Media Coverage from Outdoor Life: The Best Backpacking Stoves, From Our Hands-On Tests

Cook up your next backcountry meal with one of these lightweight powerhouses

Whether it’s making your morning coffee or cooking a warm evening meal, a backpacking stove is an important part of your backcountry kitchen. To figure out which model provides the best performance and the smoothest user experience, I acquired in brand-new canister stoves from MSR, GSI, Primus, Soto, Snow Peak, and JetBoil. They were then put through a series of controlled tests before heading out on Outdoor Life’s annual backpacking gear testing trip to the Goat Rocks Wilderness to be tested in tandem by experienced backpackers. Here are the best backpacking stoves, based on those controlled tests and field experiences.

• Best Overall: JetBoil Stash
• Best Value: MSR PocketRocket 2
• Lightest: GSI Pinnacle
• Smallest: Soto Amicus
• Primus Express
• Soto Windmaster
• Snow Peak GigaPower

Primus Express

See It

Key Features

• Price: $50
• Weight: 4 ounces (with case); 3.05 ounces (without case)
• No push-button ignitor
• Windless Boil Test: 0.35 ounces of fuel boiled 500mL of water in 3 minutes, 26 seconds
• Moderate Wind Boil Test: 0.55 ounces of fuel boiled 500mL of water in 5 minutes, 4 seconds

Pros

• Easy to use
• Stable pot surface
• Sturdy build

Cons

• Larger packed size
• Somewhat heavy

While most of the backpacking stove designs in this test made an effort to tuck away the stove arms when not in use, the Primus Express simply accordioned them all together off to the side. This made this stove exceptionally easy to use, but resulted in an odd shape. “It doesn’t pack down super small and remains in an L-shape, which is mildly inconvenient for storage,” said Steady, with Magic noting that it “was bulky to carry in the carrying pouch.” He ended up storing the stove in a backpack pocket rather than the inside of his pot, because it simply didn’t fit.

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