By Garnet Wilson
and Dennis L. Clay
 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?
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