Fancy camp stove underperformed, my old $15 burner won the weekend

Last month I took a $210 multi-fuel stove up to Red River Gorge because all the reviews raved about it. It sputtered in 40 degree weather and the simmer control was a joke, basically on or off with nothing in between. I brought my dingy single burner butane stove as a backup, the kind with the screw-on canister. That thing boiled water in 4 minutes flat and held a steady low flame for coffee the whole trip. I spent two years thinking expensive gear meant better results, but this flipped it. My buddy's $80 stove did fine, but mine was faster and lighter for less than a quarter of the price. Has anyone else found that budget gear beats the premium stuff once you actually use it hard?

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1 Comment

iris_jones891mo ago

I actually watched a video from a gear repair guy last winter who said most expensive camping stoves are just rebranded generic parts with a fancy paint job. He tore down a $200 one and the jet assembly was identical to a $20 Chinese stove. That stuck with me because I had a similar thing happen with my old coleman, it leaked a little after ten years and I almost bought a high end replacement, but a buddy just swapped the o-ring for a dollar and it ran perfect again. Your butane burner story checks out though, those little screw-on canisters are dead simple and that's why they work. Sometimes the fancy stuff just adds more stuff to go wrong, especially with regulators and fold-out windscreens. The only premium thing I'll shell out for now is a decent frying pan, because cheap ones warp.