The interesting one in GSI's stove line. Instead of an open gas flame the Pinnacle Radiant uses a ceramic burner rated at 7,100 BTU/h, which spreads heat across the pan rather than concentrating it in a ring — the difference between a pancake that cooks evenly and one that burns in a circle. The burner is wind-shielded as part of the design, not with a bolt-on screen, and GSI state a precise low-heat simmer control for everything from boiling down to slow cooking.

11 x 8.6 x 3.6 inches and 3.6 lb — the only stove in GSI's range where they publish a weight. Self-lighting ignition. Aluminum, brass, steel, ABS, rubber, polypropylene and ceramic.

GSI claim up to 30% greater fuel efficiency for it. They do not say compared to what, so take that as their marketing rather than a measured figure.

Fuel: butane

This takes the standard tall butane canister — the roughly 8 oz cylinder sold in multipacks at hardware stores, Asian groceries and camping shops, the same one that feeds a tabletop butane burner. Loading it takes a second once you have done it once: line up the tab on the can collar with the notch in the side bay, drop the can in, then flip the lever. The lever pushes the can onto the valve, seats it and locks it there. No threads to cross, and you can feel it click home.

GSI do not print the cartridge spec on their own listing, but this is the common can — if you already own a tabletop butane burner, the cans in your cupboard will fit this stove.

Butane in the cold — our experience, not GSI's

Butane loses pressure as the temperature drops, and here is what that actually looks like at a campsite rather than on a spec sheet. The flame goes small and stays small. Shake the stove and it flares up for a few seconds as the liquid sloshes around, then settles straight back down to almost nothing. You end up shaking it every minute or two to keep anything moving in the pan. It is not dangerous — it is just miserable, and breakfast takes forty minutes.

If you cook below about 40°F with any regularity, a propane stove or an isobutane canister stove is the right tool and we carry both. Butane is the one to own for fair-weather camping, tailgating and the back yard, where it is cheap, clean and dead simple.

GSI describe this stove as suited to temperate conditions, and on the evidence that is a fair description rather than a hedge.

Where it sits against the Selkirk 270: both are single-burner butane stoves, and despite being $15 cheaper this one is the higher-specified of the two — 7,100 BTU/h against 5,300, a ceramic burner, a built-in windshield, and stated simmer control. The Selkirk 270 is narrower and has a die-cast base built for large pots. Buy the Radiant for cooking, the Selkirk for boiling.

Safety — please read before you buy

This stove is for outdoor use only. Never use it in a tent, a vestibule, a vehicle, a house, or any enclosed area. It produces carbon monoxide, a gas with no odor and no color, and improper use can cause suffocation, poisoning or death. Never block airflow to the burner or to the stove's venting. It can ignite nearby materials and flammable liquids or vapors, so keep the stove and the fuel away from other heat sources. Never let children operate it, and keep them at least 10 feet away from the cooking area.

A note on where that safety text comes from: GSI's own page for this stove carries only two safety sentences and never mentions carbon monoxide at all. Every other stove in their line carries the full outdoor-use-only warning above. We have put it on this listing too, because a butane stove produces exactly the same carbon monoxide as the rest of them and we are not willing to sell one without saying so.

Care

Hand wash with warm, soapy water and dry thoroughly; avoid abrasive cleaners. Let the stove cool completely first, and check that the burner ports are clear and the fuel fitting is clean and undamaged before every trip.

Which GSI stove takes which fuel

GSI's camp stoves split into three fuel families that do not interchange, and their own listings never lay this out in one place. Ours does:

• Threaded isobutane canister — the screw-on 110 g and 230 g canisters. Glacier Camp Stove, Glacier Canister-Top Stove, Glacier Remote Stove.
• Butane cartridge — Pinnacle Radiant, Selkirk 270.
• Propane — Pinnacle Pro 2-Burner, Selkirk 460+, Selkirk 540+.

Two adapters bridge between them: the Butane-Isobutane Adapter lets a butane cartridge feed an isobutane stove, and the 5 ft Propane Adapter Hose lets a Type-1 propane appliance run off a refillable 5–20 lb tank instead of disposable bottles. Both are listed separately.