Thanks, Guys!
Regulated stoves are great for >32F temps. Gas flow rates, where evap cooling often cools the can further (unless you use the higher percentage propane mixes) and sometimes drives the pressure down faster than the regulator can maintain full flame. Ice on the outside of the can will usually indicate falling pressure. The old Soto add in ice water is a bit misleading. Any liquid water, with or without ice in it, will let the can produce OK pressure. To me, regulators are simply added complexity (unrepairable in the field) and weight (though, mostly I agree that the half to quarter ounce weight difference is not very important.)
Too bad the BRS-3000 is such low quality. While I never bought one, I appreciate the unreliability report. Over 50% support structure failure (4 out of 7) is simply unacceptable. Nice to know. As you said, a failure in the field could be dangerous. To me, this is enough to fail the stove let alone put it at the top of the list. .
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