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Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Stoves > Primus Micron Ti 25 Stove > Test Report by Rick Allnutt
Primus Micron Ti 2.5 Stove
Initial Report - April 22, 2007 Long Term Report - September 10, 2007 TESTER INFORMATION
Over the last several years, I have become an ultralight camper with a three-season base pack weight of about 8 lb (3.5 kg) and skin out weight of 17 lb (8 kg). I have completed many section hikes on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in all four seasons, and numerous backpacking trips to state parks, with a total mileage of about 1300 miles (2100 km). I am a gearhead, a tarptent or hammock camper, and I make much of my own equipment. Trail Name: Risk Risk's Ultralite Hiking Page: www.imrisk.com
Manufacturer: Primus INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
The stove is packaged in a protective
cardboard show box with the pot supports folded into their stowed
configuration. The mini-stuff sack is below the floor in the box.
Description of the stove on the box is listed in English, French, and
German. Specifications on the box list the stove as producing 2200 W
(7500 BTU/h). According to the box description, the stove will boil 2
cups (0.5 L) of water in 4 minutes and a small (100 g) LPGas cartridge will
boil 6.9 quarts (6.5 L) of water or will burn for .6 to 1.2 hours. TRYING IT OUT
After
reading the instructions, I immediately screwed on a gas canister. The
stove attaches solidly to the canister and the pot supports are firm
and wide. The pot support surfaces are built with small serrations and
my pot does not slide on them at all. This is good for maintaining a
secure cooking surface. After letting the stove cool, it was very easy to unscrew it from the canister. The pot supports fold into their compact configuration as described above. Remember the support above the adjusting valve is the first one to fold. I have found that it is easier in the long run to put the stove into the small stuff sack with the burner face last to go in. That way, there is less tendency for the pot supports to get caught up on the cloth of the sack when removing the stove the next time it is used.
The Micron Ti 2.5 is a very light stove, the lightest canister stove I have had in my hands. It folds nicely and takes up very little room in my pack. It really puts out the heat, at a convenient turn of a knob. I am looking forward to testing the stove this spring and summer during my backpacking trips.
FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONSField conditions experienced over the last two months included a three-day trip on the Appalachian Trail near Damascus. Temperatures ranged from 50-75 F (10-24 C). Altitude was from 1000-3500 ft (300-1100 m). The weather included lots of rain each day, but when I was cooking, it was not raining. PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD The stove is a joy to use. It fits easily, along with a small fuel canister, inside my 3 cup pot. There is room enough to add a lighter, a lightweight cooking towel, and a spoon inside the pot. This puts my entire cook kit inside the pot and protects the stove nicely. See the photo to the right. With the towel in the pot, there is no rattling of the cook kit in my pack when I walk the trail. After opening the cook kit, starting to cook is a very fast process. I snap the pot supports in place and screw the stove on the canister. I easily have it lit within a minute of sitting down to cook. This is very appreciated at the end of a hard day of hiking. My cooking is usually limited to boiling water, and this trip was no different. For breakfast I cooked oatmeal and tea. Suppers were noodle dishes. Using a pot cozy to finish cooking once the water was brought to a boil, fuel use was minimal. A half-full 100 g canister was plenty for the three days of cooking. About the time that I finished putting the pot in the cozy, the stove was cool enough to disassemble from the canister. Super simple! In the "long green tunnel" that is the AT, there was not much wind, so I did not get to test out the wind resistant nature of the stove yet. I look forward to those tests during the long term report period with some Texas testing. SUMMARY This a a rugged, easy to use stove. It is light enough for even a confirmed ultralight hiker like myself to consider instead of alcohol stoves. It is compact and takes up less space than any other cook system I have used to date. Please consider coming back at the beginning of September for my long-term report on the Micron Ti.
LONG TERM REPORT
FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS There was a bit of wind along the Northeast Rim of the Chisos Mountains one evening. Despite the drafty condition, the central area of the burner head kept the stove from blowing out. I remain very pleased with the light weight and the small packed size of the stove. It has been rock solid in all its mechanical components. It is a great match for the 3 cup pot I use routinely for cooking in the field. At Big Bend and at Hill Country State Natural Area, no wood fires are allowed. A stove is required for cooking, and this little stove makes cooking look easy. Add to that, its very light weight and it makes carrying my pack easy too. SUMMARY The stove has made me think twice about continuing with alcohol stoves. It is just so easy to spark a fire and then turn it off when my water comes to a boil. The Micron stove has earned a continuing spot in my cool weather camping across the coming winter. I thank Primus and BackpackGearTest for allowing me to test this wonderful little stove. Read more reviews of Primus gear Read more gear reviews by Rick Allnutt Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Stoves > Primus Micron Ti 25 Stove > Test Report by Rick Allnutt | ||||||||||||||||||
PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS
I
discovered that the pot supports easily click into their extended
(operational) configuration. In this position, they are quite secure
and solid feeling. When folding the stove, I have found that it works
best to fold the support which is aligned with the fuel valve first. In
the attached photograph, this is the support which is to the left side
of the stove. After that, the other two supports fold easily and neatly
next to the fuel valve. If the order of the support folding is
reversed, the legs do not fold compactly.