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Can we talk about how every stove review on YouTube is filmed in a calm parking lot?
I was watching a stove review last weekend while planning a trip to Olympic National Park, and about two minutes in I noticed the guy was testing it on a picnic table with zero wind, a full can of fuel, and perfect weather. Then I looked at the comments and someone pointed out that half the reviews out there never even mention how the thing acts when it's raining sideways or your hands are so cold you can barely work the knob. I've been burned by this myself. Back in March I bought a stove based on a glowing review with a 4.8 star average, took it to the coast, and the piezo lighter died on the second morning while the wind was blowing at maybe 20 mph. Now I skip any review that doesn't show a single shot of the stove in bad conditions, no matter how many stars it has. I get that filming in a storm is a pain, but a review that never mentions wind or cold is only telling me half the story. What's the worst gap you've run into between a review and how a piece of gear actually behaved outside?
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brian_jackson8d ago
The parking lot thing drives me nuts too because they always have that little tailgate shelf with zero wind and it tells you nothing about real use. My worst one was a headlamp everyone loved, took it out and the button froze up solid on the first cold night so I was stuck with a dead light and no backup. Now I look for at least one clip of the thing getting rained on or used with gloves before I trust a single word.
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