Forgive me Lord, for I have sinned....again. Not content with the tremendous sin of selling Arwen, I have now betrayed the faith; the holy bond with my forty year old trangia stove! I have sinned. Transgressed. Traitorised myself!
My Trangia stove, battered, dented, somewhat off colour, has accompanied me to the top of Kilimanjaro and Mt. Blanc. It has seen duty on countless mountain camps and walks across the British Isles. It has been part of Arwen's galley box set up for fifteen years dinghy cruising!
But, now as I transition from dinghy cruising to astronomy and astrophotography, I need a different set up. Trekking along stretches of coastline or across moorland to a secret destination for a night shoot, carrying lenses, cameras, star tracker and tripods, the weight of other equipment such as clothing, safety kit and cooking gear carried becomes an issue!
The Trangia, as much as I adore it, is a little too much for what I now need. It will remain in a galley box and will be used when I do stargazing from the back of the car.
So, I have sinned. I got a Primus Lite+ stove for my birthday present!
Shock, horror, the world is ending! He has succumbed to the lure of the 'all in one' stove!
So why have I done this?
Firstly, I wanted a lightweight stove system. Something integrated but light weight; giving fast boiling of water. Easy and quick to set up or put away. I often walk a fair way to get to a good location that I have scouted previously. After shooting, I may move location slightly and do it all again in the same session. I want to be able to pack and unpack equipment quickly. Mobility, time efficiency and safety are the key things here.
The Primus Lite+ meets these requirements.
The stove is an integrated 'all in one gas' design; small pack size and a lightweight 400gs. The pot is 0.5l capacity and its a one-person stove set up. On my initial tests out in a windy garden, my stove boiled water in 2' 30"s. The heat exchanger affair at the base of the pot is clever. Apparently it distributes the heat evenly across the base of the pot which results in a faster boil and the use of far less gas.
Fuel efficient and a smart design, it is built of high quality materials. Typical Primus quality!
The anodised pot has an integrated pouring spout and built in heat exchanger at the base. The lid is plastic and has a strainer inbuilt. This also allows steam to escape as water boils. Stepped, the lid is easy to remove to check the water (or noodles!) Its actual function is, a small mug or bowl!
Insulated by a cork lined fabric sleeve which closes with velcro, the pot is easy to handle when removing it from the burner assembly. Even when the contents inside are boiling, this insulated sleeve protects your hands. A brilliantly effective idea. The handle is a sturdy, secure, strap affair which can be folded over the top of the lid to store everything safely inside the pot (or used to hang it using the supplied cord loop, from a convenient branch). Attached to the handle are three little screw pins, more about these later.
The burner unit screws into a gas canister. Triangular in shape, with piezo ignition, its a laminar flow burner giving a 1500w flame. The piezo ignition works well, and the large wire handle to turn the gas on and off gives good simmer control as well. Two presses of the piezo ignition system and instant flame. The triangular joint connection to the pot is ingenious and so simple to use. The pot attaches and detaches with ease. What I couldn't work out was whether to have the full pot already attached and then light the stove or light the stove first and then attach the pot. I tried both ways with no problem at all, but I think I preferred the light first approach.
Frankly, the whole set up is low profile, with a low centre of gravity. Stable, safe; helped by the included fold out triangular base leg system that attaches to the gas canister. Cool down time, by the way, was around ten minutes but that will depend on the conditions on the night won't it?
What about those three pins? Well, they screw into the three holes on the burner unit. You can then use a bigger pot on the stove. Ideal, if like me, you might be tempted on a longer night out to do a 'boil in the bag' camping meal. I can use one of my very lightweight trangia pots for this. Something I couldn't do on the 'Jetboil Flash', which was the other stove system I looked at.
So what don't I like about it after testing it a few times in the garden?
Not much actually. And that's a rare thing as I'm not that easily pleased when it comes to outdoor gear.
Those pins on the attached handle make it difficult to fold the handle over the pot for secure storage. They scratch the mug lid as well. When separating the burner unit from the pot, there isn't much to grab hold of which isn't hot - so you have to hold the gas cylinder and twist. As I said, it separates very easily so that doesn't seem to be a problem in reality.
In conclusion, I like the portability and lightweightness of the stove. Everything including a 100g gas cylinder packs down into the pot. Materials are sturdy; the design is robust, thoughtful and modern. Its certainly efficient in boiling water even in windy conditions. Set up time is literally 30 seconds max - take things out of the pot, screw the burner and gas cartridge together; fill the pot, put it on top and light! Primus have an outstanding reputation - a proven track record in good outdoor gear design, reliability and quality. build quality seems excellent although I haven't tested it for a few months have I! I will do a follow up post script after a summer using it. Is it a gourmet stove? No! Boil a fast cuppa; buy the coffee press and fresh delicious smelling coffee on tap. Head up some noodles and sauce; possibly tiny amount of pasta or rice. Cuppa soups a definite! Porridge in the early morning. Use those little pins and a bigger pan - then definitely a boil in the bag meal no problem.
Some of you may say it is overkill. A flask of tea is fine. But I say to you, imagine this - sat on a cliff, watching the milky way pass overhead, hearing your DSLR clicking away and in the background, the quite reassuring, comforting roar of a primus lite+; the bubbling of hot water and then a really HOT cuppa or stomach warming noodles! Nectar of the Gods.
Perfection!
Meanwhile, my faithfully, much adored and treasured Trangia will still be used - in its galley box - out the back of the car. I could never fully transfer my stove allegiance. Way too many memories to do that!
Notes:
Copyright on photos above - Peak Mountaineering
I found two review sites useful when researching what stove to buy:
https://www.peakmountaineering.com/primus-lite-plus-stove-review/
https://outdoorsmagic.com/article/primus-lite-plus-stove-system-review/
Here is the stove in action:
