Courtesy of Camp Chef:
Featured in the Wall Street Journal
Selected as a Consumers Digest Best Buy
As seen on Good Morning America
By Garnet Wilson and Dennis L. Clay
The lightening streaked across the sky and my wife, Garnet, and I started counting together, "One thousand -- one; One thousand .." Crack -- Boom
And the thunder rolled across the skies near the city of Moses Lake in Eastern Washington.
" That was close," I said.
Just then the light rain turned into a drenching downpour, followed by another bolt of lightening that illuminated the backyard as if it were noon on a summer day.
There, standing alone as if challenging the elements, was our new Camp Chef DB-60D stove.
" I'm just tellin' ya ...," Garnet said, shaking her head.
It's a phrase she uses, usually as a last resort, to let me know my actions are a bit short of her expectations. She also knows that there are times when I do things for a reason.
As we stood together at the sliding-glass door watching the lightening dance across the sky, I explained my reasons for leaving the stove exposed to the adverse environmental conditions. I reminded her of an earlier test where the DB-60D was exposed to five days of scalding summer heat, in the 90- to 100-degree range, and it suffered no ill affects.
Garnet seemed to understand, but dismissed the current test as seemingly unnecessary, and for good reason in her eyes.
" It just won't be as pretty anymore," she said. "Anything left to the elements becomes a bit weathered."
And she was correct. Indeed the stove looked a bit weathered, and it was still dripping wet, when I went out to inspect it early the next morning. It wasn't how well the paint stood up to a relentless summer sun or if the exposed cast-iron burner displayed any rust after a powerful thunderstorm that I wanted to know.
In three fast and simple motions, I reached down and turned the propane gas container's valve to the fully open position, pushed the first burner's control knob in and to the high position, then pushed the red igniter button to produce a spark.
With a reassuring swish, the familiar and reassuring blue flame jumped from the burner. I repeated the procedure to get the second burner going. As I stood there watching the burners begin to dry the surrounding stove surfaces, Garnet approached my left side.
" See, I told ya it wouldn't be as pretty as if you would have put it in the shed yesterday."
Again she was correct, but pretty isn't what I was after -- it's performance. Could a group of elk hunters be in the field on a rainy and snowy day, then return to camp and easily start a fire to stave off even the faint effects of hypothermia?
If a Camp Chef DB-60D is in camp, I can assure you the answer is an easy yes. But wouldn't the hunters simply move the stove into the tent for the day? Yes, it could happen, but sometimes a day will begin with bright sunshine, then turn ugly and potentially deadly by producing rain or snow. But put another way, it doesn't matter with the DB-60D.
But wouldn't the returning hunters simply start a huge campfire?
Again the answer is yes, but hunters who have a DB-60D in camp don't even have to worry about someone forgetting to cover their firewood. They would fire up the stove, dry a few pieces of wood, then get the campfire going.
The most important factor when in the outdoors is safety. There are shocking stories of people experiencing a great time in the mountains, hunting, fishing, hiking and camping when the elements turn against them. For lack of adequate planning or preparation or for whatever reason, Mother Nature gets the best of them and they suffer terribly or, in the worst situation, they perish.
Don't get me wrong, the DB-60D isn't just an instrument to be used in doom and gloom situations. In fact, the stove is a wonderful example of great engineering. It is capable of providing similar or the same heat as a kitchen stove.
But users must realize that's the easy part of the stove's job. You, as a user, should ask the questions about its performance in adverse conditions. And that's my job, to test this stove in the worst conditions you might experience in the great outdoors.
The results of my testing reveals the Camp Chef DB-60D is capable of cooking the meal for a 25th wedding anniversary in an urban backyard celebration with 250 people in attendance, then, two days later, providing the heat necessary for the survival of a group of one to 15 hunters.
Think about it -- what more could you ask for from one piece of camping equipment?
