PSA: My $30 camp stove just passed 500 meals without a single hiccup

I bought this cheap butane stove off Amazon three years ago and figured it'd die after a season, but after counting every trip's meals in my notebook, it hit 500 uses last weekend without so much as a flame sputter, so what's the longest you guys have gotten out of a budget stove before it gave up?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthewh2823d ago

Man, that's a great run for thirty bucks! Reminds me of this old Coleman cooler my dad passed down to me. He bought it in the late 80s and I swear that thing spent a decade living in my truck bed through all seasons, getting banged around with lumber. The latch finally snapped last summer, but the thing still keeps ice cold for three days easy. Funny how some cheap stuff just takes a beating and keeps going, while others fall apart in a month.

hannaho5218d ago

My friend Jenna bought one of those $20 stoves off Amazon for a camping trip last fall and it worked fine for the first few days. Then on the last morning, she went to light it and the whole thing shot out a foot long flame for a second before settling down. She nearly burned her eyebrows off, haha. She still uses it actually, but now she stands way back with a long lighter and I swear she flinches every time. Meanwhile my old Coleman that I got for $35 at a garage sale has never done anything weird like that, just works every time.

aaron_ellis4223d ago

Hell yeah, that's a solid run! But honestly, I gotta disagree a little. I've had cheap stoves crap out way sooner than that, like the valve getting sticky or the rubber O-ring drying up. My buddy's $20 stove started leaking gas after maybe 150 meals, and mine couldn't keep a steady flame after a year. You got lucky with a good unit, but most budget ones aren't built to last like that. I'd still rather spend a bit more and not risk a leaky connection on a trip.