Primus Essential Trail Backpacking Stove Review

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a reliable backpacking stove that is as simple as it gets and nearly unbreakable, look no further. The Primus Essential Trail has zero moving parts (aside from the valve control) and is as stable as they come. Its sturdy, robust design is perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to have to mess with foldable stove arms. It also happens to be extremely affordable.

The Primus Essential Trail boils water quickly, has excellent simmer control, and is reasonably lightweight. We’ve put it through rigorous testing and taken it on trips in the Rocky Mountain alpine, and it performs well even in high winds.

It’s not the lightest or most compact stove on our list of the best backpacking stoves, but we’re impressed by the performance and reliability of this stove and we think it’s well worth considering whether you’re a beginner backpacker or a seasoned thru-hiker.

Convenience

There aren’t many backpacking stoves that are as forgiving and easy to use as the Primus Essential Trail. There aren’t moving parts to break, and there aren’t even any accessories to lose. The Laminar Flow Burner Technology allows for a lower center of gravity which, paired with full contact pot supports, makes for an extremely stable stove. The downside of the full-contact pot supports is that your pot will wobble if it’s domed on the bottom.

Because of the simplicity of the design, the Essential Trail doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles. The main one it’s lacking is an igniter switch, which would be common in a stove of this size and weight but it’s not a deal breaker for us. 

Weight & Packability

If weight and packability are your top priorities, then the Primus Essential Trail is solid, but there are lighter options out there. It weighs about four ounces and is the size of a tennis ball without being collapsible. If you compare that to integrated stove systems, that’s actually pretty small and light. However, compared to ultralight foldable stoves, it’s definitely on the bulky side.

The semi-bulky size is going to make it difficult to pack into a small 500-600ml pot, so we recommend pairing the stove with a 750ml or one-liter pot. Doing just that could actually give you the perfect happy medium with the simplicity and durability of an integrated stove system and some of the lightweight and packability of an ultralight model.

Power & Efficiency

The Primus Essential Trail impressed us with its quick boil times both with and without wind. Without wind, it was able to boil one liter of water in about three and a half minutes. With most stoves, the boil time tripled or even quadrupled when constant wind was introduced, the Essential Trail’s boil time only doubled with wind – pretty impressive for a non-integrated system at this price point. The wind-blocking properties are largely thanks to its solid and robust pot supports. The large, slightly convex, burner surface efficiently disperses heat over the bottom of your pot.

This stove ranks among the best in regards to fuel efficiency. The Essential Trail used about 0.2 ounces of standard isobutane fuel to boil one liter of water tying all of the most efficient stoves that we tested.

You can feel confident cooking up a storm with the Primus Essential Trail. Whether you are cooking for several people, making three warm meals a day, or are on an extended backpacking trip, this stove will make the most of every ounce of a fuel canister.

Precision

The Primus Essential Trail also has exceptional flame variability, allowing for a wide range of simmer control. It can be turned on full blast for a quick boil or dialed back to medium to low for those who like to saute fresh food in the backcountry. The wide flame output does an excellent job of dispersing heat across the bottom of your pot, behaving more like your stove at home.

Should You Buy the Primus ESsential Trail?

The Primus Essential Trail is ideal for the backpacker who is torn between an ultralight cook setup and an integrated system. Like an integrated system, it boils fast, is pretty windproof, uses fuel efficiently, and is exceptionally stable. However, especially when paired with an ultralight pot, it’s not nearly as bulky and heavy as an integrated system.

The Essential Trail is also great for hikers who are hard on gear, as this thing is basically bombproof. There aren’t any flimsy arms or moving parts to wiggle loose or break if you were to say drop your stake-pounding rock on it.

Although the Essential Trail performs like a champ, it’ll take up a decent amount of real estate in your cookset and add about two to three ounces over the best ultralight options. With that in mind, it might not be the best choice for ounce-counting ultralight backpackers.

What Other Backpacking Stoves Should You Consider?

JetBoil Flash Review: If you enjoyed the stability and windproof qualities of the Essential Trail, the JetBoil Flash takes it to the next level as a fully integrated stove system. It does however take up significantly more space and is a heavier stove.

SOTO WindMaster Review: The WindMaster is just as windproof as the Essential Trail, if not more, but in a smaller and lighter package. It’s a folding stove, which means it’s more compact, but the trade-off is less durability and a hefty price tag. 

SOTO Amicus Cookset Combo Review: Similar to the Essential Trail, the Amicus Cookset Combo is hard to beat in terms of affordability. The combo includes a lightweight, foldable stove, and two pots. The stove performs decently although sacrificing some wind-blocking and fuel efficiency over the Essential Trail.

MSR WindBurner Review: This is another fully integrated stove system. It’s a bit pricier, but we found it to have one of the fastest boil times and the highest efficiency out of all that we tested.