Is the remote canister PrimeTech stove the perfect 2 person stove?

PrimeTech Stove Set is the ultimate camping stove for performance minded hikers.

PROS

• Lightweight
• Excellent pan grabber
• Relatively quick boil times
• Good for cooking ‘proper meals’

CONS

• Pans nest very tightly
• Needs some tool cut outs in the pan grabber for field repairs.

We’ve reviewed a several Primus stoves, such a pedigree and impeccable Swedish design mean they are a popular choice for climbers, trekkers and the general camping public. We’ve looked at a full range from the basecamp specific Onja, the bivvy savvy Primus Lite+ to the über light Micron Tech and found them all to work pretty well in the field.

The Primus PimeTech stove continues that trend – it is a 2 pan, remote canister stove that is suited to lightweight basecamp or small group cooking and has a set of useful features that will make cooking a simple or even gourmet meal an efficient affair (which is what you want after a hard day’s climbing or trekking).

The Primus PrimeTech stove is a remote canister stove – what does that mean? The gas canister sits away from the stove and is connected to the burner via a tube. Those of you who have experience of using a multi fuel stove will be familiar with this type of stove. There are several advantages that a remote canister stove has over a direct attachment: the whole set up is much more stable (no wobbly pans of boiling water toppling over you as they vibrate on the boil), you can happily stir away at that gourmet sauce you are wowing your friends with, the gas flow is a little more stable as it has more time before it gets to the burner. The stability thing is the main benefit though, especially on rocky and uneven ground.

The Primetech stove comes with two pans: one has a familiar heat exchanger type pan that is now becoming more common with all makes of stove. This one also has a non stick coating and is the most used pan. Another, slightly smaller pan nests inside this and has an anodised finished to it as well as embossed fluid measures (both pans have this and is measured in litres). Both of these rest on the large stove unit that containers the burner, the pan rests (which neatly fold out if you want to use a different pan like a frying pan on the stove). One of the main issues I had with the PrimeTech stove is the way the 2 pans nested together: The anodised pan nested very tightly inside the non stick one – this proved difficult to remove at times and eventually some of the non stick has scratched away. It would have been much better to have the pans nested the other way around.

Both pans sit inside the burner but not as neatly as I would expect. The connector tube always seemed to get in the way and I found it difficult to pack the stove away as neatly as I felt it should go. I’m pretty sure that it came well packed but in all the time I have tested it I couldn’t find a way to get the connector tube to sit in a way so the lid would sit neatly on top.

This wasn’t too much of an issue for travel as the PrimeTech stove comes with a padded bag that cinches the whole stove up tightly for packing in a backpack. This makes carrying the stove quiet in transit (very little annoying clanking around).  The acrylic lid has a good spread of handy draining holes, it seats neatly on both pans and a large cut out for the excellent pan grab handle. This really is one of the best pan grab handles I have used; it is spring loaded and locks tightly onto the pan reducing the risk that you may drop the pan due to it being loaded with boiling water. I would have liked to have seen some tool cut outs on the handle so that the stove could be field repaired as one of the big disadvantages of a remote canister stoves is that the tube can become blocked up and if this becomes a real issue you need some way of removing the tube to unblock it.

And so to cooking on the Primus PrimeTech stove. The stove tested was a  regulated stove, even so I had to almost completely open the valve fully before gas comes through to the burner unit. The flame is lit using the supplied piezo lighter (a very handy bit of kit as it’s separate from the stove) and the flame spread is as good as any stove in the Primus range. There is some basic flame control using the valve but it isn’t as good as a regulated valve so you will need to keep an eye on the flame. Unless you are boiling water (for which there are much more efficient stoves) you will need to have the flame on very low as the pans are aluminium and thin bottomed (this is an issue with all pans in camping sets). If you are not vigilant you will end up with burned food on the bottom of the pan – be warned!

In conclusion, the Primus PrimeTech stove is a good stove and a versatile system for group trekking or basecamp cooking. It’s light enough to carry for those who prefer to cook proper meals as opposed to freeze dried ones. There are still, however, a few niggly problems that although quite minor detract from the positives. If you want further flame control then you might be better looking at the regulated version, this will make the unit heavier and more expensive. That said the stove is one of the better remote canister currently on the market and if this is the style of stove you prefer for your expedition then it’s worth some further research.

The Primus Primetech stove comes in 2 sizes 1.3L and the larger 2.3L

SRP: £115 (1.3L) and £130 (2.3L)

Stockists

Dave Sarkar has tested and reviewed climbing, mountaineering and outdoor equipment for over 10 years. He works as a qualified MIA both in the UK and Internationally: working as a mountaineering instructor and expedition leader for his company Wild Spaces. When he isn’t working in the mountains he’s playing in the mountains and enjoys all aspects climbing and mountain sports whether bouldering at his local crag or ice climbing; as long as he’s going upwards he’s happy!