Hi Dan
>> A largish paperclip is not tempered, wont hold tight into the holes. Will twist out when you least expect it, especially when you’re trying to shut off the gas supply.
That does depend on the paper clip, doesn’t it? The wire used for paper clips has have some spring in it in order to hold bits of paper together. But what also matters is the gauge of the wire: thin wire is weaker than thick wire, so many small clips may be just too weak for this job. You need a big one.

I think the stoves are all fairly recognisable. They are all in regular use: I cycle through them. I have added the measured wire thicknesses as appropriate.
The GST-100 on the left middle has a phosphor bronze handle on it, and it has been in use for years like that. The wire is however fairly thick and springy. (Phosphor bronze is used as a non-rusting spring wire.) I can’t remember what happened to the original handle.
The wire on the FMS at the back may be a bit more springy than a paper clip. It works fine.
The original handle (not attached) for the BRS-3000T at the front is the same as for the FMS at the back. (Did it come from the same spring works? Who knows.) The very long handle currently on the BRS is a bent paper clip which I just set up for the photo. It suffers from being the thinnest wire of the lot and far too long, but it still works and does shut the gas off. If I was serious about using it I would have made it a bit shorter – and a lot neater too! But really if I had to make an extension handle, I would have used the 1.6 mm PB wire.
I think Jon has answered the Q about needing to supply a longer handle. I will only add that the thermal mass of the part of the windshield which might be briefly in contact with the user’s hand is very small. Even if at 100 C I doubt whether it would harm the user’s skin. I am not sure the user would even notice it. Glowing bright red – yeah, different situation.
Cheers