Primus EtaPower EF Camping Stove with Cook Pot

I do a couple of backpacking trips a year. Usually at least one two-day attacking a Colorado fourteener. Just bought the stove for my last hike to Mt. Elbert. Worked like a champ, lighting effortlessly at treeline. Wish the valve were less touchy. Seems to respond (when I wish it didn't) to downward pressure on the rotary valve. If you're careful not to exert downward pressure when twisting the valve, it does fine. I'd like to be able to pack one cannister of fuel in the pack along with the handle, burner and burner/pot holder without scratching the lid. Can't though. Just tolerated the butterflys scratching the lid a bit. Cooks fast. Love that feature. Boiling hot dogs or heating chili on the trail couldn't be faster.

We just took this system on a 7-day backpacking trip. I think next time I will carry a smaller folding stove and cook system instead. The burner seemed to flicker off if we tried to use the lid as a skillet (maybe not enough airflow?), so we stopped trying to use it that way. Lighting was a little touchy, and the piezo sometimes fell out of position or totally off the stove. We spent a lot of time asking each other "is it on? are you sure it's still on?" So we definitely wasted some time and gas on lighting issues. That said, it seemed to be pretty efficient with the gas when it WAS working properly. Maybe some more instructions about the proper use and positioning of the windscreen and venting would have helped us out. Overall, I don't think it is worth the weight and bulk if you plan to carry it on your back. Even the nylon case is rather heavy, if handy. Leave this one for car camping.

Great quality and for the price you can not get better!!!

I'm really excited to take this out to woods for a few days. It's going to be great for my winter backpacking weekends. The entire package fits inside the bowl and lid, and comes with a chamoise to keep things from getting scratched, and to clean with. Set up is super easy and the ignitor adds no extra weight but will be a superior system for when there's high winds or gusts. The system can be used with or without the windscreen depending on what condistions you expect for your trip, but it all fits inside the same bowl so you might as well bring it. Nothing in the kit is overweight, and filling the bowl 3/4 of the way with cold water while using the windscreen yeilded boiling water in about 2 minutes. I haven't cooked in the bowl yet, but the heat level is adjustable, and you can raise or lower the bowl/frying pan by raising or lowering the rests so I think it will cook more evenly than the "burn it, sear it, hot, hot, hot!!" units we have probably all used. No field use yet, but I have to recommend this unit based off of initial expectations stemming from out of box evaluation.

This stove does a great job for two. Inspite of what the literature says, it will work with other cartridges, including Coleman.Although it is a bit bulky, you can easily pack items in the pot to take advantage of the space.