Primus Himalayan Omni Fuel Stoves

2011 Kayak Trip: New Gear - Primus Himalaya OmniFuel Stove

One thing I noticed during the trip last year,  one stove, two people, three weeks was just a pain so wanted to pick up another stove so cooking would be a little easier, previously I had an emergency stove with Hexamine tablets and while useful it was annoying to try and lite those little tablets, great in a pinch but defnitely not something you want to do every day.  Time for a second stove. First,  the Whisperlite International stove is amazing, have had it for two years now and it has never failed me once,  day trips, weekend trips, multi-week trips,  the thing just works.  Having said that, totally impressed with the OmniFuel, it definitely has some advantages over the Whisperlite (with my limited knowledge) and so it should be a double the price. Initially I questioned spending $170 CDN but in the end couldn't resist.  First thing I noticed is that while slightly larger in size, the stove is way more stable over the Whisperlite, always found the Whisperlite leaning over until I put a pop on it, not fun when flames jumping up during sartup.  It is a little louder than the Whisperlite but starts faster so that's a plus, nothing noticible but hey, it's the little things.  I especially like the dual valve system which when you turn the bottle over it has an auto shut off valve which burns off excess fuel, no more leaking after like the Whisperlite.  Haven't really tried cooking meals yet, just simple boil water to see how it works, simmer seems to be much better over the Whisperlite which has two settings, off or full blast.  Probably the biggest plus is that not only will it burn all the typical liquid fuels it also has an attachment for the gas canisters which the Whisperlite doesn't have.

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Backpacker

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