That $40 camp stove that melted my trail mix into a hockey puck

I grabbed this cheapo butane stove from a gas station in Flagstaff before a 2 night trip. First morning I tried to boil water for coffee and the whole burner flared sideways, torching the ziploc of trail mix sitting next to it. The bag fused into this solid plastic mess that looked like a weird frisbee. Worst part was the stove itself survived fine, so I couldn't even get mad at it properly. My buddy laughed so hard he dropped his own eggs in the dirt. Cost me $40 for the stove plus $8 of ruined snacks. Anyone else had a budget burner pull some silly nonsense like this? I'm debating going back to my old screw-on canister style.

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craig.parker12d ago

...which reminds me of the time my buddy tried to save money with a $15 knockoff stove that rattled like a paint shaker. The thing worked fine for about three minutes, then the gas line popped off and shot a flame straight up his sleeve. He spent the next hour picking melted nylon out of his arm hair while I ate my oatmeal cold, and honestly, that was the most fun part of that whole trip. You're probably better off with the screw-on style, even if it means lugging the extra weight.