I wasted $350 on a titanium camp stove that barely boils water

Everyone online raves about those tiny titanium wood stoves for backpacking. I bought one from a popular brand last spring and took it on a trip up near Mount Rainier. In theory it's great, light weight and no fuel canisters. But in practice I spent 45 minutes trying to get a pot of water to a weak simmer. The wind killed it completely even with a DIY windscreen. I ended up just eating cold food that night and wished I'd brought my old $30 propane stove instead. Anyone else fall for the ultralight hype and regret it?

2 comments

2 Comments

seth_green8516d ago

45 minutes for a weak simmer sounds rough but honestly that's kind of the deal with those wood stoves. They're not really meant to boil water fast in the wind, they're more for when you're trying to save weight on a long trip and you know you'll have time to mess with it. A lot of people buy them without realizing how much fiddling they take. It's not like the stove is broken or useless, it's just not a propane burner replacement. You probably could have gotten a good boil with better tinder and a proper wind break spot. Is it really that big of a deal to eat cold food one night though?

fisher.diana15d ago

Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense, never thought of it that way before.