Why does nobody talk about how heavy cheap camp stoves can be

I was deciding between a $45 single burner butane stove and a $90 two burner propane one for car camping trips. Ended up going with the butane one cause it was lighter and smaller, but after three trips I realized it takes forever to boil water for coffee. Anyone else find that lighter gear sometimes just trades weight for hassle?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora_scott771mo ago

Oh man, that reminds me of the time I brought a cheap little backpacking stove on a family car camping trip and we ended up eating cold hot dogs because it couldn't handle the wind. Sometimes lighter just means more headaches, your mileage may vary.

emery191mo ago

Yeah @cora_scott77 thats the tradeoff light gear saves weight but you pay for it in performance every time.

the_piper27d ago

emery19 nailed it with "you pay for it in performance every time" - that's pretty much life in a nutshell tbh. I noticed it's the same with a bunch of stuff, not just camping gear. Bought a cheap blender once cause it was smaller and lighter, took me twenty minutes to crush ice and the motor smelled like it was dying. Same with a little cheap drill I grabbed for hanging shelves, thing couldn't drive a screw into drywall without bogging down. Light weight usually means weak motor or thin materials, and you just end up fighting the tool instead of the job. Sometimes heavy and basic just works better in the long run.