Short answer: Both the Bethlehem Champion and the GTT Phantom are two-stage, surface-mix bench torches built for intermediate-to-advanced production work in boro and soft glass, so the choice is mostly about size and budget rather than a fundamental difference in how they work. The Champion is the larger face (36 jets, a reference price around $1,916) with a gentle, furnace-like heat that suits bigger rods and tubes. The Phantom is the smaller, lower-priced unit (22 jets, around $1,425) built on GTT’s Triple Mix design, and it is the better value if you do not need the Champion’s extra face size. If you routinely work large tube or want the widest, softest heat envelope, lean Champion; if you want a versatile production torch at a lower entry cost and like GTT’s flame chemistry, lean Phantom.
This is a head-to-head between two specific models. If you are still deciding what kind of torch to buy at all, start with the complete glass torch buyer’s guide and the best torch for borosilicate guide first.
Specs side by side
Both torches are two-stage surface-mix bench burners, so the table below is a genuine apples-to-apples layout on the structural specs. The oxygen figures are the exception and are not directly comparable; that is covered in its own section below.
| Spec | Bethlehem Champion | GTT Phantom |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Bethlehem Burners | Glass Torch Technologies (GTT) |
| Mix type | Surface mix | Surface mix (Triple Mix) |
| Mount | Bench | Bench (hand-torch version offered) |
| Stages | 2 | 2 |
| Jets | 36 (6 center + 30 outer) | 22 (7 center + 15 outer) |
| Reference price | ~$1,916 | ~$1,425 |
| Price band | High | High |
| Oxygen (estimate) | ~40 LPM full-flame consumption | ~16.5 LPM at largest usable flame |
| Fuels | Propane, natural gas, hydrogen, butane | Propane, natural gas |
| Glass | Soft and boro | Soft and boro |
| Skill level | Intermediate to advanced | Intermediate to advanced |
Prices are the makers’ own list or reference figures and move over time; confirm the current number with the maker before you buy. The jet counts come from each maker’s published layout: Bethlehem lists a 6-jet center fire plus a 30-jet outer fire (36 total) on a 1 1/8 inch (about 28.6 mm) face, and its product page also cites 78 oxygen ports; GTT builds the Phantom from a GTT Lynx 7-jet center fire inside a 15-jet outer ring (22 total).
How each torch mixes gas
The most common confusion between these two is the “premix” question, so it is worth settling first: both torches are surface mix. Neither one blends fuel and oxygen deep inside the head the way a true premix torch does. They keep the gases separate until they meet at or just past the face, which is what gives surface-mix torches their broad, forgiving flames.
GTT markets the Phantom’s flame as Triple Mix, and that name causes trouble because it sounds like a third mixing category. It is not. GTT describes the Phantom as a “completely surface mix torch,” and Triple Mix is GTT’s own name for a surface-mix design whose chemistry can be pushed across a wide range, from fuel-rich reduction through neutral and oxidizing to over-oxidizing flames. The Phantom is the first of GTT’s two-stage Triple Mix line. For the full explanation of what that chemistry does and does not mean, see GTT Triple Mix technology and the broader surface mix vs premix guide.
Bethlehem’s Champion is a stainless-steel surface-mix burner with separately controlled inner and outer flames; each stage has one gas valve and one oxygen valve, and the torch ships standard with a four-port manifold. Bethlehem states the Champion was modeled after its well-known PM2D bench burner and, in the company’s own framing, “creates flames almost identical to” that earlier burner. In other words, the Champion is Bethlehem’s redesign of a torch a lot of production shops already knew.
Flame character at the bench
The structural difference (36 jets versus 22) is really a difference in flame footprint. The Champion presents a larger face, and Bethlehem describes its low-velocity flames as bathing glass in even heat from all sides, much like a furnace, while keeping the flame workable and gentle across a wide range of fuel mixtures. That furnace-like, all-around heat is the Champion’s calling card and the reason it suits larger work: a bigger, softer heat envelope keeps big pieces evenly warm.
The Phantom’s two stages give you a GTT Lynx-style center fire plus an outer ring you can bring in for more heat and a wider flame. Running the center alone gives you a tighter, more precise flame for detail; adding the outer fire opens the envelope for heavier melting. That two-stage range is the point of the design, and it is why the Phantom reads as versatile despite its smaller face. Neither maker publishes flame-temperature figures, and we do not either, because the numbers that circulate usually compare different fuel-and-oxygen setups and are not apples-to-apples.
Size, capacity, and fuel
The clearest practical gap is capacity. Bethlehem cites the Champion as handling glass rods up to 44 mm and tubes 80 mm and larger, which puts it squarely in production and larger-tube territory. It also describes a ball-bearing scroll base that locks the torch at a chosen angle, and notes that all Bethlehem burners are stainless steel and (in Bethlehem’s own framing) stay cool to the touch. GTT does not publish a comparable maximum-diameter figure for the Phantom, so treat the Champion as the larger-capacity torch of the two and confirm your specific work size against the maker.
Fuel support is where the catalog draws a real line. The Champion runs propane, natural gas, hydrogen, and butane; the Phantom’s catalog entry lists propane and natural gas only. Do not assume the Phantom supports hydrogen or butane just because the Champion does. Both run natural gas, which matters if you have a gas line to your studio, but always match your regulator and fittings to your fuel and never swap fittings between gases.
Configuration also differs. The Phantom comes in 2-stud and 4-stud versions: the 2-stud is for when fuel and oxygen come from a single source and you do not want a foot pedal, while the 4-stud lets you turn the outer fire on and off with a foot pedal against preset valves. The Phantom is primarily a bench torch on a powder-coated steel base with two mounting holes, though GTT also offers a Phantom hand torch with a thumb switch for the outer flame. The Champion is a bench burner; plan your bench, mount, and pedal setup around whichever configuration you order.
Oxygen and gas supply, read as estimates
Oxygen is the juice that feeds the flame, not a headline buying decision, and the two oxygen numbers in the spec table are not directly comparable. They come from different measurement bases:
- The Phantom’s ~16.5 LPM is derived from GTT’s flow table at the largest usable flame on propane. It is an estimate of working-flame demand.
- The Champion’s ~40 LPM is Bethlehem’s full-flame tanked-oxygen consumption, measured at gas 5 psi and oxygen 20 psi at full flame. That is a consumption ceiling, not a minimum requirement, and not the figure you would run at for most work.
Reading the 16.5 against the 40 as if one torch needs “less than half” the oxygen of the other would be wrong, because they are not measuring the same thing. What is fair to say is that the Champion is the larger torch with the larger appetite when fully open, and both torches want a serious oxygen supply behind them for production work. Size your oxygen to the torch, and see the oxygen concentrator LPM guide for how to think about that.
Editor’s note: oxygen figures on this page are estimates drawn from each maker’s own published material on different bases (GTT’s flow table at the largest usable flame vs Bethlehem’s full-flame consumption at rated pressures). Treat them as ballpark demand, not precise or comparable specs, and confirm current numbers with the maker. Manufacturer manuals and rated pressures always take precedence over anything here.
Price and configuration
Both torches sit in the high price band. The Champion’s reference price is around $1,916 and the Phantom’s around $1,425, both manufacturer-direct figures at the time of writing. That gap of roughly five hundred dollars buys you the Champion’s larger face, larger capacity, and two extra fuels. Neither number includes the full setup: mounts, pedals, regulators, hoses, and the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for are separate, and options such as the Phantom’s hand-torch version or specific stud configuration can change the final cost. Confirm the current price and what the standard configuration includes with the maker before you commit.
Which one to buy
- Choose the Champion if you work larger rod and tube (up to 44 mm rod, 80 mm and larger tube), want the widest, gentlest furnace-like heat, or need hydrogen or butane support. It is the bigger, more capable torch, and you pay for that in both price and oxygen appetite.
- Choose the Phantom if you want a versatile two-stage production torch at a lower entry cost, like GTT’s Triple Mix flame range, or want the option of a hand-torch configuration. It is the better value when you do not need the Champion’s extra face size, and its foot-pedal 4-stud option is a real production convenience.
- Either works for intermediate-to-advanced boro and soft-glass production in the medium range; both are surface-mix, two-stage bench burners, so the day-to-day feel is more similar than the spec sheet suggests. The deciding factors are your typical work size, your fuel, and your budget.
Whichever you pick, buy the torch that matches the work you actually do most, not the largest torch you can afford, and make sure your oxygen supply can feed it before you order.
Related guides
- Best torch for borosilicate
- GTT Triple Mix technology
- Surface mix vs premix torches
- Oxygen concentrator LPM guide
- Complete glass torch buyer’s guide
Sources
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Phantom”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/phantom
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Triple Mix Torches”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/triple-mix-torches
- Bethlehem Burners, “Champion”: https://www.bethlehemburners.com/torches/champion/
- Bethlehem Burners, “Champion Glassworking Torch” (news): https://www.bethlehemburners.com/news/champion-glassworking-torch/
- Bethlehem Burners, “Technical Information”: https://www.bethlehemburners.com/resources/technical-information/