Wasted $150 on a fancy camp stove that barely cooked my dinner

I picked up a high end backpacking stove last spring thinking it would save me time and fuel. First trip out to Yosemite, it took forever to boil water and the flame control was terrible. I ended up with half-cooked dehydrated meals and a lot of frustration. My old $30 stove from a garage sale works way better and I should have stuck with it. Has anyone else fallen for expensive gear that just flops?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason75213d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain so much on this one. I dropped $180 on a supposedly ultralight stove from one of those big outdoor brands and it was a total nightmare from the start. It had this fancy simmer control that just meant the flame would sputter out if I turned it down at all (and forget about windy conditions). My buddy's beat up old Coleman from a thrift store cooks circles around it every time. It's like these companies are just slapping high prices on stuff and hoping we don't notice that it doesn't actually work better. I ended up selling mine for like $40 on Craigslist and going back to my trusty $25 stove that's been through four seasons of abuse without a single complaint.

wesleybutler12d ago

Right, because nothing says "backcountry reliability" like a stove that gives up when the wind picks up or you want to actually simmer something. Sounds like @jason752 got the full premium experience of paying more for less function. I guess the real ultralight hack is just not bringing a stove that works.