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| Primus Himalaya Multifuel |
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|  Average Rating: 4 out of 5 No. of Reviews: 8 RRP: £65 Year: 2001 Description: Multifuel stove that can burn LPG, Gas, unleaded petrol white gas parafin diesel
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|  | | Posted: 29/04/03 | | 'GOOD STOVE THAT BURNS MOST THINGS' | | Strengths:
Easy to prime using liquid fuel and can take screw-on gas canisters. Well built. Easy to strip down in the middle of nowhere. | | Weaknesses:
Some loss of power due to the added functionallity, compared to other, dedicated stoves. Seems heavier than other liquid burning stoves at a similar price. The tool that is supplied damages the weak metal that make up the joints.
Parts are difficult to source, and are more expensive than other brands.
Very noisy.
Poor manual | | Overall:
Despite the seemingly long list of weaknesses, this stove is an excellent, reliable peice of kit.
For the casual back-packer, it is probably a little over the top. There are many, cheaper alternatives out there, for buring either liquid fuel, or gas canisters. If you intend to use a stove in a more serious enviroment (treking/alpine routes ect) where being able to cook is all important, and the type of available fuel is unknown, then the reliablilty and functionality of this stove are hard to beat.
Cooking for 6 people, for 6 days on approximatly 500mls of coleman fuel suggests that this stove doesnt guzzle fuel either. |
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| | | | Performance | | 100% | | Reliability | | 100% | | Value | | 80% |
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| | | Posted: 22/01/04 | | 'GREAT...IF YOU DON'T USE PARAFFIN' | | Strengths:
Versatile, I particularly like the idea of being able to use gas, if no other fuels are available. Very stable. | | Weaknesses:
Mine won't run on parafin, my fuel of preference, without flaring very badly which is very disappointing. More disappointing is the reaction of the dealer, a national company possibly based in the Cotswolds, who don't seem too interested 'cos it's out of warranty, and Primus themselves who don't respond to my emails.
Rosker, the UK importer of Primus, kindly sent me a free of charge replacement jet, but that hasn't cured the problem.
It's a bit fiddly to change jets, and cleaning the jets properly officially requires you to strip the stove as the horizontal slots in the burner surround won't allow the cleaner in. Vertical slots would allow the jet cleaner in with ease.
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Don't get me wrong, this is one hell of a stove, it's just a shame mine (clearly faulty) doesn't do what it says on the box.
The reaction of Primus and that of the dealer isn't what I would have expected.
The rankings I have given my stove reflect my experience. I'm sure if mine wasn't faulty all scores would be top.
I've now bought a Nova and it's superb! |
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| | | | Performance | | 40% | | Reliability | | 40% | | Value | | 40% |
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| | | Posted: 09/07/04 | | 'SOUNDS LIKE A JET FIGHTER AND PERFORMS LIKE ONE TOO...' | | Strengths:
Burns almost anything - petrol, gas, eyebrows...
The manual - it's been written by someone that's used the stove and has a sense of humour too. Would that all manuals were like this one. | | Weaknesses:
The noise. If you're up first then people in neighbouring tents will think the campsite's been turned into a runway. And top-notch liquid fuel stoves are never cheap, especially compared to a gas-only option, so that knocks it down a little too. | | Overall:
Liquid fuel stoves: what is the point? Unless you really do need
something that'll burn most things except coal, you're better off with gas. Gas is clean, doesn't smell, shouldn't leak, is no heavier and no more expensive than most other things. And the stoves are light, quiet and don't have to sit on top of the canister, and don't flare up when you first light them in a potentially tent-melting way.
I was originally attracted to this stove because I was off to the States and needed a liquid fuel stove, gas (that is, propane/butane, not petrol, which Americans call gas...you can just see how we're going to get confused here, can't you?) being only sporadically available over there, but if I never ventured beyond Europe's shores I'd choose gas every time; in the value for money stakes, liquid fuel stoves can't compete.
So I made my choice and paid my money. And now I've got it I wouldn't be without it - and though it's performance using gas is compromised, being a little slower than a dedicated gas stove and a whole lot noisier, the fact that it can burn it using the same jet as you use for petrol and coleman fuel is very convenient. You may think this odd - and you won't be alone - but having bought this stove the first thing I did was drill the legs off it. The manual makes it very clear that the stove's designers are very proud of their stove's legs, so they must have been wincing as I did the fell deed. But without them the stove slots neatly into the base of the larger trangia, and leaves you with a stove that is very stable, burns almost anything, laughs in the face of wind and turns water into steam before you've got your teabag in the cup. Well, almost. And it's easy to prime, has a very controllable, and very hot, flame, is easy to service and in this hybrid configuration will attract, confound, perplex and make envious the campsite gear snobs, which is never a bad thing. So if you're the kind of person that has those 'crazy world of Arthur Brown' moments, or even if you just want a reliable, versatile stove for use around the world, go and check this stove out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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| | | | Performance | | 100% | | Reliability | | 100% | | Value | | 60% |
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