Shoutout to the ranger at Green River who told me to skip the $200 camp stove
Two summers ago a ranger at Green River Lake in Kentucky looked at my gear pile and said my old WhisperLite would outlast any new stove I was eyeing. I didn't believe him, so I bought the fancy one anyway and it clogged on the third trip. The old stove still fires up on the first try every time, and I'm out $200. Anybody else get talked out of a gear upgrade by a stranger who turned out to be right?
Man that stings, dropping two hundred bucks and then watching the cheap old thing keep working while the new one quits on you. I had a similar deal with a guy at a trailhead in Tennessee who told me not to bother replacing my beat up PocketRocket, and sure enough the replacement I bought started acting up within a season. The old one still lights every time. Sometimes the folks who actually spend their days out there know more than the reviews do.