I know the BRS-8 has been done to death but I thought I'd give mine a wee sending off review before I decommission it.
I bought it in the Summer of 2012 because I wanted a multi-fuel stove for my cycle tour to France but I couldn't justify the price of a Primus/MSR/Optimus and most of the reviews were pretty positive at the time. It's spent a month in France, weekend in Scotland and 2 months in E. Europe with daily use. Although I've never had total failure (until now), it's taught me which parts of a liquid fuel stove are most likely to fail so I (and maybe others) can know what to look out for in new stoves.
I've only ever run this on unleaded.
1st problem was the threads were poorly cut into the plastic of the pump so it has always been really difficult to screw the pump on the bottle without crossing the threads, even being really careful and twisting the pump the 'wrong' way until I hear the bottle's threads drop in and then gently tightening it. If someone else uses the bottle who doesn't know this (like a burly petrol station worker in E.Europe) they will just go ahead and tighten the bottle by brute force :s.
2) Some of the o-rings are not petrol-proof and will literally dissolve away. I found this to my peril in N. Scotland when I went to use the stove after it had been in storage and fuel begun flowing out of the pump mechanism (in the part which has the adjustment knob). When I got home I replaced the seals with new mini o-rings.
3) The connection between the braided fuel hose and the crimped metal ends will fail. It just isn't engineered to withstand daily use (yea it cost £30 I'm not complaining) i got round this by using lots of shrink wrap but still a little fuel will escape.
4) the jet of my stove isn't centred and I can't fix it, so the flame always points to one side of the pan annoying but not a failure.
5) I've just pulled it out the cupboard and found that the plastic of the threading is chemically breaking down to black powder and I can crumble the plastic thread away with my nails.
RIP BRS you were kind of cr*ppy but you cooked me lots of meals for £30 and made me realise that multi-fuel stoves are perfect for me. In the future I will probably buy an Optimus nova simply because I'm attracted to the all-metal design (nothing against MSR and co. it's just a personal preference). Maybe others looking at the budget end should have a look at the Fire Maple range, they seem to be higher quality than BRS but about £40.
I bought it in the Summer of 2012 because I wanted a multi-fuel stove for my cycle tour to France but I couldn't justify the price of a Primus/MSR/Optimus and most of the reviews were pretty positive at the time. It's spent a month in France, weekend in Scotland and 2 months in E. Europe with daily use. Although I've never had total failure (until now), it's taught me which parts of a liquid fuel stove are most likely to fail so I (and maybe others) can know what to look out for in new stoves.
I've only ever run this on unleaded.
1st problem was the threads were poorly cut into the plastic of the pump so it has always been really difficult to screw the pump on the bottle without crossing the threads, even being really careful and twisting the pump the 'wrong' way until I hear the bottle's threads drop in and then gently tightening it. If someone else uses the bottle who doesn't know this (like a burly petrol station worker in E.Europe) they will just go ahead and tighten the bottle by brute force :s.
2) Some of the o-rings are not petrol-proof and will literally dissolve away. I found this to my peril in N. Scotland when I went to use the stove after it had been in storage and fuel begun flowing out of the pump mechanism (in the part which has the adjustment knob). When I got home I replaced the seals with new mini o-rings.
3) The connection between the braided fuel hose and the crimped metal ends will fail. It just isn't engineered to withstand daily use (yea it cost £30 I'm not complaining) i got round this by using lots of shrink wrap but still a little fuel will escape.
4) the jet of my stove isn't centred and I can't fix it, so the flame always points to one side of the pan annoying but not a failure.
5) I've just pulled it out the cupboard and found that the plastic of the threading is chemically breaking down to black powder and I can crumble the plastic thread away with my nails.
RIP BRS you were kind of cr*ppy but you cooked me lots of meals for £30 and made me realise that multi-fuel stoves are perfect for me. In the future I will probably buy an Optimus nova simply because I'm attracted to the all-metal design (nothing against MSR and co. it's just a personal preference). Maybe others looking at the budget end should have a look at the Fire Maple range, they seem to be higher quality than BRS but about £40.
