Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Gear Reviews Primus Trekk Lite is All Right!

The Primus Trekk Lite continues to be one of my favorite pieces of gear, especially when I'm in a self-indulgent mood. In all but the most weight-stingy trips, the Trekk goes in my pack, and do I ever miss it when I leave it behind.<P>Call me a sissy, but I love good ambient light, and though candle lanterns are great, there's something about piezo ignition and 80 watts that makes a Trekk-lighted tent feel like, well, suburbia. Hang the Trekk from the interior peak of your tent by the chain, and if you can feel it in the dark, you can light it. Just turn the knob, click the piezo ignition button, and bingo. It's really that easy. Of course, you need to ventilate the tent properly, and the manufacturer doesn't recommend using it inside a tent, but Hemingway or L'Amour in the middle of the boonies is well worth it to my mind.<P>The beauty of the Trekk is its size and weight. At 8.3 ounces, there are candle lanterns that weigh more. And though my tape measure finds the almost mandatory storage box, glass globe you know, to be a bit bigger than Primus claims, 3"x3"x5", it still only occupies about the volume of one 20-oz. Mountain House dehydrated meal. If things are tight, which is rare in my Dana LongBed, I'd gladly carry that meal in my pocket on the trip in in order to have steady ambient light for multiple days. But it has never gotten to that.<P>Another plus is that you can use the same LP canister that you use with your stove, in my case the excellent Primus MFS, to pull double duty with the Trekk. Since, for safety, I always over-estimate my fuel needs, the Trekk empties out those canisters that would have returned half-filled anyway. Of course, if you're using white gas to cook, you'll need a small LP cartridge just for the Trekk, which will add another half-pound. That means good ambient light for 10-plus total hours will cost you roughly a pound of pack weight. That's your call, but when you're already using LP to cook, finding a spot for the 8-oz. Trekk is almost a no-brainer.<P>Rounding out the pros, the Trekk is well built, as are all Primus products it seems. Brass threads are plenty strip proof, unless you're an oaf. The piezo ignition has never let me down, and if you think about it, a piezo-ignited unit is nice to have around camp in case of emergencies. If you're creative, you can light an emergency fire awfully quickly with the Trekk and a flammable liquid, but I'll leave that to your imagination. The chain is plenty long and adjustable, a nice feature. And the unit works great in the wind, and even the rain if you rig it right.<P>As to cons, like all lanterns, the frosted globe is made of glass, which has a tendency to break at the most inopportune times. Replacements are easily found at REI, however, once you get home. Also, the Trekk requires a special mantle, which run $5 for a packet of three. Even though they're a ripoff at that price, I'd buy two packs and keep them in the storage box, just in case. And like most LP-burners, the Trekk sounds like a circling DC-10 in your tent, especially when cranked up to mach-1. You get used to it, but it does drown out the sounds of nature while you're reading. Also, comparing the output to an 80-watt bulb might be a bit of a stretch on Primus' part. Let's just say it's plenty of light for a camping tent and leave it at that.<P>At the end of the day, the Primus Trekk Lite Lantern is an indulgence. You won't want to tote it along on every trip. But for those trips where eight ounces is not much of an issue, the Trekk adds a high measure of convenience that is most welcome, especially if you hate dressing to the light of a headlamp. It is relatively light, idiot-proof, virtually maintenance-free, and, I promise, will make you the envy of your campmates when the campfire goes out.<P>The Primus Trekk Lite Lantern is all right.<BR>