Cooker : Primus Gravity II EF

[MattW]

I've just got myself a new 'gas only' stove.

Although I'm a self confessed camp cooker junkie (8 cookers at the last count :whistle: ), most of them are fairly old liquid fuelled devices which while they have great charm are a bit of a faff with pre-heating and temperamental simmering etc.

Up to now, my weapon of choice for bike camping has been a fairly modern Coleman Petrol stove which while it has served me well, is a bit of a big heavy lump. However as I find myself wanting the convenience and controllability of gas (along with the ability to cook 'carefully' inside a tent porch) I've been using an ancient Camping Gaz 'bluette' canister top burner more and more.

With this in mind, I've been looking for a reasonably light, reasonably compact, remote canister gas only stove which has a preheat coil meaning it has good performance and can be used in cold weather (invert the canister so it feeds the stove with liquid fuel which vapourises in the pre-heat coil - no loss of performance in sub-zero temps).

After much 'deciding' I've ended up with a Primus Gravity II EF.



Legs in the collapsed position:



It's not a super light, super compact backpacking device but it's pretty light by cooker standards and collapses small enough to fit inside my MSR pan set (especially if you disconnect the preheat coil - just a knurled thumbscrew)









Performance wise it seems great - loads of power if you need it (a 3 kW burner) and very controllable down to a very low simmer. Unlike nearly all its competition It also has a wide mushroom burner which gives a nice broad flame spread (no carbonised lumps in the centre of the pan from a narrow burner which superheats a 1" circle ) Not that it was a 'must have' for me, it also has a piezo igniter which is handy.

cheers
M

[VR_Rider]

Great looking bit of kit!

If you don't mind me asking how much did it set you back?

I need to get a camping stove in the near future and have no idea what to go for!

Cheers

[MattW]

No problem - it was a penny shy of £60.

There are certainly cheaper cookers but I had quite specific requirements (pre-heat coil, wide burner, good simmer, remote canister etc) which narrows down the choice a lot - in fact this was the only one which ticked all my boxes.

If you're not bothered about the pre-heat coil, the 'Vango Folding Gas Stove' is well thought of and great value at £20 (I'll probably get one as a back up!)

[VR_Rider]

Thanks for the advice, I think the vango will do the job.

Just out of interest, whats a pre-heat coil? This camp cooking game is all new to me and I am riding to Budapest in october so I need to learn fast!

Cheers

[MattW]

If you look at the pictures of my stove, you can see how the gas feed to the stove is routed through a brass pipe which sits in the flame before it goes down to the base of the cooker and the feed jet. This pre-heats the incoming gas and can help in very cold weather where the pressure in the gas canister is very low (the liquid gas doesn't like vapourising in very cold temperatures). In really extreme conditions you can even turn the canister upside down so that it feeds the stove with liquid gas which vapourises in the preheat coil (you can't do this with normal stoves - they'd flare very impressively!). The Vango doesn't have this feature, but apart from that it's very similar to the Primus.

That said, it's only really a factor if you intend to camp in the winter and even then there are ways round it (warm the canister with your hands etc - some people even sleep with the canister in their sleeping bag to keep it warm )

I looked at loads of reviews before buying mine (including the ABR mag review of course!) and the Vango has a very good name. The Vango is quite a bit heavier than some stoves but it's only backpackers who really worry about this, it isn't really a problem for bike camping. I don't think you'll go far wrong with it unless you intend to do a lot of winter camping.

cheers
Matt

[VR_Rider]

If you look at the pictures of my stove, you can see how the gas feed to the stove is routed through a brass pipe which sits in the flame before it goes down to the base of the cooker and the feed jet. This pre-heats the incoming gas and can help in very cold weather where the pressure in the gas canister is very low (the liquid gas doesn't like vapourising in very cold temperatures). In really extreme conditions you can even turn the canister upside down so that it feeds the stove with liquid gas which vapourises in the preheat coil (you can't do this with normal stoves - they'd flare very impressively!). The Vango doesn't have this feature, but apart from that it's very similar to the Primus.

That said, it's only really a factor if you intend to camp in the winter and even then there are ways round it (warm the canister with your hands etc - some people even sleep with the canister in their sleeping bag to keep it warm )

I looked at loads of reviews before buying mine (including the ABR mag review of course!) and the Vango has a very good name. The Vango is quite a bit heavier than some stoves but it's only backpackers who really worry about this, it isn't really a problem for bike camping. I don't think you'll go far wrong with it unless you intend to do a lot of winter camping.

cheers
Matt

Very interesting, cheers for the info. For the moment I think I shall be a fair weather camper. So no need to sleep with my gas can, that shall keep the misses happy! :laugh:

[Selous]

I have 2 cookers a Coleman 442? multi fuel (similar to this, but smaller & legs on) http://www.coleman.eu/UK/p-22746-unlead ... 74-ii.aspx & just got a MSR Whisper feather light international.

I notice the cooking pots you have are the MSR I have similar http://cascadedesigns.com/en/msr/cookwa ... e/category
the 2 pot set that has 2 mugs & 2 plates inside, forget what i is called now, had them a while now.

But now I have my GF enjoying the camping she wants cooking utensils :dry:

I would just use my Gobbling Rods (KFS)to cook anything, what do you use?, I have been looking around, I have seen some collapsible, all seem a bit flimsy to me.

did look at these http://cascadedesigns.com/en/msr/cookwa ... et/product I prefer to see & feel the items, I have so far no complaints with my MSR pots or cooker, suppose I could get this http://cascadedesigns.com/en/msr/cookwa ... et/product
I only really want to get the items and make my own pack so to speak, but they do have a chopping board, could get it and add or remove as & what I want.

[MattW]

Funny you should mention this - I've been pondering the same thing. I looked at the MSR folding utensils (found some in a shop and handled them) but they do seem really flimsy and are expensive for what they are.

In the end I went to our local supermarket and bought some cheap plastic utensils from their 'basics' range (30 pence each!) and pulled the handles off them. Together with a similarly cheap wooden spatula, this comprises my cooking kit. They weigh next to nothing and all fit easily in the small plastic box that I transport my 'kitchen kit' in. That said, a while ago I did splash out on a titanium knife fork and spoon as they are almost weightless things of jewel like beauty





cheers
Matt

[GUNDOG]

cheers
Matt

Thought you were allergic to titanium Mathew........
Blimey, you'll be buying a titanium cup next..:whistle:

[MattW]

Not so much allergic to titanium as paying for it
I must have had a rush of blood to the head when I saw the cutlery...