Primus Lite+ Review

The Lite+ is a very fuel-efficient integrated canister stove. It has several other features that are both unique and innovative. Backpackers who are willing to take on some extra ounces might really appreciate the feature set.

Performance Comparison

Fuel Efficiency

The Lite+ is pretty darn fuel-efficient for an integrated canister stove, a category well known already for fuel efficiency. In our windless test, it used only 0.31 ounces of fuel to boil 0.5 liters of water. This is only slightly more fuel than others of its kind. Shockingly, when situated adjacent to a box fan blowing a constant 2-4 mph of wind, it used less fuel — 0.28 ounces — than in the windless test. This is likely because we do the wind test first, and fuel canisters become less efficient as they become emptier over time. Either way, this is an impressive feat! We think this is because the burner head and piezo igniter are recessed in the overall burner design. To determine overall fuel efficiency, we determine the percentage of fuel used per test and take the average of these two scores. The Lite+ only used 6% of a 4-ounce canister per boil test. When comparing this stove to other integrated canister stoves, bear in mind that the pot can only safely accommodate 0.75 liters of water, while we tested the other stoves in the review with 1 liter of water.

Weight

The weight of your gear is an essential consideration for backpackers. With a 14-ounce "essential" weight (which only includes the stove, pot, and lid), the Lite+ is on the heavy side for integrated canister stoves. This is especially true considering that it's only available with a 0.75-liter pot, so its weight is not an apples-to-apples comparison with the other integrated stoves we tested, most of which have 1-liter pots. That said, its small size does mean that it takes up less space in your pack than stoves with 1-liter pots.

Simmering Ability

The Lite+ is decent at simmering, but you probably won't use it for slow cooking a rich sauce. Because this kind of backpacking stove is designed for fast boil times and fuel efficiency, we don't expect much in this metric. The valve of this model is easy to use at the low end, with little to no "spring."

Ease Of Use

This stove has some of the best pot and burner mating of the integrated canister stoves we tested. Instead of the typical dimple and groove design, there's a wire integrated into the burner that firmly grips the pot. We were never worried about picking this stove up when it was running.

The piezoelectric igniter lit the stove on the first try most of the time. Other times it sometimes took 6 or 7 pushes, though it did eventually light.

The handle on the pot cozy of the Lite+ flips over the lid and hooks on the other side. Combined with the included cord, it makes hanging this stove really easy. This is the only stove in our review that comes with all the odds and ends necessary to hang it, a nice touch in a big wall or alpine setting.

The Lite+ has a tiny spout in the lip of the pot for pouring. There seemed to be a small amount of spilling whether we used the spout or poured from the other side of the pot. This is messy at best and can cause burns at worst.

Boil Time

The Lite+ had reasonable but not inspiring boil times. In our windless test at 5,000 feet, it boiled 0.5 liters of water in 4 minutes and 45 seconds. In our 2-4 mph wind test, it boiled 0.5 liters of water in 4 minutes and 3 seconds. In previous tests at 8,000 feet in elevation, the stove boiled 0.5 liters in a windless environment in 3 minutes and 19 seconds and 4 minutes and 7 seconds in the 2-4 mph wind test. If these numbers seem a lot lower than those of the other stoves in our comparison chart, remember that this pot has a lower capacity, so we used less water in our test. Other stoves were tested with a full liter of water.

Value

We don't think this stove is a bad value. However, we also don't think it's a particularly great value. Stoves that are lighter or perform better cost less.

Conclusion

The fuel efficiency, pot/burner mating, and simple hanging system of the Primus Lite+ seem like advancements that other stove companies should be watching. This could be a good choice for backpacking trips where packed size and ease of use are more important than weight. However, for most backpacking, our testers were underwhelmed when they compared it to other integrated stove offerings.