Sunday, October 31, 2010
When I went camping last weekend, I had to pull out some way to (reliably) cook food! Fire is an option, but we were getting in late, wouldn't have time to collect much kindling, and I didn't want to be hungry. So out came the camping/backpacking stove!
When I get a new piece of gear, I like to make it generally useful for many purposes, rather than having lots of different things that serve one purpose. So when I bought this stove, I wanted one that I could use car camping, but also one that I could take backpacking without having to lug something huge around. I got this at a local outdoors store (Great Outdoor Provisions), and asked the sales kid a barrage of questions about the stoves they had before settling on one I thought would serve the purpose. I wanted something lightweight, compact, versatile, relatively inexpensive but high quality, and durable. After looking at a number of stoves and fuel sources, I went with the Primus Express Stove with Piezo Ignition (ie, no matches needed).
There are a number of great things about this stove. First, it's lightweight and compact. It screws directly onto a fuel canister (see picture) and the three support arms collapse towards each other to make it flat and able to fit in a small nylon carrying bag. The piezoelectric ignition does something involving crystal lattice, matrix something, and engineering I don't get to make a nice little ignition spark with the push of a button. It works perfectly every time. It's generally stable, although I haven't used it on very uneven ground or in high winds. And it boiled water very quickly, in just a couple minutes. Although that might be helped some by this:
The little ripply things on the bottom supposedly make it heat up faster. I have no proof that it actually works, but it seemed to heat faster than I expected, it wasn't really more expensive than any other pot, the size was right, AND it came with the pot holder. I was sold. And it worked. I got the 1.7L version, which was plenty of space for a meal for 2... probably would be fine to feed 4 people. And it matches the stove, and the fuel. And we all know how much I love matching!
Overall, it needs a few more test runs in harsher conditions before I can make my final declaration, but so far, so good! Works as well as any camping stove I've ever used, is self contained, and is easy to pack! I can fit the stove, the pot holder, and a couple packets of food all inside the pot. Now that's efficiency.
Happy cooking (on the trail, of course),
Kari
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