Coghlan's folding stove is a nice stove for camping with Sterno type burners or for an emergency kit.
I also own a Sterno brand camping stove, so I'll do a quick comparison:
The stoves are the same size - about 7" square by about a half inch when folded. This one's design is clearly based on the Sterno one as it has a similar opening which the Sterno stove uses both to leave room for the burner and also to brace the burner. The Coghlan version doesn't brace the burner at all, but it does have a shallow circular indention in the base to allow the burner to sit relatively securely (by which I mean that the burner won't slip unless you move the stove).
The Coghlan stove is made of stamped metal - it feels like tin or aluminium. Sterno's is also tin or aluminium but Sterno's is bent, not stamped. This means that the Sterno stove has lots of sharp edges - not good. This one is all rounded corners - this makes it less likely to get bent out of shape and also you're less likely to cut yourself on it if you're rummaging around your pack in the dark. A big point for Coghlan's stove.
Coghlan's stove folds completely flat and stays that way, which is nice. The Sterno brand folds flat too - if you force it. If you leave the Sterno stove to its own devices though part of it pops up at a 45 degree angle. Not a huge deal, but it means it's a negative point and a positive point for Coghlan's stove.
The Sterno stove is silver while the Coghlan version has been spray-painted black all over. It looks good but inside it's going to absorb heat rather than reflect it - not good - the oven may get too hot to touch and it may not heat the food as efficiently as the Sterno version. Basically, you need to sandblast that black coating off the side panels if you want it to reflect heat. The Sterno is the winner on this score.
Unfortunately, this stove doesn't place the burner precisely below the opening - not a big deal but mildly annoying as it's evidence of poor design. Also, the access panel easily pops open if the stove is not perfectly level. Not really a big deal - but it's something to be aware of.
Someday I would like to see a smaller stove. Sterno cans are only 3.5" wide, so I see no reason for the stoves to be larger. It would be easy to make an inexpensive stove that was about 4 x 2x 1/8" with three flat pieces that were connected at a single hinge and opened out to sit on top of the Sterno burner's top lip. There's really no reason for one of these stoves to be any bigger, and I will miss the extra space that this stove takes up in my pack. I guess I could always make my own.
All-in-all, the Coghlan stove is the better stove out of the two. Its flaws are either negligible or fixable. All it needs is a quick sandblasting to remove the black finish on the inside and it will perform as well or better than its competition. I think it's bigger than it needs to be, but then again there's nothing smaller on the market that I can find, so until something smaller and better comes along, this stove works. 4 stars out of 5. Coghlan's Folding Stove
This stove is made to fold flat, and that's what it does best. The 'hook' to keep it upright is shallow and unseats itself with just a puff of breeze, plus the hinges are very loose. Ours collapsed while we were cooking a small pan of soup. Someone lightly bumped the picnic table and the stove promptly folded, sending soup all over the tabletop. In my opinion it isn't stable enough to be used by kids and precarious to use even by adults.
Having said that, if you taped the hinges in place and didn't worry about refolding it, it is handy. It's bigger than the Esbit and could handle larger, heavier pots. We used Esbit fuel in it and Sterno could be used as well. It would also work for warming or a fondue pot, but again, I would recommend stabilizing it in some way.
This stove works great. Some other reviews had problems because they didn't properly put it together: the tray that holds the fuel locks unto the two sides and holds it in place. The weight of the fuel and the tray lock the sides down. I was able to carry it, lit with boiling water on top, with one hand without worrying about it. Its a great product that should work in every case. The hinges are cheap looking, but they have held firm so far. I prefer this stove over the Sterno stove that is ubiquitous in the camping world.
Great Stove.
I'm really glad I got one of these. We go camping with a fairly large group of friends once or twice a year, and I always do my camping over the fire. On one particularly rainy morning, that left us at the mercy of friends with camp stoves. I realized the value in a stove then, but I was just frustrated with the idea of YET ANOTHER PIECE OF EQUIPMENT.
So I started researching for my smallest option before the next camping trip and decided this was so affordable that it was worth a try. It's EXACTLY what I needed. While there's no way I'm going to be cooking up a big pot of chili on this thing, I've boiled water for oatmeal, percolated coffee, and fried up sausages in my little aluminum pan. In fact, this thing is perfectly sized for those little backpacker's mess kits. Just remember that this isn't a big flame, so you wouldn't cook large quantities of of food or water over it.
Someone commented that it folds up on itself too easily. I've not had that problem. You should probably avoid bumping it much, but normal use has yet to cause it to collapse. It's fairly stable as long as it's on a flat surface. It does, however, fold up quite nicely. Gel fuel cans are also pretty compact, but read the label to find out how many burning hours you should be able to get out of it. Some brands last longer than others.
A great little stove that folds up to less than 1/2" thick. Using Coghlan's camp heat as fuel, and an aluminum pot I brought to a strong simmer 16 oz. of water hot enough for tea, or freeze dried pouches in 12 min. The outdoor temperature was 52 degrees, and about 5 mph winds. This is a well made, sturdy product that delivers - Mini Camp Stove - Backpacking - Survival - Camping Stove'
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