FMS-300T GASHERD

Bought it to replace my pocket rocket.
Did what I wanted it to.

Thanks guys!!!

I don’t want this review to steer anyone away from buying this stove; the stove is great! I was buying OliCamp stoves, the Kinetic for example, until I realized they were made by Deer Maple too. Since then, I’ve bought a few Fire Maple products and have been very happy with them and their performance. You could save a small amount of money and go with the copy-cat BRS-3000T, or go with the FM-300T instead and have better quality materials and the original micro canister stove in your kit. I’d opt for the latter. My issue with this particular stove was simply its timing during assembly. Others I’m quite sure are fine; I just was unlucky. The valve is rotated slightly from where it should be in relation to the stem and it’s keyed burner. Because if this, one of the pot-support legs doesn’t fold all the way in, neither does the valve handle, so I lose some space in my pot. I was able to break the too nut free, but not the bottom nut and I’m scared I’ll damage the stove if I put too much force on it.

It works great! You can actually simmer with it which is a huge plus for me, it’s super light and fits in my pot along with a fuel can and lighter. The stand is a little stiff but not a deal breaker.

This stove works great for boiling water very quickly. It took about 4-5 minutes to bring about 2 quarts of water to a rapid boil. This stove is so lightweight and compact that from now on I'll use it when I need a quick boil, and use the 116-T for sautéing and wider flame distribution. It is a great stove to have in a go bag, lightweight camping gear, or anything you want to save space and not weigh down with heavy portable cooking gear. Came with a rip stop style protective bag that you can tuck away nearly anywhere! Highly recommend.

Everybody compares this to the BRS-3000T so I'll start there. At first glance they look extremely similar and the BRS is a few grams lighter coming in just under an ounce. The Fire Maple is actually the original and if you pay attention to the pictures you'll notices some brass and steel parts in there. That accounts for the weight difference and also the quality difference between the two stoves. The BRS model is known to have a tricky valve that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I can attest because I have 2 and both exhibit this issue. It's very frustrating when you can't control the flame or even get your stove to shut off. There have been times I just had to unscrew it from the gas because I couldn't get it stop. This has never happened to me with the Fire Maple. It has a higher quality valve that works in a predictable and repeatable manner. I also think it's designed to manage heat better in the stove stem which keeps the valve and its seals cooler. I think that may be part of the problem with the BRS. The other key difference is the burner top and pot holders. The BRS has a louvred like flame spreader on the burner that the Fire Maple doesn't have. While in theory this would seem a good idea, in practice is actually concentrates a good bit of that flame onto the titanium pot holders which in turn overheat and can sag or even bend completely with the stove on full blast. I've seen mine sag when I have extended boil times dues to altitude or weather. The Fire Maple lacks the louver and also uses thicker stainless pot holders instead of thin Ti ones. They get plenty hot, but nowhere near the deformation point like on the BRS. You might mistake that design flaw for extra heat that would mean faster boil times, but in fact, the boils times are indiscernible as is the gas usage. I still take the BRS out occasionally, but when I'm on an extended hike and need to know my stove is bullet proof, I take the Fire Maple.

Now for actual usage. You have to keep in mind with the tiny size of these that they are minimalist backpacking stoves really intended for boiling water in mug size pots (400-750mL size range) to rehydrate meals. They aren't really ideal or intended for heavy camp cooking like making bacon and eggs for breakfast or a steak and potato dinner. The burner is about the size of a quarter and generates a concentrated hot spot about 2 1/2" around. That's fine for boiling water or making coffee, but will quickly scorch something like oatmeal or powdered eggs. The pot holders are also only around 3" in diameter so if you are using any thing much larger than 4", stability is going to be an issue. I have done a 1.6L Mors pot worth of soup, but you have to be very careful and it's much safer to stabilize the pot with a few rocks or even just suspend it over the stove from a hasty tripod. The other thing is these stoves are highly affected by the wind. I highly recommend also getting a titanium foil windscreen. This will greatly reduce boil time and gas usage. In fact, with the wind screen you can turn the flame way down without compromising boil time and we all like to stretch that gas as far as possible. Within its intended usage profile this is the best ultralight backpacking stove out there. I think it hits the practical limit of how light a gas stove can be and still be durable and reliable. If you're more a luxury or car camper then there are definitely much better and more practical stove options out there than this one. If you are looking to go far and fast with a compact ultralight kit, then this might be the ideal stove for you.