nearly free stove

Confluence of factors:

• For emergency backup purposes I’ve had my eye on propane/butane/isobutane adapters.
• the adapters are ~$8 each
• I’m not in love with the flame control on my Coleman propane single-burner; it’s notchy. This is particularly problematic at simmer levels where I am constantly seeking positions between the notches.

Enter this little isobutane stove. It cost $22.58 when I bought it, and came with the propane and butane adapters. So the price of the stove to me is ~$6.50. Reviews said simmer control was finely-adjustable and I grabbed one.

Or tried to; this is one of the items that had to be shipped 3x to actually get to me.

testing

It comes folded in a little plastic cube and unfolds in a clever way.

I connected the built-in isobutane fuel tube in to the butane adapter and that to the propane adapters. Threads feel good and secure. I cracked the fuel valve and it passed fueld. I lit it and was able to smoothly adjust from very small simmer flame to rocket blast. There was a decent breeze flowing through the van but the flame shroud prevented the fire from being perturbed.

I heated up some soup. The three-arm potstand is not excessively stable; I’d keep a close eye on anything that threatens to bump the pot. After making soup I realized there was a piezo lighter built into the stove. It’s terrible, undersized, poorly positioned and looks like it will break just sitting there. I tried to use it and got a 10:1 click-to-fire rate. Just use a lighter.

After test-driving it I disassembled the Coleman and stored it. I don’t know how long this lightly-built stove will last but the flame control and pattern is so much better than the coleman that I’ll use it until it breaks.

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