Warning: Guy at REI told me to test my stove at home before a trip

I was at REI in Denver last month buying a new backpacking stove, and this older employee walked over while I was looking at the MSR PocketRocket. He said 'you need to fire that thing up in your backyard before you drive 4 hours to the trailhead, trust me.' I shrugged it off but did it anyway, and the first time I connected the canister the valve hissed air for 2 seconds then stopped. Turned out I had a defective seal out of the box, would have been stuck eating cold beans in the San Juans. Has anyone else caught a dud stove fresh from the store?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.kevin19d ago

Same thing happened to me with a brand new Whisperlite, always test gear before you leave.

barbarac9519d ago

Five minutes after lighting mine in the driveway the valve started leaking fuel everywhere, so yeah @wright.kevin is totally right about testing everything first. I always fire up new stoves in the backyard now and let them run for a full 10-15 minutes before I trust them on any trip.