This is a review of the new Primus Lite+ all-in-one camping stove. For other camping stoves, see here.
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Pros
Small pack size (smallest all-in-one stove)
Lightweight (second lightest all-in-one)
Well designed and best looking all-in-one stove
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Cons
Not as fast as Jetboil
Risk of handle overheating
Canister support doesn’t fit inside
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Included in the package
- Stove unit with piezo electric lighter and pot locking mechanism.
- 650ml aluminium cooking pot with felt insulation sleeve.
- Plastic lid which doubles as a small cup.
- Hanging kit, gas canister support and screws which allow you to use other pots with the stove.
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Design
The Lite Plus is, for the most part, a really well thought out stove. The quality and feel of the stove are excellent. It’s easy to use, the stove locks on and unscrews easily (many others don’t), the lid fits snugly and the whole thing looks beautiful, like a stove made by Brooks England.
The Primus Lite+ has two slogans attached to it: a ‘unique locking system’ and ‘Laminar Flow Burner Technology’. The unique locking system former basically means that the stove has a neat triangular design on top that locks into the pot with a twist. It’s not revolutionary but it’s neat and works well. The Laminar Flow Burner Technology is some engineering jiggery pokery with the net result that the stove is shorter. That means the pot is closer to the ground, the centre of gravity lower and the chances of you spilling your dinner reduced. This is a genuine problem with larger and taller all-in-one stoves which pot supports only go some way to addressing.
If you want to use another cooking pot (i.e. one that doesn’t screw on) then there are three small screws provided (neatly stored on the handle when not in use). You screw them into the top of the stove to provide small stilts on which a different pan can sit.
The lid is a large plastic of the sort used in Primus’ Eta pans and of which I am already a fan. It’s solid, stays cool enough that you can remove it with your hands even after boiling and is just about large enough for a very small cup of tea. About 250ml.
The included gas canister support is a folding set of legs that fit around the base of a canister to make it more stable. With a tall, thin pot it’s definitely worth having. Unfortunately, one of my few criticisms of the Lite+ is that although the canister support fits inside the pot, it doesn’t do so when there’s a gas canister in there too. It’s not a big deal, just an inconvenience, but then convenience is one of the beauties of these all-in-one stoves.
The lid is held in place when not in use by a strap on the outside of the felt sleeve. When in use, the straps attaches to the side of the pot with a metal buckle and makes a handy handle. However, I did notice that the buckle sometimes hangs low enough to the burner that the metal heats up which is not a good feature to have in a handle.
The stove comes with a pot support: plastic legs that attach to the bottom of a gas canister to make it more stable. Unfortunately, the support only fits inside the pot when there’s no gas canister inside which is a bit annoying. MSR’s pot support, however, will fit inside even with a gas canister in there.
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Cooking time and efficiency
Aside from convenience and ease of use, the other big advantage to all-in-one stoves is the speed with which they boil water and, thus, their efficiency. With a heat exchanger on the bottom of the pot which doubles as a windshield, the perfect fitting of stove and pan, and the felt sleeve that insulates the pot, the Lite+ does indeed heat water faster than a regular stove would which means you get your coffee quicker (optional press available) and use less gas.
However, in a head-to-head test against my friend’s Jetboil MiniMo, the Lite+ came out significantly slower.
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Size and Weight
The Lite+ is the third lightest all-in-one camping stove and well below the average weight.
- Primus Lite+ weight: 390g / 14oz
- Average all-in-one stove weight: 487g / 17.1oz (based on all 15 stoves here)
- Lightest all-in-one stoves: Jetboil Flash 345g/12oz, Primus Lite 360g/13oz
Unless you’re an ultralight purist, however, a few grams here or there won’t make a huge difference. Of more interest, personally, is the pack size. The only all-in-one stove smaller than the Lite+ is the regular Primus Lite which is 2cm shorter by virtue of having a cheaper, flat lid.
- Primus Lite+ pack size: 15 x 10cm / 6 x 4in.
- Average all-in-one stove size: 17.3 x 13.3cm / 7 x 5in (based on all 15 stoves here)
- Next smallest all-in-one stoves: Primus Lite 13x10cm/5x4in, Jetboil Zip 17x10cm/7x4in
This, of course, is largely due to the fact that the Lite+ also has the smallest volume: officially, its capacity is 500ml (17oz), however, it easily takes at least 650ml (22oz). I imagine the lower value is reported because there’s a risk of boiling over when filled to the top. You can only get two small mugs of tea out of it but if you’re camping solo then this stove surely makes more sense than the larger alternatives. It really is a neat little package.
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Summary
Overall, I’m impressed with the Lite+ and really like it. I’ve used quite a few all-in-one stoves and, for whatever reason, this one is probably my favourite. It just works really well.
It’s a shame that it doesn’t cook as fast as the Jetboils but it’s still way quicker than a regular stove. And it’d be nice if they re-designed the canister support so that it fitted inside the pot. But it is otherwise a well designed camping stove, that works well, packs away small and – if you’re bothered about such things – looks really classy.
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Where to Buy
The Primus Lite+ is stocked in the UK by:
In the US, the Lite+ is not widely stocked but can be found from $80 on Amazon.com.
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Primus Eta Solo vs Lite+
Primus’ first all-in-one stove was the Primus Eta Solo which you can still find online but is no longer made. Apparently, some legal wranglings mean that Primus can no longer use the ‘Eta’ bit of the name. Regardless of the reason for the name change though, the old Eta Lite is a completely different stove from the new Primus Lite and newer Lite+. Unhelpfully, some websites incorrectly add sell a ‘Primus Eta Lite’ which is the wrong name for the Primus Lite. The easiest way to check which one you’re getting is to look at the pictures, the Lite+ has a neat triangular stove whereas the Eta Solo is a large plastic tripod:
Primus Lite vs Primus Lite+:
The Primus Lite+ is a revamped, premium version of the older Primus Lite stove. The two differences you get with the Lite+ are the fancy Fjallraven G-1000 fabric sleeve rather than the regular felt and a larger sipper cup lid instead of a flat plastic one. Otherwise, they are the same stove.
Primus Lite+ vs Jetboil
The Jetboil stoves were the first of their kind, the first ‘all-in-one’ stoves. There have been many imitations but the Lite+ is one of the better ones. In part because they’ve tried to be a bit different, not just ripping off Jetboil.
The Lite+ is similar in size and weight to the entry level Jetboil Zip. The Zip is a tiny bit lighter but a tiny bit bigger. The Jetboils tend to be faster than the Lite+ whilst Primus claim the Lite+ is more efficient (I’ve not tested this myself and don’t quite understand how that could be but I wouldn’t pretend to be an expert). But it’s still really fast at boiling water and much quicker than a regular stove.
The Primus Lite+ is every bit ‘as good’ as a Jetboil stove. It’s really well made, excellent quality and a lovely stove to look at (if that sort of thing bothers you).
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Where to Buy
The Primus Lite+ is stocked in the UK by:
In the US, the Lite+ is not widely stocked but can be found from $80 on Amazon.com.
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If you have any questions about the Primus Lite+ stove then please just add a comment below.
To see how the Lite+ stacks up against 50 other gas canister camping stoves, see my Comparison of Camping Stoves article.
What do you think? Please do add your thoughts below…