MSR Reactor or Primus Lite Plus

[Deerjunky]

I'm in the market for a new stove for 4 season backpacking/ higher elevations and I am between the MSR and Primus Listed in the title any one have any experience with either of these or both? I am looking for solo use and I realize the standard pots are of different sizes. Lastly Primus lists their lite plus as three season on their site. Any ideas why this may not be suitable for winter if any?

 

[Shackdaddy]

I have only used the Reactor. So far it has been my best cooking set up. It is light weight and seems very durable. It boils water faster than my old Jetboil and the foldable handle on the pot is awesome. I doubt I'll be replacing it anytime soon. As for the Primus, like I said I have no experience with it but they do make quality stuff.

 

[Graindrain]

Deleted comment.

 

[Muley Buck]

I got my reactor stove last year and I love it! MSR all the way! I don't know anything about the primus.

 

[dotman]

My Jetboil caught fire during my past weeks hunt, not a clue what happened but took but back to REI and exchanged it for the new MSR windburner, seems like a better design so we'll see.

MSR(R) Windburner(R) Fast-Boil Windproof Personal Stove System | MSR Gear

 

[I Beam]

I'm in the market for a new stove for 4 season backpacking/ higher elevations and I am between the MSR and Primus Listed in the title any one have any experience with either of these or both? I am looking for solo use and I realize the standard pots are of different sizes. Lastly Primus lists their lite plus as three season on their site. Any ideas why this may not be suitable for winter if any?

I have the Primus Lite. I just got it this summer so I haven't had a chance to put it through harsh testing, but I like it a lot.
Here are some of the details.

A small MSR canister, and nozzle do nest in the cup.

With a full MSR canister, the stove, stand, in a Kifaru small side pocket weight is "about" 1.5 lbs. Including the side pocket. (I'm going from memory, I could weigh it again, but the canister on it now isn't full)

You need the neoprene cover to be able to handle the cup. There are no handles, however, this isn't an issue the times I used it. The handle is a piece of webbing on the cover. It Hooks to the bottom for cup mode, and over the top for stowing. It's not super tight, so, a piece of cloth or something to hold the lid and keep it from rattling would probably be good. Hasn't been an issue for me, then again, I haven't hard tested it.

The lid fits solidly on into the cup so you can pour hot water, however, it takes a minute give or take, for the lid to heat up to size to get a tight seal. If you don't wait about 30 seconds and pour right away, the lid doesn't have a seal and you can get a little spillage. Nothing major. It seals tight after it heats up. This is probably by design. when it's cool, it comes off easy. Basically it's a rubber band around the lip of the lid. It flips the other way, for stowing.

It boils water REALLY fast, speaking as an engineer, I would say, I wouldn't change much for what it is. They heat transfer fins are smartly placed. I made the mistake of walking away from it for a minute and it was boiling over. It's almost instant. Then again, it was summer time in St. Louis.

The auto ignition works really well. At least from little testing I've put it through.

The cup secures nicely into the burner system. It also has pegs on it that can be used to make a riser to set another larger pot on top of it. These pegs are tooless, and screw into a clip on the cup cover handle.

The rate of the flame can be adjusted to "jet" mode or just a simmer. I boil, then put the lid on, (after turning it off) and let it simmer while the lid seals shut. It stays hot a while. (see disclaimer about Summer time)

I don't have the MSR reactor, but the Primus is a well built, smartly designed piece of cooking gear. From what I've read about the MSR reactor, you probably couldn't go wrong with either one. Just depends on what your cup of tea is.

As for use in the winter time, that's another thing altogether. There are ways around that.

Heck, they are probably made in the same factory in Korea.