Walking Equipment and Accessories

Primus FireStick Stove | Review

A new, very packable stove from Swedish stove specialists Primus

Why We Chose The Primus FireStick: compact, durable, innovative

This turned a few heads – including those of the OM team – at the big OutDoor Show in Germany last summer. As you can tell just by looking at it, it’s a stove that’s very different to the other options out there. The key thing about it is that it’s designed to fold up small enough to slip neatly into your trouser pocket, into the side of a backpack or in a pannier, and without much risk of bits and bobs breaking off.

Who Is The Primus FireStick Stove For?

This is ideal for any multi-day trips where you just want a small and light stove to brew your coffee or cook your Super Noodles. At 105g it’s not the lightest option out there – the MSR Pocket Rocket 2, for instance, weighs just 72g – but it’s still definitely in the lightweight category. Bear in mind that there is a slightly lighter weight titanium version that weighs 89g.

Design

This version features three steel pot supports connected to a pressure regulator and large twist valve that lets you control the output. The pot stands, which are designed to shield the burner from the wind, will support most pot sizes above 36mm in width. These are clicked together, turning the stove into a stick shape that’s about the size of a small pepper shaker.

“This is the kind of stove I’d want to take with me on my backpacking adventures.”

You can then stow this in the little woollen bag which doubles as a very handy pot gripper. A cigarette-sized piezo ignition stick also comes with it.

Output

The output is 2500W. That’s a little weaker than Primus’s Microntrail (2600W) but then it’s more powerful than their Primetech system (2000W). The boil time is stated as 3.5 minutes for a litre on Primus’s website (more on our own experience with this in the Tester’s Verdict below).

Tester’s Verdict

Will Renwick, editor of Outdoors Magic

“This is the kind of stove I’d want to take with me on my backpacking adventures; something that’s small, light, simple, robust and very packable.

“I recently managed to test it out a few times during trips to the Lake District and Brecon Beacons and it’s been a good stove to use. My main niggle with it is its height. At 103mm, it makes for a very tall set up when combined with a pot and a gas canister and it can therefore feel a little bit unstable, especially when there’s some wind around. For comparison, Primus’s Microntrail is 62mm in height.

“As for boil time, I did an experiment to see if it really could boil as fast as 3.5 minutes. For this I used a litre of water from the tap in my kitchen, the Primus Trek Pot with the lid kept on and a Primus canister on full blast. The climate was 18 degrees with a light wind. My boiling time turned out to be 6 minutes and 40 seconds – so a fair bit slower than Primus’s stated time. Here’s the thing though; since this test, I’ve found out that I had an early pre-production sample which might not have been functioning at the same standard as the FireSticks which are available for purchase. I’m currently waiting for one of the finished products to arrive so I can conduct the same test again. Watch this space.”

The FireStick comes with a little spark ignition stick. Photo: Jordan Tiernan

“The pot stands grip pots well without things sliding about. It’s good that they’ve shaped these stands to fit Primus’s PrimeTech pots which have built in heat exchangers (good for anyone who already owns one, anyway).

“I do like how compact this is when it’s folded away into its ‘stick’ form. It means there aren’t any bits of metal sticking out, waiting to be snapped off when it’s packed away in your bag. On the pre-production sample I had, I did find the arms would pop out on their own accord sometimes but I’ve seen that the finalised product comes with a little twist on cap that will hold them all in place.

“If burner performance is your priority, I think I’d go for Primus’s Microntrail over this. This wins in the durability and packability stakes though.”

The Outdoors Magic team rated the durability of the Firestick. Photo: Jordan Tiernan

Trade Secrets

Eric Svartström, R&D Manager at Primus.

“This project started with us asking why all canister mounted stoves (including Primus stoves) looked the same. We started by evaluating whether the pot supports could act as another feature of the stove, not just pot supports. The result is a product that is compact when folded and protected against any impact during transit due to its cylindrical design.”

“We’re proud that the FireStick can now set a new standard of how canister stoves can (or will) look like.”

We found that the pot stands grip pots well. Photo: Jordan Tiernan

“We put a lot of R&D hours into the FireStick’s regulator valve and the burner. This was to ensure that we had designed a stove that works to our high standards and performs well when the canister is full, by not giving an output that is too high, as well as when it’s almost empty, ensuring that the power output is not too low.”