can’t always depend on being able to start a raging fire in the great outdoors. Even if you can make a blaze, cooking on it is a matter of guesswork more than science. A propane-powered stove, on the other hand, gives you a dedicated, controlled cooking surface for making whatever foods you can bring, forage, catch or hunt.
The Camp Chef Everest 2X is an excellent example of the breed, the sort endorsed by none other than our own permanent overlander and Toyota Tacoma resident Andy Cochrane. In stowed mode, it’s just four inches tall, 13.5 inches deep and 23.5 inches wide, enabling it to be tucked into all sorts of vehicular crannies. Deployed, it offers twin 20,000-BTU burners with separate heat controls and matchless ignition, as well as three-sided wind blockers to keep nature from messing up your soup. There’s even a stainless steel drip tray to catch any spills.
Best of all, this handy stove can be yours for a bargain price right now. Normally, the Camp Chef Everest will run you $150, but right now, you can score it on REI for just $98 — a 25 percent savings. Snag it now, and you’ll soon be savoring the sweet tastes of freedom and fresh-cooked food all summer long, whether you’re overlanding across America or just camping out of your car within sight of the city lights.
Pictured above: Camp Chef Everest stove
