A truly impressive backpacking and camping stove, the Primus Eta Express has experienced a real evolution. A mere £95 provides you with a windshield, a burner equipped with piezo ignition as well as a lidded pot that also contains a plastic bowl and colander. All of these tools fit neatly into a sack, though there is some room for improvement in terms of how compact the package can be made to be. However, the manner in which the windshield can be clipped onto the burner using magnets and the heatproof silicone grip on the pot are wonderful refinements. The accompanying pot features handles that fold out, adding even greater ease of use.

The pot measures 14 centimeters in diameter, making it great for cooking, but also for simple water heating. This provides additional versatility beyond other available designs. Rendered in transparent plastic, the lid allows the user to easily look at what the pot contains without the need to lift it. Maximizing efficiency, the pan’s base features a heat exchanger. The pan is able to sit directly atop the burner frames. These supports are not designed to curve inward as they do on other stoves, and the burner is not meant to attach directly to the supports, therefore things can slide a bit more than they might otherwise. But, in the scheme of things, this is a small complaint, because in just about every other respect, the Primus Eta Express is a fabulous product that I anticipate will keep on improving.
Winner of the ‘Best in Test’ accolade from Trail, the Primus Eta Express brings great practicality and continuous improvement while remaining very competitively priced.