 How does it compare ot Jet Boil?
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 That's what I want to know - specifically in terms of fuel efficiency (and therefore how much gas one has to carry). Anyone know anything?
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 I dont think the Jet Boil stove 'is all that'. The Primus micron is fairly good, the additional wind shield will improve efficiencey. Gas really lets you down in lower autumn and winter temeratures. It doesn't matter how efficient the stove is if one third of the gas is cold and sluggish and not leaving the cannister! Oh, I have a Jet Boil as well. I Know some of you guys rave about them, but try using it on a cold night on a mountainside after a couple of nights with the same cannister and you will be having luke-warm coffee. I just dont think these things are meant as winter mountaineering stoves. The compact nature of a Jet Boil is an attractive quality but if you take a larger cannister then you have just lost part of the sytsem's compactness, the electric ignition is exposed and vulnerable with many people finding it doesnt work after a while. Well thats how I see it Kjell.
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 I too am looking forward to someone getting their hands no one to review it properly. It certainly looks like the lovely stove I'm not allowed to have but will end up getting anyway.... 
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 From their site, "PRIMUS Eta Power MF har på OutDoor mässan i Friedrichshafen belönats med OutDoor Industry Silver Award 2007. Snart kan du läsa mer om köket på vår hemsida och det kommer att finnas i butik i början av 2008." Well, Im really glad to know that!
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Anyone speak whatever that is?
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 It's Swedish " PRIMUS EtaPower MF has at the OutDoor Fair in Friedrichshafen got the OutDoor Industry Silver Award 2007! Soon you can read more about it on our website and it will be available in shops in the beginning of 2008." And no I can't read it! That's the translation from the Primus site. The EtaPower is the big brother of the EtaExpress. I reviewed in in TGO earlier this year and it's excellent for two or more and very fuel efficient. As it's a hose-connected stove the canister can be inverted to turn into in a liquid fuel stove in cold weather, which works well. I have an EtaExpress prototype and it's pretty good. The heat exchanger does increase fuel efficiency to similar to the Jetboil - I haven't done a direct comparison yet. It's not as top heavy as the Jetboil and the burner can be used with other pots and the pot with other stoves.
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Yes PRIMUS EtaPower won an award at the outdoor festival in Friedrichshafen. It was the OutDoor Industry Silver Award 2007. You can read more about it on our website soon. It will be in the shops at the start of 2008. Kjell. What ever that is, happens to be Swedish.
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| Edited: 06/12/07 14:24 |
the EtaExpress's high level of efficiency actually comes from a heat exchanger mounted to the bottom of the pot, and Primus says this stove is about 80% efficient, where most other stoves are only 40% efficient. you only use half the fuel to boil a Liter of water that you would with other stoves. like any stove that runs on pressurized gas, it's not ideal for cold weather camping. However, Primus will be introducing a couple multifuel stoves for 2008, namely the Primus EtaPower MF and the more compact Gravity II MF, which will work better in cold weather. The EtaExpress also won a Men's Journal "Gear of the Year" award. Check it out here. And all stove components, including a 230 g LP gas canister, can be stowed in the pot.
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Scott, many stoves that run on pressurised gas work fine in cold weather. With hose-connected stoves with the a preheat tube running through the flame the canister can be inverted for liquid feed. This works well in below freezing temperatures.
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Sorry Chris, I should have been more clear. I meant stoves that mount directly to the top of gas canisters. But you're right. Hose connected stoves can work well in colder temps. Thanks.
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Yes, stoves that screw into canisters can be a real problem in the cold. Warming them with your hands and standing them on insulation helps but I still wouldn't choose one of these stoves for sub zero temperatures. At our altitudes that is. Last winter I did a ski tour in Yellowstone, mostly at around 8000 feet, and a screw-in stove worked fine inside in an igloo in temperatures down to -10C.
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Some fair points there Scott, You obviosly know your onions and pale morning media is clearly clued in. But lets face it when there is ice on the ground...you aint (to use the phrase wisely) cooking on gas...... No matter how efficient the marketing claims are..... . Kjell. . Edit: Just for transparency Scott. Pale Morning Media, LLC was founded in 2001 as a public relations and strategic media specializing in the outdoor and travel markets.
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| Edited: 06/12/07 16:08 |
 After reading Susan's sneak preview, I glanced down the list of related articles and noticed 'Radical MSR stove gives pressure without pumping'. The review was written by Jon in August '04. Anyone know what happened to that development? Is it dead or just delayed?
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 Sounds interesting Frum..... I tried googling with MSR but nothing so far.... I was winging like hell about my new MSR whisperlite the other day, but you know it really actually works very well. Its all about familiarity, it is one hell of a burner though. At least the MSR wont suffer all those cold weather issues that the boys were just discussing. Which is why I bought it in the first place, I was fed up with gas cannisters freezing even just the other day during the gales the damn gas was freezing up.
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The only new MSR stove is the Reactor, which is a canister stove with a pot with a heat exchanger. I haven't tried it in freezing conditions yet.
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Cold weather gas stove trick. Arrange a length of copper wire so its ends will be in the flame and the rest of it wrapped round the canister. Light the stove and run like hell. IF you keep monitoring the temperature of the gas cylinder (if it is not too hot to hold it PROBABLY won't explode just yet) this technique just might be worth using in a real life or death emergency, but not otherwise. I guarantee you won't be around to misjudge this more than once.
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| Edited: 06/12/07 17:01 |
Why bother with a gas screw in when the temperature is low, unless you like creating problems for yourself. Have you tried one of those new fangled Trangia thingys Chris (the meths ones), they work well when its cold, or so I'm told. 
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Fossil Bluff, I bought one of those new fangled Trangia in 1976! I'm still getting used to it Liquid feed gas stoves are fine in the cold. The best I've tried is the Coleman Xtreme but it takes special Powermax canisters that are just about impossible to find. I've had a Whisperlite since 1985 and used it on a few summer long walks and many ski tours.
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LOL Thanks Chris And there was me, thinking the spirit burner was a new invention...... I just find screw on gas stoves a pain in the butt once the temperature drops. I have spent a long time in the field in 'colder climes' and cant imagine why anyone would want to take gas when the temperature is lower - on purpose!! - other than for control when cooking a souffle in your bivvi bag. I was quite shocked the other morning when my gas was sluggish and the damn thing didnt work as it should, and I live in the English Riviera county....... I have an array of stoves, but I have to say the most dependable I have ever known was the original 'primus parafin stove' despite pricking pre-heating and cleaning etc etc it works in all temperatures and, provided you look after it, every time.... but of course is totally useless to an ultralight hiker..... Well, I guess we all have opinions on stoves, mine is just one..... but we mustn't let marketing campaigns cloud our judgement. People only have a finite amount of disposable income, and each marketing campaign drives for its share of it. The consumer only wants what is right for their needs.
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