The Genesis Basecamp is a folding two-burner that's surprisingly lightweight and small dimensioned. Its design is sure to please anyone needing to be savvy with their space, whether that means the back of a car or the kitchenette of a sweet van (#vanlife anyone?). Add to that its ability to cook high or low like a pro, and it's no wonder this stove nabbed one of our prestigious Top Pick Awards.
Performance Comparison
The Basecamp is a stellar way to cook like a pro while optimizing space and keeping weight to a minimum.
Time to Boil
The Basecamp landed just about in the middle of the pack for this category — adequate, but not the best.
With a time of 4.5 minutes in our main boil test, we were pleased but not overly impressed — that's almost twice as long as the Camp Chef Everest. However, when you consider that the Everest has twice as many BTUs as the Basecamp, it makes sense. This time falls right in line with all the other stoves of the same BTUs — a 10,000 BTU burner can only do so much. For those that require boiled water super fast, it's never a bad idea to have a supplemental Jetboil along for the ride anyway. And with the presence of a Jetlink port on this stove, you can run it all off one canister of fuel if you so desire (and purchase the necessary accessories).
While the Basecamp wasn't the fastest boiler, it got the job done as well as any model with similar BTUs.
Wind Resistance
This is the only metric where we found the Basecamp to be mildly mediocre — and not by much. We weren't annoyed or impeded in our cooking; it just didn't perform quite as well as a few other models in some circumstances.
The windscreen for this stove is a flexible clear plastic shield that fits into four slots on the underside of the burners. It's relatively easy to set up, though not as quick as unfolding the top and sides on a more traditional design. It also doesn't come up as high in the back as the lid-turned-windscreen on a more standard model, so it doesn't provide quite as much protection.
Here you can see one of the tabs of the Basecamp's windscreen slotted into the base of the stove. Also notice the Jetlink port which will allow you to run another stove or a Jetboil off the same fuel source, if you have the supplemental equipment to do so.
The Basecamp clocked a time of 7.5 minutes in our box fan test where we boiled water while a fan blew continuous air on the burner. Not horrible, but also nothing to write home about. For comparison, the Everest passed this test in just 3 minutes flat. The burly Camp Chef Pro 60X, our Top Pick for Group Cooking, completed the task in just 4 minutes. Impressive for sure, but the Pro 60X struggled with real-world breezes and was highly susceptible to getting its flames blown out. The benefit of a more compact design like this one is that it can protect itself when the wind comes in from all angles — not just one. We definitely saw this in action with the Basecamp; while it didn't have an overly impressive time in the box fan test, when we were cooking meals in breezy weather it did just fine — much better than many others in this review.
The barely visible plastic windscreen on this stove was sufficient enough for breezy cooking days, though with strong, direct wind (as in our box fan test), it struggled a bit.
Simmering Ability
Scoring at the top of the pack, this stove is great for those that appreciate a good simmer.
The Basecamp does really well on low — it's easy to get a tiny flame and cook with finesse. And even though this wasn't the most windproof model, we never found ourselves worried about the flame being extinguished unexpectedly due to a sudden breeze. Additionally, the dial for each burner has a wide range, so you don't have to worry about doing too much with a tiny movement and accidentally turning the burner off.
The Basecamp helped us make some delicious slow-cooked veggie curry and become camp kitchen heroes.
We field-tested this model alongside the other foldable model in our review, the Coleman Fold N Go, and the differences were stark. Initially, we thought the Fold N Go was simmering great but later realized it was actually just struggling with the wind, making it seem as though it was proficient at cooking low. On a later, windier cook session, we realized the Fold N Go wasn't even getting our food warm, let alone simmering properly. We switched our pans to the Basecamp and — breezes and all — simmered up our sweet potatoes and carmelized our onions perfectly.
Despite a very breezy morning we were able to get the components of our breakfast scramble cooked perfectly.
Ease of Set Up
Just unfold, quickly attach the fuel line, and off you go!
There are a few more steps to setting up this stove than single-burners like our Best Buy winner, the Gas One GS-3000 or models with the fuel line already attached like the sleekly-designed Primus Kinjia, but not by much. Release the rubber closure straps and unfold — the hinges between burners offer a lot more flexibility in regards to setting up on a slightly uneven surface than a standard design. Next, attach the fuel adaptor which, since it's protruding instead of being recessed into the body of the stove, is much easier to get threaded. Turn the burner dials and hit the easily-depressed auto-ignition levers and you're all set.
Unlike many stoves that have the threads for the fuel adaptor sunken into a recess, the Basecamp has them fully visible. This makes for a much easier time getting everything attached, especially if you have cold fingers!
The one part of set up that is slightly more involved than other designs is attaching the windscreen. The flexible plastic screen has four tabs that slot into notches on the underside of the burners. You either have to know exactly where those notches are or peek underneath and, if the stove is already hot and running, it's not hard to burn yourself. It's better to attach this before cooking unless you're sure you won't need it.
Ease of Care
As simple as it gets for a camp stove; remove the grates and wipe everything down.
The Basecamp is simple and straightforward to clean. The grates remove from the stove body by squeezing two prongs on the side to release them from their housing. There are no odd or inaccessible recesses like on some other models, so it's easy to get to almost every nook and cranny. The carrying bag also helps keep everything organized and clean.
Just squeeze the side of the cooking grate to remove it from the stove so you can scrub away.
Portability
This Top Pick winner is our favorite rig for portability of all our tested models, even beating out the compact single burner options.
The Genesis Basecamp is the most compact and lightweight stove of all the two-burners in our review, even rivaling the single burners! Altogether, the stove, fuel adaptor, windscreen, and carrying bag only weigh 7.4 pounds and measure a mere 11 inches across and 6 inches high. The stove by itself weighs 6.4 pounds and measures just 9.75 x 4.5 inches with a convenient collapsible handle on both sides for carrying. Despite these small dimensions, when unfolded there is still a generous 10.5 inches between burners, so accommodating two large pans is no problem. We also like that the carrying bag has a pocket for the fuel adaptor so it doesn't rattle and slide around during transport. If you want to stay low profile without sacrificing anything other than a few BTUs, this is a stellar option.
Convenient handles on the stove body paired with a well-conceived carrying bag make this stove a top scorer for portability.
Best Applications
If you are a car camper that wants or needs to save space and weight — maybe you have a small vehicle or always carpool or like to hike far away from the car to camp and cook — then this is a great model to consider. But we think that even those that don't have such needs or restrictions will appreciate the Basecamp because it's just a darn nice stove to use. It did everything we needed it to do in almost every situation. Everything, that is, except keep our expenses down.
Small car, small table? No problem with the Basecamp.
Value
This is not a section where we can sing the praises of this, admittedly cool, stove. $240 is a lot to pay for a two-burner. Our Editors' Choice for more than five years running, the Camp Chef Everest is only $125 at full price — and often you can find it even cheaper on sale. It also has TWICE the BTUs. So, why purchase this one? Well, if you have a little extra holiday money from Grandma and love to have the trendiest gear OR you need to shave off five pounds and reduce packed size, then this might make perfect sense. Otherwise, not so much.
Conclusion
This is a gosh darn neat stove. It boils decently, fends off the wind adequately, simmers like a dream, and packs away the smallest and lightest of all the two-burners we reviewed. It doesn't have the most impressive BTUs, and it's pricey as heck, but for someone that values compactness over everything else it very well might be a camp stove dream come true.
Basecamp feast!
