GSI Outdoors Selkirk 540 Review

The GSI Selkirk works well, looks good, and comes at a fair price.

Performance Comparison

The Selkirk gets the job done in style.

Time to Boil

The Selkirk boiled a quart of water on a non-windy day in 4 minutes, one of the better times in our test suite. It doesn't have impressive BTUs — just 10,000 per burner — but the design is compact and efficient. If you don't need super high BTUs but don't want to sacrifice performance, this is a great model to consider.

Despite not having a ton of BTUs, the Selkirk boils quickly because of its compact design. The cooking grate is close to the burners to maximize the flame and minimize where wind can sneak in.

Wind Resistance

As mentioned above, the compact design of this stove means that it performs very well despite not having super high BTUs. When given our infamous box fan test where we set up a large fan to the side of the stove while boiling water, the Selkirk completed the task in 5.5 minutes, just a minute and a half longer than without the fan. Other models in our review did better, but not by a ton, and many did much, much worse. The stoves that performed better in this test all had double or triple the output amount of BTUs, too, which makes a strong argument for the efficiency of the Selkirk. On a particularly windy day, the auto-ignition on this stove did struggle a bit, but we eventually got it working in between gusts just fine.

The Selkirk always got the job done, despite cooking on some very windy days.

Simmering Ability

This is the one category where the Selkirk is just mediocre. It's fine if you're not cooking anything too delicate, but it does cook hot due to how close the burners sit to your cookware. With a lot of wind present, as with most stoves, this issue worsens a bit. Just be sure to keep a watchful eye when cooking sensitive items, and all will be well.

The Selkirk has small burners that sit close to the surface, so it's easy to get hot spots when using too large of a pan. This also isn't the best stove to use for highly sensitive items like the lemon poppy pancakes we tried to make on a very windy morning.

Ease of Set Up

This is a no-brainer and just like most every stove on the market. Flip open and slot in the windscreens, attach the fuel adaptor, screw on your propane tank, turn on the burners, and hit the auto-ignition button. A few times, the burners on our model didn't want to light immediately (a common issue with Piezo igniters), but we eventually got them lit every time. If this worries you, it's never a bad idea to also have a lighter on hand.

Setting up the Selkirk is super easy and straightforward.

Ease of Care

Again, this is as simple as any standard compact two-burner. Simply remove the grate and wipe everything down.

Cleaning this stove is incredibly simple.

Portability

The Selkirk is 9.77 pounds and measures 21.4 x 12.9 x 3.8 inches when all packed up. These are pretty standard numbers for a stove like this, though a smidge lighter and smaller than models like our Editors' Choice winner. That might be important to you, though if you're already car camping, it's doubtful that a couple of pounds or inches is going to make that big a difference.

Ready to get setup for a lovely day of fall cooking with the Selkirk 540.

Value

Value is, of course, highly subjective, but it's always interesting to make some comparisons. In the case of this stove, it's pretty middle-of-the-road regarding value. It's a well-performing stove for a reasonable price, but there are others in our review that are almost as good for quite a bit less. On the other end of things, our Editors' Choice has twice the BTUs, better wind resistance, and superior simmering abilities for not that much more cash. If you find this one on sale, though, it's worth it.

It's always a good idea to consider what cookware you like to use and then assess the cooking grate on any stove you're considering. We like making coffee in a small Bialetti while camping and not all the stoves in this review can accommodate that - it's far too narrow for many of them - but the Selkirk has a smart design that works with even the smallest items.

Conclusion

The Selkirk 540 is a great stove for most culinary camping adventures. It performed well across almost all of our tests but also didn't blow us away as anything spectacular. It's just a good stove that does what it's supposed to, nothing more, nothing less. It's got a nice compact build that allows it to boil fast and stay decently impervious to the wind. It sets up and breaks down easily and is a bit smaller and lighter than quite a few other models. The one place it shows weakness is in the simmering department: it runs hot, so getting a low and even simmer can be tricky. But if camping for you is mainly oatmeal, coffee, and pasta, then don't fret, this is a good stove that will get you fed.

Another day of delicious testing in the books. Yum!