Reviewed by: woebegone(Unregistered User)
,
Backpacker
, from Arlington, VA.
Price Paid:
$120.00
at Pro Mountain Sports, Summary:
Field conditions:
I tested the Primus Alpine Titanium for 158 consecutive days during my 2001 Appalachian Trail thru-hike. I boiled a liter of water in the morning for coffee and oatmeal and another in the evening for a boil and simmer meal, i.e. Lipton’s dinners. Elevations varied from 200’ near the Hudson River in New York, to nearly 5,000’ in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina / Tennessee, and in The White Mountains National Forest in New Hampshire. The coldest day of my trip was about +14° in G.S.M.N.P. in late April.
About the stove:
Over the years I’ve used many backpack stoves, gradually upgrading as the technology advanced. I had never tried a canister top stove until I began choosing gear for my 2001 Appalachian Trail thru-hike. I relied on white gas stoves, in particular M.S.R.’s Whisperlite, which I decided would be too heavy and bulky to carry over 2000 miles. Another problem with the Whisperlite is that it will not simmer. While it will come to a rolling boil in around three minutes, you must then remove the pot cover to keep it from boiling over, wasting energy and fuel. This is alright if you are only boiling water as with freeze-dried meals, but not good for cheaper Lipton type meals which must actually be cooked.
The Primus Alpine Titanium is very probably the lightest canister top stove available, at 2.5oz / 71gm. w/o the piezo igniter. The stove folds to 3.5” X 2.5” X .75”. (8cm X 6cm X 2cm) and along with an 8oz fuel canister, fits inside a 1.3 liter pot with room to spare. Three folding, serrated pot supports spread around the circumference of the stove then unfold to 2 7/8” in length, creating a 6” diameter cooking surface. These are the best pot supports I’ve seen on an ultra-light stove, nearly 9” of metal-to-metal contact between the supports and the pot bottom compared to 4” or 5“ for the Snowpeak Giga-Power, and three tiny sharp points for M.S.R.’s Pocket Rocket. The Primus also sits a bit lower than the others, improving stability further.
The flame pattern is the widest and best distributed available in an ultra-light stove, creating no hot spots or scorched pasta. But at full power it blazes like a blowtorch. It is rather loud, and a little bit embarrassing in a group of silent alcohol stove users, until you realize that you’re consuming ½ to 1/4 of their fuel requirements per meal, eating quicker & hotter meals, and won’t have to worry about fuel again for 8 to 10 days. I’ve always found the roar of a dependable camp stove reassuring at the end of a long, cold day of exploring. Once you’ve reached a roiling boil the barest candle flame will still blow the lid off your cook pot! Flame control is quick and precise.
The fuel control stem is less than an inch long, and comes equipped with a nifty wooden knob. I’ve been told this is because a more common plastic knob would melt. My wooden knob fell off soon after I began my trip, and the Primus representative at Trail Days didn’t have a replacement in his bag of tricks. He replaced it with a plastic knob he’d cannibalized off of a cheaper demo stove he had and installed it for me. I’ve experienced no discomfort using this control knob and no, the plastic knob is neither melted or singed!
This stove comes with a detachable piezo-electric igniter. This device slides into two parallel slots in the stove body but does not latch securely in place…..easily lost and not very dependable in the best of times. You will want to carry a multi-purpose tool like a butane lighter anyway, so why carry both? (be sure to carry your lighter close to your body in cold weather!) Another drawback to so small a stove is the lack of an effective wind screen. Anyone who tells you that a couple of tiny ribs on the stove burner is effective is trying to sell your their stove! I started out using a roll of aluminum I’d cut from the bottom of a large roasting pan, about 8” X 20” and secured in place with extra tent stakes around the windward side of my stove set-up. I soon abandoned the fancy set up and restricted my cooking to the sheltered spot under my tent’s vestibule or in a trail shelter or even behind a log, eliminating a couple of steps and a couple of ounces. If you choose to employ a wind screen, do not use it to completely surround your stove, (1/2 to 2/3s coverage on the windward side is sufficient), The fuel canister may overheat and EXPLODE!!! Proper wind shielding results in significant fuel savings! Customer Service:
I've had no problems at all with this stove. The folks at Pro Mountain Sports are real pros (Hence the name I suppose) A manufacturer rep at Trail Days in Damascus, VA. happily cannibalized one of his demo stoves to replace a lost control knob. (Thanx) Similar Products Used:
I've used similar canister top stoves by Mountain Safety Research and Snow Peak. While the Primus stove costs considerably more than these others, I feel it is a supiorior stove in many ways including
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