Primus
Primus Lite Ultra Stove System 0.8L
- Weight: 9/10 How much it adds to your pack.
- Fuel use: 5/10 How much fuel it burns to boil a litre in calm air: less fuel to carry.
- Boil speed (calm air): 6/10 How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in calm air.
Solo walkers, fastpackers and climbers who count grams and mostly boil water
- Fuel
- Gas
- Weight
- 240 g
- Pot size
- 0.8 L
- Boil 1 L, calm air
- 4:40
- Fuel per litre
- Not published
Packed size 13 cm long and 10.3 cm across Compare with a 2-litre bottle
Shorter than a 2-litre bottle and about as wide as one. Drawn to scale.
Where to buy
Cotswold Outdoor £124.89 In stock. Delivery £6.95. Free next-day delivery over £125.
View at shop: Cotswold OutdoorUltralight Outdoor Gear £129.99 In stock. Free delivery. Page lists 223 g.
View at shop: Ultralight Outdoor GearPrimus £144.99 In stock. Free delivery. Free delivery over £49, £6 under (Primus UK shipping policy page).
View at shop: PrimusPrices checked 8 Nov 2026 on each shop's own page; shops can change them. We earn no commission on these links; shops are listed by price. More
Our ratings (out of 10)
1 to 10, compared with the whole market. Each says what it's based on. How we score
Weight
From maker's figures 9/10How much it adds to your pack. 9: Among the best you can buy for this.
Primus gives 240 g (spec table; burner and pot), under the 250 g line. UKC weighed 232 g and Chris Townsend 238 g for burner and pot; Mountainreview weighed 290 g with the stuff sack and accessories; Ultralight Outdoor Gear lists 223 g.
Fuel use
Estimate from maker's specs: fuel type (no fuel use figure published) 5/10How much fuel it burns to boil a litre in calm air: less fuel to carry. 5: Does the job. Average for wild-camping gear.
Estimate from maker's specs
Boil speed (calm air)
From maker's figures 6/10How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in calm air. 6: A bit better than average.
Primus says 2 min 20 s for 0.5 litre, scaled to 280 s for 1 litre (scaled), in the 270-329 s band. Testers were mostly slower: UKC took 3 min 30 s indoors with cold tap water; Chris Townsend took 3 min 50 s and later 2 min 35 s; only Mountainreview matched 2 min 20 s, at about 1,000 m.
What reviewers say (out of 10)
Ratings marked * are from reviews and are not part of the trip score. They are reviewers' scores, not our own measurements. How we score
Wind performance*
Estimate: only 2 reviews about wind performance (fewer than the 3 we need, so never above 8) 8/10How well it keeps boiling in a breeze.
2 reviews on wind performance, e.g. "Wind resistance is good too.".
Simmer control*
Estimate: only 2 reviews about simmer control (fewer than the 3 we need, so never above 8) 7/10How low the flame turns down without going out, for real cooking.
2 reviews on simmer control, e.g. "its output can be turned down quite a bit and I have managed to (carefully) simmer bags of pre-cooked supermarket rice".
In short
Good for
- Solo walkers, fastpackers and climbers who count grams and mostly boil water
- Summer and shoulder-season trips, with a 100 g canister, burner and stand packed inside the pot
- Quiet camps: UKC and Chris Townsend both note how little noise the burner makes
Strengths
- 240 g for burner and pot, under the 250 g line; Chris Townsend calls it the lightest locking pot-and-burner system he knows of
- Packs to 10.3 x 13 cm, with a 100 g canister, burner and stand inside the pot (UKC)
- Pot locks to a low-profile burner, so the whole thing can be lifted and poured as one unit (UKC, Mountainreview)
- Very quiet burner and shielded flame (UKC, Chris Townsend)
- Fill marks every 100 ml up to 500 ml help measure water for freeze-dried meals (UKC)
Weaknesses
- The 0.8 L name flatters it: the safe fill is 500 ml (UKC, Chris Townsend), so it suits one person
- Tested boils for 0.5 litre ran from 2 min 20 s (Mountainreview, at about 1,000 m) to 3 min 50 s, against Primus's 2 min 20 s
- The piezo igniter did not always spark first time (UKC, Chris Townsend); carry a lighter
- The plastic canister stand is flimsy (Mountainreview) and the lid comes off if you tip it (Chris Townsend)
- No pressure regulator, so power drops as the canister empties or gets cold; not for winter
Sources
We haven't tested this ourselves. Every score comes from these specs, tests and reviews.
ShowHide sources (8)
- Primus: Lite Ultra Stove System 0.8 L product page (specifications: weight, volume, boil time, output)
- UKC Gear (Dan Bailey): Primus Lite Ultra, possibly the lightest stove system on the market
- Chris Townsend Outdoors (YouTube): Primus Lite Ultra 0.8L and Primus Micron III + Fire Maple Petrel G3 compared
- Chris Townsend Outdoors (YouTube): First look at the Primus Lite Ultra stove system
- Mountainreview (Eva): Primus Lite Ultra Stove review
- UKC Gear: Primus Lite Ultra, possibly the lightest stove system on the market (Dan Bailey; the 0.8 L system, several single-night trips; UKC receives free products from brands)
- Bergzeit Magazin (Martin Bachmeier): Der Primus Lite Ultra 0,8 L Gaskocher im Test (German; first outing on a tour at about 2,400 m; Bergzeit is an online shop)
- Outsite.dk (Christian Milbo): Test af Primus Lite Ultra (Danish; sample received as a Scandinavian Outdoor Awards juror, used for a little over a year)