Primus Eta Stove Review *Image Heavy*

[Nat]

Lo folks, i bought a Primus Eta Solo stove from Tamarack last week and here's my review of it.

Ok, ordered it Friday and it was delivered Saturday! Unfortunately i was away training and the wife was out so i had to pick it up this morning, but bonus points from the folks at Tamarack for speedy dispatch.
I eagerly unwrapped the post bag and shock horror this is waht greeted me :yikes:

ARG i thought, then i opened the box and relief flooded through me with this

Then this

I unpacked it all and inspected each bit

You get a mega folded instruction manual (which promptly went back in the box, i'm a man after all), a stabiliser, 3 pot stand brackets, a pot stand plate a folding hanging bail arm, a nice cooking cup and the stove itself.
Without further ado, i filled the cup up to the 2 cup mark, connected it all up and lit.



Right a few things. The clips that the cup connects to are easy to use, even with gloves, the ignition is also easy to get to with gloves on and sparks first time. The gas cannister fitting takes a standard screw fit can and the cup comes with a velcro fitted neoprene outer, which while feeling warm after boiling, is still grabable without burning yourself.
One thing i did notice is that it seems a little bit wobbly when connected up. Not majorly so, but without the stabiliser, it would shake a fair bit once boiling.

Pot stand fitted


End result


Bail arm affair
The bail arm has a decent length of wire which is crimmped to through a small hole to the actual arm. The arm itself folds away and feels quite robust. It slots onto the cup via a bracket

and is a very good fit. It also keeps the cup and stove relatively upright.


Right the nitty gritty.
Boil time, in wind at half speed was 2mins 20 seconds for 2 cup's worth of water (using the mark inside). This is well hot enough for a steaming mug of tea or coffee.
There are 3 openings in the rubber lid, 2 small holes and a pour hole. The pour hole actually works properly without spurting hot water everywhere, the lid does get hot, but not burning hot.
The cup itself is .09l instead of the 1l of the jetboil but you can fit a rat pack main meal inside and still have room for a brew.

Overview.
Wees over the jetboil imo. It feels well made, robust and with the extra bits you get with it it is well worth the money. Tamarack currently have 15% off everything so with recorded delivery, this cost me £71 which currently is the cheapest out there.
If you add the cost of a stabiliser and pot stand and hanging bail, you'll be paying £104.40 plus postage, so value for money the Primus wins.

I'm well impressed with the Solo, more so than i was with the Jetboil.
Horses for courses, but i'd highly recommend the Solo over the Jetboil.

Ok Update.
I've had all day to put it fully through it's paces, it's made every brew i've had today and cooked my dinner.
There are two points that i feel need mentioning. You cannot put a 100ml gas cannister and the stabiliser into the cup and close the lid. This is due to the cup only being 0.9l instead of 1l. Not a major issue, but if like me you're looking at using it on ex, it'll mean storing the extras in another pouch with your rat pack.

 

[SimonM]

I got one of these last week from Lakeland Bushcraft.

I was after a stove that could boil water quickly, for canoeing rather than bushcrafting.

I haven't used a gas stove for a number of years and must admit that I am surprised at just how quickly this boils water compared to my old Coleman Alpine stove.

As a bonus, for me at least, it fits the water bottle pocket of a Maxp Sitka (my daysac of choice at the moment) and the Maxp 10 x 4 pouch.

I'm away for the next two weekends doing Scouty stuff, so will give it a proper test then!

Simon

 

[SimonM]

Hi Nat,

Try taking off the gas canister, then putting it on top of the stove, inside the cup.

The clips will hold the gas canister off the igniter, and it fits in the cup with just a slight deformation to the rubber lid. the advantages are:

1. No rattles - I remember when that was really important to me in my DPM days!
2. No rust ring in th ebottom of the cup (like you get with a Jetboil).

HTH,

Simon

 

[rik_uk3]

Nice review Nat, good looking bit of kit.

 

[Nat]

Ah ha. I was loathe to do that but even when you "clip" it in it stays off the ignitor.
Cheers for the heads up Simon and aye, it'll stop the rust ring you get in a jetboil. Still a shame that the stabiliser won't fit in aswell, but it slides down the side in a utility pouch easily enough.

Hi Nat,

Try taking off the gas canister, then putting it on top of the stove, inside the cup.

The clips will hold the gas canister off the igniter, and it fits in the cup with just a slight deformation to the rubber lid. the advantages are:

1. No rattles - I remember when that was really important to me in my DPM days!
2. No rust ring in th ebottom of the cup (like you get with a Jetboil).

HTH,

Simon

 

[Nat]

Nice review Nat, good looking bit of kit.

Cheers fella, well impressed with it Rik.

 

[Nat]

Quick update. I emailed Primus in Sweden about one or two points and they had the good grace to pass my email onto Primus UK and reply
"Dear Nat,
We are the British distributor for Primus and responsible for selling and marketing their products through good outdoor shops in the UK, hence Primus in Sweden forwarded your e-mail on to us.
First of all, it’s really appreciated that you’ve taken the time to write in and give your opinions. We greatly value hearing from end users, especially since as we don’t sell direct to them we therefore don’t often get to hear their comments as much as we’d like.
Your point about the pot stabiliser not fitting inside the pot together with a gas cartridge is well made, although I’m afraid that Primus do not have plans at present to produce a larger size pot nor a smaller sized stabiliser. They are, however, working on a multi fuel version at the request of the RM officer who has the responsibility for assessing adventurous training kit for HM Forces (if Primus can produce this to run off liquid fuel, then we’d really like to see that happen). Can the stabiliser be reduced in size? I don’t have an answer to that but will forward your question to the main designer over in Sweden.
As a matter of interest, is the hanging kit that comes with the EtaSolo a useful addition for your use?
Kind regards,

Now that was a nice surprise this morning. A large company that listens, reads and replies to a customer email!

 

[Lurch]

So you didn't fancy a nice Tactical one like Simon's then Nat old bean?

 

[dzigavertov]

A few of us have had a discussion in a similar forum:

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/reviews/other-equipment/stoves/primus-etasolo/discussion/37256.html

I'm waiting for mine to arrive in the mail. But I was very discouraged by this reviewer in the UK who commented about a piece of the plastic melting, and then the ignition breaking.

Any sense that this is a freak accident, or would you feel your tests would result in something similar in any more extreme situation?

 

[Nat]

Not had any plastic melting on mine, but there is a slight wobble when the cup is on the stove. Also when tightening the gas to the stove, you have to watch the plastic bits as i feel that you could actually twist them off if you really ragged it.

 

[SimonM]

No melted bits on mine yet either...

Simon

 

[dzigavertov]

"Not had any plastic melting on mine, but there is a slight wobble when the cup is on the stove. Also when tightening the gas to the stove, you have to watch the plastic bits as i feel that you could actually twist them off if you really ragged it."

Good tip, will watch for that when I start using mine in the field.

 

[AndyClift]

After two years with a Jetboil I saw the ETA Solo and initially thought was that it had some advantages. After a two week motorcycle tour around Europe I took it back to the supplier and got my money back.

- The plastic housing around the burner and igniter is very poor quality. It does not support the burner when a cylinder is added, the stove is rather wobbly and the igniter button assembly can push into the plastic preventing the button being pressed.

- The ignitor sticks up above the stove and when packed hits the poor quality lid. This broke the insulation so the igniter would not work. In retrospect disconnecting the cylinder from the stove may help to prevent this but that defeats the purpose of the stove. The Jetboil igniter also sticks up but they designed the lid to prevent it touching. Did Primus not have a Jetboil when they designed their stove, after all they made the burners for it. Note that this stove has not been bounced around in a rucksack, it was carried in the tank bag of a motorcycle.

- The little rails to convert to a normal stove are crap. They are fiddly to use, awkward to store and pots slide on the smooth surface.

- The flare when lighting with a lighter (after ignitor broke) burnt the bottom of the nylon cover and my hand. Maybe more care in lighting but the Jetboil cover has not burnt after extended use and I have never burnt my hand lighting a stove before.

- The hanging kit is much neater than the Jetboil one and if the supplied pot is used it is much simpler. Unfortunately the hanging kit cannot be used with other pots and it is a nuisance not being able to store it with the stove (same complaint with the cylinder stabiliser). The Jetboil hanging kit can be used with other pots..

- In use the whole construction seemed very flimsy.

I am a retired Mountain Leader with many years experience of a variety of stoves ranging from the original, horrible, Camping Gaz, though Trangias, Hexamine burners and multi fuel cookers. How can an experienced company like Primus get this so wrong especially when all they had to do was make a better Jetboil.

 

[helixpteron]

Blacks currently have these on 'SALE' at £40!

I've seen them in four of their London branches at that price.

 

[Nat]

Mines gone back and from what i've heard of other friends using them they've had similar problems.
Going to stick with my Jetboil, when it gets here

 

[Lurch]

Not there yet?

 

[Nat]

Missed city link by 10 minutes so phoned the buggers up and they refused to pop back . Gotta wait until Monday now okenest:

 

[Lurch]

Barstools!

 

[Nat]

Barstools!

Yup my thoughts exactly, but i've had an argument with them before about dropping stuff off to one of my thieving neighbours so now they won't. The depot in York has shut down so the nearest one is Leeming up the A1, i asked politely if they'd ring me 15 minutes before coming round so i can be here and not at school!

 

[bert333]

Interesting & well written review! thanks-
For the money & performance, I still won't part with my Optimus Nova though for wet fuel and my Primus multi fuel if I also want the gas option. One litre from cold to boiling just under 3 mins- hard to beat !