Primus EtaExpress Stove

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

After all of the hype over this stove, I'm pretty disappointed. But I'll start with what I liked about it:It does have a feel of quality to it, as opposed to the more mass-production feel of the Jetboil. Here’s the pros:- Lever action piezo ignitor, that makes it easy to start without tipping it over, like the push-button variety.- Valve opens up more than the Jetboil, giving you more control over the setting.- The valve portion seems sturdily built overall. Moreso than the Jetboil.- Titanium coating.- Better sizing than the Jetboil. Same volume, but not so tall and deep. It will hold a 220g fuel canister.- It has a handle, instead of a neoprene cozy.- It has a real lid (not plastic), that doubles as a frying pan.All sounds pretty good, but now for the test:I didn’t carefully record the test conditions, because I was mainly comparing the difference boiling with and without wind. But here’s some approximates. The same conditions existed in both instances, except for the wind.Air temp: ~75 degAltitude: 4974 ft.Water temp: just cold tap water. Constant throughout test.Wind velocity: 8-10 mphWater volume: 1 LiterValve setting: one ¼ turnTime to boil with no wind: 6 min.Time to boil with wind: Don’t know. After 25 min I gave up.I tried to boil again, without wind, with the valve on full-blast, after about six minutes I gave up. Even on the low valve setting, the 100 g fuel canister was almost empty after about 37 minutes of burn time.Conclusion: The windscreen is nearly useless. This is partly to due to the burner being placed so far below the pot.I don’t know what REI’s test conditions were. You might be able to boil 14 liters at low setting, but not at 2:30 per liter. It’s either speed or efficiency, but not both. Other problems:- Not very stable. Shaky, even in a low wind. - It doesn’t work with any of Primus’ larger heat-exchanger pots. The pot support is too small. So if you need to boil larger volumes of water, you’ll need to buy a separate stove. The Jetboil is much more versatile.- The carrying bag is too small, making it hard to get the unit in and out. The Jetboil idea is better. You can fit pretty much everything neatly inside the unit, plus you have a cup. I’m going back to the Jetboil. Not perfect, but it’s the best thing out there so far for my needs. [@]

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

Used the stove 4 days this past weekend.

- Area: Mt Rogers/Grayson Highland, VA
- Elevation: 4,500 - 5,300 feet
- Conditions: Windy (20-30 mph) to calm
- Temp: 45-60

I was very pleased with the results of the stove and would highly recommend it. My old stove is a Snow Peak Giga that I'm very pleased with, but I wanted something with a quicker boil time. This stove proved to boil water very fast and beat my Snow Peak hands down.

Everybody has different expection, so I thought I would list mine:
- I don't believe they make a stove that will not be effected by wind. Of course the performance of this stove was less during the windy conditions, but I made the adjustments to position behind a object to block the wind (ie. tent, boulder, etc). Making this adjustment minimized the wind effect.
- A lightweight backpacking stove is not going to be very stable, so it's important to pick a flat surface and pay attention to the stove. I thought this stove performed as well as any other in it's category.
- I didn't expect to get sub 3 minute boil times and 14 liters per canister. Outdoor conditions are always going to effect performance regardless of the stove. I was pleased that the stove out performed others in it's class and I would highly recommend.

As a side note, I had a friend do a similar test with the same stove this weekend and he was also very pleased.

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

I recently took this stove system on my 25 day trek on the John Muir Trail plus some in California. Standard elevation uses was somewhere between 8000-14000 feet (made hot cocoa on top of Mt. Whitney!). Since there were three of us going, with some of meals requiring multiple boils to get all the homemade dehydrated meals (as in harmony house, rice, and some sort of meat) hydrated, we originally packed 6 fuel canisters to get us through 25 days. Our thinking was that a) it wouldn't perform to test standards b) the altitude will make a difference in burn times c) we may just end up using more fuel than expected. We only used three fuel canisters for 25 days of backpacking! We made oatmeal and tea for breakfast every morning requiring two boils and then dinner at night which usually required 2-3 boils. I saw a friend with the Jetboil and decided to look into buying one of these stoves for my trip. After comparing the two, I really liked how the fuel canister fits inside the primus stove. I also liked how the pot was wider and not as deep, seemed like if you were actually cooking something like pasta (which we did a couple nights), the cooking would be more even. Cleaning the pot was so simple! It literally wiped clean with a bandana in the water. By the end of our trip, the ignitor button stopped working and we had to resort to lighting it with a lighter, but that is a part that's expected to wear out and easily and cheaply replaceable. We even had a boil-off with some friends we met who had the jet boil, granted it is dependent on the amount of fuel in your canister, but we totally won! My only big complaint is that this may not be the best stove for colder weather. Even when we hit temps of 30-40, we spent a considerable amount of time warming the canister up because the time to boil with cold fuel is significantly longer. But this applies to all iso-pro stove systems, including the jet boil. If you're trying to decide between the jetboil and this stove, go with this one!

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

Stove and accompanying cookware it pretty top notch. The windscreen worked well in breezy conditions in the catskills and along the hudson, the stove was stable enough as long as you didn't go trying to scrap the bottom of the pot while it was on the stove.

Boiled water quickly, I could actually simmer food on it. I didn't get to try the frying pan yet though.

My only complaint is the stuff sack for the stove is way too small. Getting the pot and stove into and out of the sack is very frustrating.

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

I bought this stove when it first came out about 6 months or so ago.
I happened to see it reviewed in backpacker magazine and thought wow its faster than the MSR Reactor! So I had to try it.
I used it in Yosemite in March when it was still in the 30's
Im going to guess it boiled water around 3-4 minutes or so not timed. I had it about medium high so it was pretty decent for hot chocolate.
Reading others reviews its not the best stove ever, wind will affect it so its best to position the stove so it gets the least wind.
Over all its a nice fast stove and its above my MSR pocket rocket and Supafly.

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

I really couldn't be happier with this stove. It all packs up neatly into the pot, with the frying pan as the lid. Inside you can fit the pot holder, wind screen, burner, and a small fuel canister. It's lightweight for what it is and packs nicely.

I've used it on a couple of trips so far and it has impressed each time. Lighted up right away for me every time. Boils water way faster than I expected.

No complaints at all. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

this stove preformed great! above all expectations! i bought the stove without the cook ware so i cant comment about it but this stove was a mini jet on steroids! ultralight weight and fast! had 1L of water boiling in 2 minutes! very efficent, a 220g tant lasted me 4 days of boiled water for breakfast and dinner. only complaint is poor temp control. its settings are full blast and off. also when it got a tiny bit cold the flame would start sputtering and be very low. but overall very great stove!

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

This thing is the jetboil on steroids, I boiled 2 cups of water in 1:45 in about 30 degree weather, there are currently no cons that I have noticed about the product, but I'm looking.

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

What a great system! Just boiled my first liter of water in 2 min, 45 seconds at 5300' elevation! Heat is focused on the pot and the whole system is incredibly thermally efficient. Hardly any heat felt on the side of the pot.

Comments about Primus EtaExpress Stove:

The first time I fired up my ETA Primus was at Cran Flat campground in Yosemite, the ambiance air temperature was 42F, lightly wind. I was very pleased with the compact, ultra light Primus and easy to operate with a touch of Piezo igniter. At 7000 feet, it took 1 minute 45 seconds to boils a full pot of water, I can also simmer to cook my gourmet meals without using the windscreen
However without the foot support, if you cook with a large pot or pan, it is easily tipping over. The gas canisterand the windscreen fit nicely inside the pot and the entire units fit tighly inside the mesh pouch.
This Primus stove is indispensable for a short hike or an overnight backpacking trip.