I would really like to rate this stove much higher but in comparison to the 20+ year old stove I was using, it needs some design improvements. As I mentioned, my previous stove is a 20+ year old Hillary by Sears. I don't even remember when I got it. The primary reasons for replacing it are burner control and size. The burner controls are absolute garbage as can be expected from something this old. The burners are basically full blast or just under. No simmer control at all. The size is fairly normal but the burners are so close to the sides of the stove I couldn't use larger pans. Where the Eureka Ignite Plus excels is in both of these areas. The burners are well placed and I can easily accommodate two 12" pans. The burner control is fantastic. Simmer ability so low you can barely even see the flame and hot enough to boil a pot of water in minutes. Where the Eureka falls short (in my opinion) is in the following areas where it is bested by 20yo tech. The gas pipe. What is the deal with these? Using a solid, inflexible pipe basically adds 8" to the width needed to support the stove. It seems virtually all camp stoves moved to this design. I hate it. My old stove has a rubber hose that stores under the grate and out of the way, and allows me to put the gas cylinder ANYWHERE I need to . The Eureka pipe needs to be removed for storage and there is no place to put it. Left under the grate I imagine it will slide around and scratch the drip pan and possibly damage the burners. I put it in an old sock. The lid flops open if not attached to the wind screens. My old stove's lid is designed so that it doesn't flop open if not attached to the wind screens. The wind screens use a T slot to attach to the lid. They aren't secure. My old stove uses a spring clip design which securely attaches the screens to the lid. The grate on the Eureka can only be fully installed or fully removed. The other stove's grate can simply be tilted up to store the hose or clean the drip pan. Other areas the Eureka is actually better are the igniter. Having been using a lighter to start my stove for the past 2 decades, the igniter is pretty cool. The adjustable feet. First time using the stove I needed these feet. Sadly they need to be removed to store the stove in the box, but my old stove needed rocks or sticks for leveling. It's really sad that after such a long time, thoughtful stove design has fallen to the wayside. The features I mention are simple things that should have been thought of initially and can be easily added to a new design.
Read More