no priming necessary

I learned to backpack with the WhisperLite International, and while it's generally recognized as a stellar backpacking stove for a variety of reasons...simply put, I hated that thing.

You had to prime it just right, the wind screen was a pain, it liked to clog up, and the whole thing was fairly daunting for a newbie backpacker. I recognize that there are many reasons one would want one of these, but when I went to buy my own stove many years later I looked at other options.

I went with the Primus Classic Trail stove and have been quite pleased. I realize there are other stoves that are lighter, better, or as fast as a jet engine (*cough*)—I still love and recommend my stove for several reasons:

• It's cheaper than the competition. At roughly $25 it's a veritable bargain. The pocket rocket weighs 5 oz less but is $15 more and is one of the "next cheapest" options. For someone trying to build a kit from zero gear that $15 can make a difference. Or you can jump up to $60 for a 2oz stove but then you're paying more than double and for a beginner that can be tough to swallow.


• It's so darned easy to use. Seriously, screw it onto the fuel canister, turn the fuel on, light it and go. No priming and no fooling around to figure out how to put it together.


• It's super stable. You simply screw it onto the top of your fuel canister and you've got a nice platform for your pot, assuming you haven't placed it teeter-tottering on a wonky surface. I usually dig it into the dirt just a little or find a nice flat rock as a platform. Sometimes I have wide pots with me and I've never worried about them tipping off (or worse, setting myself/others on fire as any klutz will tell you is easier than it sounds! :)


• It has a lot of power if you want it, and has a great way to control the temperature if you don't. We made pizza on the trail last year and were able to turn the temperature way down so that we could avoid burning the bottom in the initial heat-up stage.

I have not used it in extreme conditions (yet), such as extreme cold or extreme wind, but that's not the kind of backpacking we're typically doing in the Southeast on a casual weekend. I love my stove and I'll continue to point folks to it as budget-conscious, easy to use, and reliable.