By Theresa “Resa” Leppert
Let’s talk about the Fire Maple Fixed Star 3 – and how this little thing came to be my absolute favorite piece of gear. What’s your favorite way of cooking while camping? Campfire? Dutch Oven? Pocket Rocket backpacking stove? Or do you like to go old-school and use a Coleman white gas two burner?
I honestly don’t remember what my folks used. I just remember coming back to campsite at dusk (before the street lights came on!) after playing all day – and finding a massive meal on the picnic table all ready to eat. As an adult now, I can really respect my mom and grandma for all the work they did for us in general and especially while camping. No one told me that being an adult meant deciding on, shopping for, and preparing food for dinner every single night. Every. Single. Night. Until. You. Die. LOL – I’m exaggerating, but you get the idea.
I was gifted my first butane single burner.
When I started camping again in my 20s, I camped with a friend who had a camper, and we tag teamed on meals every night. When I went back to solo camping with my young daughter, I was back in a tent. I was talking to my dad about camp stoves – there were so many choices! (This was BEFORE the internet – now the choices and the potential for analysis are endless. Ever heard of analysis paralysis? It’s a thing, and I suffer from it greatly sometimes.) Anyway, Pop was heading out that day to a gun show, and he brought me home a present: A single-burner butane stove. I’d never camp-cooked with anything this easy – a little can of butane the size of a hairspray can, just press a button to light it – voila! It was perfect. It had its own sturdy plastic case. I used it for 15 years. The same one! Best $19.99 he could have ever spent!
My butane stove went up in flames.
I adored that thing…… until 2013 when it went up in flames and took a lot of my gear with it. Seriously. I had it on the picnic table brewing some coffee in my cute vintage enamel percolator pot. The butane canister connection failed somehow, and I turned around and everything was on FIRE! The stove, the coffee pot, the picnic table, my cooler, my kitchen box, the ground around it. It was all on FIRE!
A lady from the next campsite and I were able to put it out pretty quickly with our fire extinguishers. (Note, always have a fire extinguisher – I almost did not have one with me that trip, but that’s another story for another time.) I replaced that stove with another single burner butane one. Eventually that one died. And the one after that, and the one after that. You get the picture.
I really needed something compact.
I wanted something compact enough I could take backpacking if I wanted – and I found the Fire Maple Fixed Star 3 Solo Cooking System. This thing rivals the top of the line quick-boil cooking systems on the market for a FRACTION of the price.
You can see it and purchase it here: https://firemaplegear.com/collections/cook-systems/products/fixed-star-3-solo-cooking-system It is also available on Amazon!
For the low price of $65 (Yes, ONLY $65!) you get:
- An 0.8-liter cooking pot and a stove integrated into one unit. The pot comes with a neoprene cover. (And I even like the color.)
- The anodized aluminum pot has a locking stainless steel handle with silicone cover. It is very sturdy, cool to touch, and safe for handling the pot while cooking.
- Includes a folding canister stand AND a folding pot support usually sold separately by those other systems
- Power: 7500 BTU.
- Weight: Only 21.2 ounces!
- Note that the fuel canister must be purchased separately.
I can’t speak highly enough of The Fire Maple Fixed Star 3 compact, cost-effective cooking system. I have used it car camping, tent camping, trailer camping, and last weekend backpacking. One of the other ladies on that trip had that expensive quick-boil system, and she really liked the handle on the Fire Maple better. If I lost this one tomorrow, I’d immediately order the same model all over again.
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Theresa “Resa” Leppert
Guide Manager
Guide, Iowa & Wisconsin
563.284.2868
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