Originally Posted By: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor
Quote:

In a blizzard you won’t have access to the grill, so pick up a propane camping stove (Optimus Crux Lite, $40). In a ventilated room, use it to boil water for some of the surprisingly tasty mix-and-serve meals campers live on (like AlpineAire Mountain Chili for two, $8).


This is some pretty poor advice, . . .

For emergency home use the kit can be somewhat more substantial and for winter backup a double gas burner, a portable heater and a LPG portable Lantern based on domestic 15Kg LPG bottles make much more sense.


+1 The recommended stove is not what you want for this scenario. I'd recommend something like the Coleman two burner propane stove.
http://www.rei.com/product/723280/coleman-2-burner-stove
It runs off standard propane bottles and the two burners get you almost the same functionality as a normal stove. I hope it goes without saying that it is unnecessary if you already have a gas stove (although for the NYT readers, it may have been a good thing to point out).

I also agree that the recommendation for camping/backpacking food is silly. You can cook almost everything you need on the propane stove.
_________________________
"Better is the enemy of good enough."