Primus Essential Trail Stove

How much it adds to your pack. 7: Better than most.

112 g (Primus spec table; the Primus UK page text says 114 g) sits in the 60-119 g band. OutdoorGearLab lists 128 g, which would fall in the next band down; we band the maker's figure.

How much room it takes in your rucksack. 5: Does the job. Average for wild-camping gear.

Primus gives 108 x 90 x 60 mm (the stove does not fold): 10.8 x 9.0 x 6.0 = 583 cm3, about 0.58 L, in the 0.2-0.59 L band (only just). Funky Leisure prints the same 108 x 90 x 60 mm; Alpinetrek gives 108 mm across x 60 mm high (about 0.55 L). No figure reaches the 0.6 L line.

How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in still air. Wind slows every stove: see Wind performance. 7: Better than most.

Primus gives 3 min 30 s (210 s) to boil 1 litre with a regular pot, in the 190-229 s band. OutdoorGearLab timed 5 min 30 s for 1 litre in still air at about 1,500 m, so expect slower.

How well it keeps boiling in a breeze, as sold, without an extra windshield. 6: A bit better than average.

Reviewers disagree. OutdoorGearLab timed 1 litre at 5 min 30 s in still air and 10 min 10 s in a 3-6 km/h box-fan breeze (85% longer, 2 on our table). CleverHiker did not give the wind speed but says boil time only doubled and calls it pretty windproof (4); Gear Hacker did not time wind and says the three pot-support covers keep a gust from blowing it out (3). Average 3 out of 5, so 6 out of 10.

Reviewers disagree on this.