For a fun afternoon picnic or a short glamping excursion, you can‘t go wrong with the Onja stove. Primus already has an established name in the outdoor stove market and the Onja maintains the level of quality.
The Onja is light (even with fuel canisters) and includes a shoulder strap. This makes carrying it easy and convenient. The included cutting board also attaches to the strap ensuring a secure fit. It also helps to cover and protect the burners when on the move or when not in use.
Setup of the Onja could not be any easier. The lower portion of the stove also acts as the legs. Just a gentle tug is needed to extend the legs. Then lift the cutting board off, flip up the burner valve knobs and you‘re ready to cook. The stove is surprisingly sturdy. I used it on a variety of surfaces from sand to grass and it stood strong and did not tip over. I should also note that as the legs extend, the burning surfaces rise up keeping the cloth sides away from harm. Once extended, there is nothing to act as a wind block for the burners. I did have issues with wind killing the burners on particularly windy days.
The Onja uses the standard propane/isobutane mixture fuel canisters which is available from most outdoor outfitters. Each burner uses its own can. One of the cool things about the Onja is that it can still fold up with the cans attached.
This stove is incredibly compact and versatile, considering it is a two burner stove. Due to the compact nature of this stove however, you cannot use large pots on it. Cooking times vary, but it only took a few minutes to boil water in a four liter pot.
While the Onja is a great stove, I was disappointed with the cutting board. While the wood is a nice grain and looks very nice when carrying around, the size of the cutting surface is just too small to really be of any use. Ideally, instead of a single thick piece of wood, Primus could have used thinner wood with a folding hinge so they could double the cutting surface area. This would actually make it useful. As it is now, it is just a nice dust cover.
I was also disappointed at the speed that the shiny elements discolored through normal use. After about 15 minutes of use on each burner, they both had lost their sheen. Not a terrible thing, as it did not affect cooking in anyway.
I must say that my biggest gripe with the Onja is with the valve knobs. It can be a fight to get them to stick out as they liked to spring back down. While that is frustrating, I am also concerned that there is no retention clip to prevent the valves from opening when traveling with the Onja over your shoulder. There was one instance where I brushed across something on the path that nudged the valve open. When we arrived at our destination, I discovered that one of my fuel cans was empty. Because of this, I had to do the cooking using only one burner. A retention clip really would be a great improvement, not only for travelling but also when it is set up so that the valves can be locked down when not in use.
Overall, I really like the portability of the Onja and I love having two burners for a short getaway or short romantic hike with my wife.
If you’d like more info, or to find a dealer, visit their website: Primus
Andy
Thank you to Primus for sending me their Onja Stove to review.