I have used a few small gas canister stoves over the last few years. The previous stove was a MSR Pocket Rocket which was really light, pretty compact but created a very tall and potentially unsteady platform for a hot pan.

I have always liked remote canister stoves and remember having an Epigas version many years ago. Last year I picked up the Primus Spider.

The stove is billed as being deal for all year round use. Many gas stoves suffer in cold conditions as the gas has difficulty vapourising after being in the canister. The Spider gets around this by having pre-heat tube that passes above the burner to warm the fuel before it eventually comes out of the burner. Most liquid fuel stoves use this method to vapourise the fuel, but often need priming before they will work. The Spider as a gas stove doesn’t require any priming. To light the stove the tap is turned on and use can use a lighter, match etc to get it going. The stove doesn’t have a piezo ignition, which I don’t see as a negative as if you really on such a system you will still probably be carry another lighting method just in case. So I believe for reliability and shaving a bit of weight off I can happily live without a built in ignition system. Once lit you do notice that the stove has a very loud roar, much louder than any other gas stove I have used and sounds must more akin to the MSR Whisperlight liquid fuel stove I have used in the past. Continue reading