Yeasterday I bought a BRS-12. It came with a NSN (7310-01-388-0751), registered as a kerosine stove for the Royal Dutch Army. I was curious because it is supplied to the army and produced in China and it looks inspired by Coleman. I took it apart and was pleasantly surprised by clever engineering and good quality. This stove is light, in part because of the windscreen being made of cast aluminium. The pump rod and knob and the valve assembly are all aluminium. Feet, burner bell, pot supports and vaporizer are all stainless steel. Even the wire inside the vapourizer is stainless steel. The most important parts are very well made. The jet and valve assembly are near perfect, better than parts I’ve seen on some famous brands. All things considered, I think this just is a good product. Not perfect, but what is? I didn’t have time yet to light it and to make pictures, sorry about that. I think it’s wrong to say that China made products lack quality by definition. Yes, a lot of poor quality goods are produced there. Not because they can’t do better, but because the rest of the world seems to want cheep rubbish, instead of paying some more for quality stuff.
I'm curious to know how Coleman got a reputaion for blocked generators. I have a Coleman 425C bought new in 1963 and used car camping, hunting and fishing, nearly every year since and is still running on it's original generator, which remains in good working order. I have had friends bring me Coleman stoves which they said were not working correctly because of a bad generator, but when asked to light the stove, I found they were ususally not sufficiently pressurised or had the cleaning needle lever in the wrong position. One fellow was trying to burn deisel fuel because it was cheaper. I've also found quite a bit of dirt in several stove's fuel tank, valve and generator. A quick rinse with some aeorsol carburetor cleaner, some fresh Coleman fuel and the problem disappeared. So the problems I'm aware of with Coleman stoves seem to be mostly operator error. In my years in this vale of tears, I've found that following the manufacturer's instructions regarding fuel and maintainance will extend the useful life and reliability of most products whether or not the operator is a Patriot. Coleman stoves are no exception. Red, White, and Blue ol' Gerry
all 4 of my single burner colemans did get a blow torch over the generator when I got them in an effort to clean them but whether it made a difference is a big question. They were all going well before so there was little or no improvement to make
I also have a 442 Feather. It was a Christmas present from my mom, which she gave me back in my scouting days. It has never failed me and I am back to using it along with a Coleman 425 and a Svea 123R after a brief infatuation with MSR stoves. I have bought enough MSR pumps to pay for the Svea and the 425, and they just keep getting more flimsy with each revision! The 425 will be operational long after I am not, as will the Svea and the 442. The MSR stoves will be museum pieces because nobody will have working pumps for them in 100 years.
I have a 442, from 1997, and am the original owner. This stove has always worked flawlessly... the only problems I've had have been user error. I bought a gallon of Coleman fuel when I bought the stove, and after using the stove on a hunting trip in the fall of '97 put it away for 5 years, took it out once to make beef stew for my then-two year old son during a day trip through the national forest, then put it up and didn't pull it back out again until late August of 2017 for a multi-day trip from Seattle to San Diego. Still the original fuel in the stove, in an MSR bottle, and in the original can. I topped the stove up from the bottle, the bottle up from the can... no problems. After I got back I put it back in storage and just got it out last week (end of March 2020). Yep, same fuel... no problem! My stove doesn't have any corrosion, but I've always wiped it off and filled up the tank with fuel before I stored it in a closed container. I have found that, when these stoves have problems it's usually because they were used, and then stored, with something besides Coleman fuel in them. Kinda like a carb... they will clog up if you put modern E10 in them and leave them for a while. From a tip on another forum, I've run some Seafoam through my 442, and a new-to-me 550B... no problems! If you just take even a little care, these stoves seem to work and last forever. I would expect the Chinese BRS-12 with its steel evaporator to be more prone to corrosion than bronze... and I'm not aware of any availability of spares for them. Not knocking them... yes, the Chinese can make high quality items if they choose... but if you were going to get either a very good condition 442 or a BRS-12 for free, which one would you take? Honestly, I'd take the Ukrainian Motor Sich PR-2 over the Chinese stove... it's a boat anchor but a more direct copy of a Coleman... but since there are so many good Coleman single burners on eBay all the time plus you can buy new 533s off of Amazon for $70, why would you not go with a Coleman?
Since I have both Coleman and BR12 stoves I can cite the differences: 1. BRS's air pump's orifice is at the bottom. When pumping you can hear bubles, and this means that gasoline can enter in the pump body, and it does! 2. If pump's check valve leaks, gasoline may leak too, since gasoline has enough vapor pression to push it through the pump. Coleman instead, has air orifice at the top, preventing liquid fuel to enter in the pump and furthermore it has a lock mechanism 3. Coleman's generator vaporizes fuel more effectively. BRS generator has a steel wire inside which does not prevent liquid fuel direct flow. For gasoline that works but for diesel it can not successfully vaporize the fuel 4. BRS generator is serviceable, it can be cleaned however Coleman's generator is not serviceable. 5. BRS12 is very loud, Coleman is silent 6. BRS12 can not be simmered however Coleman can be. 7. Coleman's burner assy is very stable however BRS12's head can move a bit. 8. BRS requires priming, Coleman is near instant burning, without priming Hope these help
