Optimus  Gemini 2-Burner Stove

This would be the ultimate compact car camping stove except the size of the burners is like a backpacking stove/blow torch and only heats the center of the pan. I have used it twice now and love how compact it is in storage and that it runs on IsoPro fuel instead of Propane but the cooking experience is terrible due to the small burner size. Any 2 burner stove should work well with a frying pan and unless it is very thick cast iron all the heat will be at the center only with this stove. Also the pot supports are not more stable than a backpacking stove with only 3 points of contact. I would prefer to use 2 backpacking stoves with larger burner heads instead of this and will probably return the product.

I have been using the Gemini for the past few months car camping, bike packing and on group trips cooking everything from fish to pancakes. Always wished there would be a small packable 2 burner stove for such trips -and now there is one! The extremely rugged design has endured a lot of abuse with no problem whatsoever. Foldable legs supported fry pans and griddles and large pots way better than I expected they would. From boiling water fast to simmering pancakes golden brown, this little monster does it all! There really isn't another stove like it out there!

Used for about 1.5 hours of burn time (6 meals, about half time with both burners on). Despite weight, this is a backpacking stove and fills a different need than a heavier propane-based car camping stove. As noted in another review, the burner heads are relatively small — recommend cooking at lower heat, with a diffuser, or with thicker pans/pots to ensure long life of your cookware. I would say a primary use case for this stove is multi-person backpacking with real meals (not just rehydrated bag food) and where responsibility can be shared (multiple burners, one iso can). In that case, this is the best (only?) player in the space and the weight is manageable. Fuel consumption is consistently slightly slower (more efficient) than I would have expected for two burners at this BTU rating, but I don’t know why.

Used twice for day trip to the beach. Adults had hot coffee and we loved it. Works well… lights easily and heats quickly!

Love this stove. We use this while van camping in our VW vanagon. It has the power and ease of a big layout stove but lacks up small and out of the way. It does require you to pay a big more attention to pan placement to make sure you are balancing on the three wire legs but it’s no different than the care needed for a backpacking small stove yet this is much more stable. It just requires a bit of attention that you quickly figure out. I love love love how much less space this takes up than a classic two burner. It appears to be well made. We’ve used it on two trips so far and it’s doing great. It’s also easy to get a simmer out of this. One thing to note is that at first I thought the stove didn’t work before I learned you need to do almost four revolutions of the stove handle before gas even starts to come out of the burner and you can then light it.

Stove performed great. Nice controls, but recalled with no replacement due to fire danger.