Primus AB

Last updated
Primus AB
IndustryPortable Cooking Devices
Founded1892;132 years ago (1892)
Founder
Headquarters,
Owner
  • Silva Group (2023–present)
Website Official website

Primus AB is a manufacturer of portable cooking devices and outdoor stoves based in Stockholm, Sweden. On April 28, 2023, Fenix Outdoor International AG announced that it had sold Primus AB to Silva Group. [1]

Contents

History

The firm was founded in 1892 by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist and Johan Viktor Svenson.

They were the developers of its initial product, the Primus stove, the first portable and soot-free kerosene stove. The first units were sold mainly to women who operated street market shops (stallholders) in Stockholm.

Explorers then discovered the value in having a portable stove for their expeditions. For example, on Salomon August Andrée’s 1897 North Pole expedition, he cooked on a Primus. Roald Amundsen carried a Primus stove with him on his venture to the South Pole in 1911. And in 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay relied on Primus stoves during their first ascent of Mount Everest.

Today, Primus stoves and lanterns are sold in over 70 countries. The stoves are made in Primus' factory in Tartu, Estonia.

Ownership

Until 2023, Primus AB belonged to Fenix Outdoor International AG, a company listed on the stock exchange in Stockholm that owns the following brands: Brunton (USA), Fjällräven (Sweden), Hanwag (Germany), Tierra (Sweden), Royal Robin (USA) as well as the retail chains Naturkompaniet (Sweden), Partioaitta (Finland) and Globetrotter (Germany). However, the company was acquired by Grupo Silva in April 2023.

Product range

Primus offers products for cooking, heating and lighting, although the focus is still on stoves. They make LPG (liquified petroleum gas) stoves for backpacking and camping, multi-burner camping stoves to high-end multifuel expedition stoves. Primus also produces lanterns, vacuum bottles and accessories such as cutlery, cookware and other camping equipment.

One of the most successful stoves in the Primus range is the OmniFuel. When introduced in 2001, it was the first stove to burn LPG, white gas, kerosene, jet fuel and even diesel. It has received awards from specialist outdoor and mountaineering magazines.

In 2007, Primus introduced its first Eta Power stoves. The Greek letter Eta stands for “efficiency” in physics. The Eta series consists of various cooking systems (burner, windshield, pots with heat exchanger) that increase fuel efficiency up to twice that of conventional stoves.

In 2012, Primus introduced the OmniLite stove, a lighter and more compact version of the OmniFuel, optimized for use with Eta Pots.

Related Research Articles

Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from Greek: κηρός (kērós) meaning "wax", and was registered as a trademark by Nova Scotia geologist and inventor Abraham Gesner in 1854 before evolving into a generic trademark. It is sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerosene lamp</span> Type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel

A kerosene lamp is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a table, or hand-held lanterns may be used for portable lighting. Like oil lamps, they are useful for lighting without electricity, such as in regions without rural electrification, in electrified areas during power outages, at campsites, and on boats. There are three types of kerosene lamp: flat-wick, central-draft, and mantle lamp. Kerosene lanterns meant for portable use have a flat wick and are made in dead-flame, hot-blast, and cold-blast variants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portable stove</span> Cooking stove specially designed to be portable and lightweight

A portable stove is a cooking stove specially designed to be portable and lightweight, used in camping, picnicking, backpacking, or other use in remote locations where an easily transportable means of cooking or heating is needed. Portable stoves can be used in diverse situations, such as for outdoor food service and catering and in field hospitals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outdoor cooking</span>

Outdoor cooking is the preparation of food in the outdoors. A significant body of techniques and specialized equipment exists for it, traditionally associated with nomad in cultures such as the Berbers of North Africa, the Arab Bedouins, the Plains Indians, pioneers in North America, and indigenous tribes in South America. These methods have been refined in modern times for use during recreational outdoor pursuits, by campers and backpackers.

Primus may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beverage-can stove</span> Alcohol stove of DIY construction

A beverage-can stove, or pop-can stove, is a do it yourself, ultralight, alcohol-burning portable stove. It is made using parts from two aluminium beverage cans. Basic designs can be relatively simple, but many variations exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleman (brand)</span> Brand of outdoor recreation products

The Coleman Company, Inc. is an American brand of outdoor recreation products, especially camping gear, now owned by Newell Brands. The company's new headquarters are in Chicago, and it has facilities in Wichita, Kansas, and in Texas. There are approximately 4,000 employees. Some of the products manufactured are portable stoves, lanterns, coolers, sleeping bags, camp chairs, and shelters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trangia</span>

Trangia is a line of alcohol-burning portable stoves manufactured by Swedish company Trangia AB in Trångsviken. These stoves are designed primarily for backpackers, with a focus on light weight, durability and simple design. The company began in 1925, selling cookware. The Trangia stove was developed by 1951. Trangia stoves were initially preferred to kerosene (paraffin) pressure stoves because they required only one type of fuel. Trangia's selling point is that the entire packaged stove, including pots, is not significantly larger than a standard camp cooking pot. For this reason the Trangia has retained much of its popularity despite the development of alternative stove fuels and designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist</span> Swedish inventor (1862-1931)

Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist was a Swedish inventor. He designed the first sootless kerosene stove, operated by compressed air. He started a company, Primus, to manufacture and sell the Primus stove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campingaz</span> Brand of fuel

Campingaz, formerly Camping Gaz, is a brand of products with compressed, mixed butane/propane gas supplied in small, lightweight, disposable canisters and larger, refillable cylinders designed for use as a fuel while camping and caravanning. The fuel gas is compressed to a liquid and sold in characteristic blue metal containers. The brand name is also used on appliances manufactured for use with the gas: cookers, lanterns, heaters, grills, refrigerators, etc. as well as more general camping equipment such as sleeping bags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobo stove</span> Improvised cooking device

A hobo stove is a style of improvised heat-producing and cooking device used in survival situations, by backpackers, hobos, tramps and homeless people. Hobo stoves can be functional to boil water for purification purposes during a power outage and in other survival situations, and can be used for outdoor cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primus stove</span> Company

The Primus stove was the first pressurized-burner kerosene (paraffin) stove, developed in 1892 by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, a factory mechanic in Stockholm. The stove was based on the design of the hand-held blowtorch; Lindqvist's patent covered the burner, which was turned upward on the stove instead of outward as on the blowtorch. The same year, Lindqvist partnered with Johan Viktor Svenson and established J.V. Svenson's Kerosene Stove Factory for manufacturing the new stoves which were sold under the name Primus. The first model was the No.1 stove, which was quickly followed by a number of similarly designed stoves of different models and sizes. Shortly thereafter, B.A. Hjorth & Co., a tool and engineering firm begun in Stockholm in 1889, acquired the exclusive rights to sell the Primus stove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fjällräven</span> Swedish company specialising in outdoor equipment

Fjällräven is a Swedish brand specialising in outdoor equipment—mostly upscale clothing and luggage. It was founded in 1960 by Åke Nordin (1936–2013) from Örnsköldsvik in northern Sweden. The company went public in 1983 with an over-the-counter listing in Stockholm. Since 2014, Fjällräven has been a subsidiary of Fenix Outdoor International AG, which is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The group also includes the Tierra, Primus, Hanwag, Brunton, and Royal Robbins brands. The CEO of Fenix as of March 2018 was Martin Nordin, the oldest son of Åke Nordin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silva compass</span>

Silva Sweden AB is an outdoors products company that sells handheld compasses and other navigational equipment including GPS tools, mapping software, aircraft altimeters, and marine navigation tools. Silva's founders - Gunnar Tillander, Alvar Kjellström, Arvid Kjellström, and Björn Kjellström - invented the hugely popular orienteering baseplate or protractor compass used around the world for outdoors navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Svea 123</span> Camping stove

The Svea 123 is a small liquid-fuel pressurized-burner camping stove that traces its origins to designs first pioneered in the late 19th century. Although it was originally made in Sweden it is now built in Taiwan by Optimus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood-burning stove</span> Type of stove

A wood-burning stove is a heating or cooking appliance capable of burning wood fuel, often called solid fuel, and wood-derived biomass fuel, such as sawdust bricks. Generally the appliance consists of a solid metal closed firebox, often lined by fire brick, and one or more air controls. The first wood-burning stove was patented in Strasbourg in 1557. This was two centuries before the Industrial Revolution, so iron was still prohibitively expensive. The first wood-burning stoves were high-end consumer items and only gradually became used widely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Gaia</span> U.S. organization

Project Gaia is a U.S.-based non-governmental, non-profit organization engaged in developing alcohol-based fuel markets for household use in Ethiopia and other developing countries. The organization identifies alcohol fuels as a potential alternative to traditional cooking methods, which they suggest may contribute to fuel shortages, environmental issues, and public health concerns in these regions. Focusing on impoverished and marginalized communities, Project Gaia is active in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Brazil, Haiti, and Madagascar. The organization is also planning to expand its projects to additional countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BioLite</span>

BioLite is a New York City-based startup company that produces off-grid energy products for outdoor recreational use and emerging markets. The company is known for its wood-burning stoves that use thermoelectric technology to create usable electricity from the heat of their fires. It was founded in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jetboil</span>

Jetboil is an American manufacturer of lightweight gas-fueled portable stoves used primarily for backpacking.

References

  1. "Fenix Outdoor has completed its sale of Primus to the Silva Group". Fenix Outdoor. Retrieved 2023-08-28.