The efficient Primus stove quickly earned a reputation as a reliable and durable stove in everyday use, and it performed especially well under adverse conditions: it was the stove of choice for Fridtjof Nansen's North Pole attempt, Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole[5] and Richard Byrd’s to the North Pole.[6] Primus stoves also accompanied Mallory on Mt. Everest[7] as well as Tenzing and Hillary there many decades later.[8]

Prior to the introduction of the Primus, kerosene stoves were constructed in the same manner as oil lamps, which use a wick to draw fuel from the tank to the burner and which produce a great deal of soot due to incomplete combustion. The Primus stove’s design, which uses pressure and heat to vapourize the kerosene before ignition, results in a hotter, more efficient stove that does not soot.[12] Because it did not use a wick and did not produce soot, the Primus stove was advertised as the first “sootless” and “wickless” stove.[13]