New Zealand camping badge Zempire has launched one of the slimmest, most portable camp stoves on the US market. The new Stealth-Jet stove series packs down flat and slim for easy transport, even in the most tightly packed micro-campers, firing out up to 10,000 BTUs of cooking power per burner to ensure that weary, hungry road-trippers can sit down to a hot meal in minutes. The Stealth-Jet isn’t quite the all-out sveltest car camping stove on the market, but it out-slims the vast majority.
At a flat 2 inches (5 cm) thick when closed and ready to carry, the Stealth-Jet stove is slimmer than any other camping stove of which we’re aware, except for the GSI Pinnacle Pro 2, which still measures in at a 1.4-in (3.6-cm) thickness that’s as impressive now as when the stove launched in 2020.
While the Pinnacle Pro has its own unique form with a flat lid, folding pot grate and folding legs, the Stealth-Jet takes on more of a traditional form with clamshell lid, fixed pot grate and flat base. Not that there’s anything wrong with GSI’s design, just worth noting that Zempire creates an ultra-thinned version of the traditional dual-burner form.
Zempire
Beyond the Pinnacle Pro, Stealth-Jet dual-burner stoves undercut every other slimline dual-burner against which we compared specs, including the 2.4-in (6-cm) Kovea Twin Slim Lite and the 3.2-in (8.1-cm) Primus Alika. Most dual-burner stoves measure over 3 inches (7.6 cm) thick, including Zempire’s older 4-in-thick (10.1-cm) DLX dual-burner.
Does that inch or two really matter? Not necessarily, but we’ve dealt with enough overfilled storage boxes and stuck, overloaded truck drawers when camping to know that smaller and slimmer is always better, even when you think you have plenty of space. A stove this slim could easily fit where others might not, such as under the flip-up backseat of a truck, in a tote bag loaded with other provisions, or in a front seat back pocket:
Zempire
As far as getting work done, the Stealth-Jet puts out up to 10,000 BTUs per burner and features individual output dials for each. A pull-start piezo system provides for simple, hassle-free lighting without the need for a match or lighter. The single-piece potholder grate includes 4.7-in-diameter (12-cm) rings directly over the burner and removes for easy stovetop cleaning.
Zempire
As with typical stoves of this style, the lid flips up to work as a rear wind wall and backsplash, and side windscreens fold out to protect the flames from all the sides you’re not standing on. The stove relies on a standard 1-lb propane bottle, secured with the included screw-on adaptor.
The Stealth-Jet series includes three different stove sizes, all of which measure the same 2 inches thick when packed. The US$170 Twin dual-burner measures 18.5 in wide by 12 in deep (47 x 31 cm) and weighs just over 8.5 lb (3.8 kg). The $210 Stealth-Jet Wide maintains the 12-in depth but stretches width out to 23 in (59 cm) for more cooking space, increasing total weight to 10.8 lb (4.9 kg). The $130 Solo single-burner measures 12.2 x 12.2 in (31 x 31 cm) and weighs 5.6 lb.
Zempire
Over the past few years, we’ve noticed Zempire gear showing up more and more on the American market, including at REI, and that appears to be because the company took over its own US distribution from a third party distributor in 2024. The company has some interesting options in camping furniture, inflatable tents and other categories, in addition to its stove lineup.
Source: Zempire
