I always get thrown for a bit by these resurrected threads. Nice to hear from Henry, spudz, Exeter-yak, and a few others, not to mention Steve....lot of old friends.
A great old thread and one I'll happily subscribe to! I have been trying to build up my boxed Optimus family since I started stove collecting in earnest, It's one of the few stovie things I've been committed to, mainly because I love the concept! (Apart from the Hydra Burner stuff but that's another long convoluted story...) In no particular order: 8 x4 8 (aluminium tin) x1 8R x5 99 x1 199 x1 Ranger 10 (red soft case) x1 111 (embossed case) x1 111B x2 111C (Silver case, black tank Hiker) x1 111T x1 111 Nova (green tank Hiker+) x1 22 (plain case) x1 22B (plain case) x1 Campingo 2 x1 I honestly can't remember all of the permutations (colours/embossings) up there but those stand out to my mind Closely related: Shelterbox 111C (Silver Tank) x1 Shelterbox Nova (Black Tank) x1 Sunmate Thunder (Korean 8R) x1 Primus Touristy (Eastern Bloc 8R) x2 I aspire to finding a 111D Artic, a 11, Campingo 1 and Optimill (I nearly had an Optimill a couple of years ago, dammit ). Good things come to those who wait, I was lucky with the campingo 2 Alec.
Seeing that this thread is resurrected, here is my stash of Optimus 111 (ex-Antarctic) before fettling (-1 which went to @kerry460; plus a later find of a 111B): Cheers Tony
Hi Kerry, Damn son now that is very colorful, but you should have a hot pink paint on the inside just to add a bit more character to the stove. Cheers mate, Norman
Norman ,G,,day mate . it is staying as it came from Antarctica , but hot pink would tart it up , kerry
Just one 111... They are scarce down here Received in this state... And now refurbished... Great user one! Enrique
111 111B 111T x 2 I by far prefer the the 111 on kerosene. The 111B is very nice for fast start in cold weather and gets poo-pooed for safety, just keep the NRV fresh. One of my T models has only 1-tank of fuel through it. Maybe I should have kept it pristine? When the Triple fuel models age they can start having issues with inner burner caps rust and warp causing flame lift and underburn. I find this more of a PITA than fettling 111B's
Did any of you note the slight modification to both my spindle handles i wasnt impressed with the chain snagging around the spindle. so i used a split drift pin and closed the loop on the chain so it rotated around the spindle freely. Can be seen on the 5th image down.
Hi All. New member from Norway here. I was searching the net to track down a few spares for my stoves when this forum popped up. Of course there had to be a forum like this one... it's just that I had not thought about searching for one yet. Turned out to be a nice find with some great posts. I will check around. The first thing I did after serving my 12 months in the military years ago, was to throw in a 111 Hiker on top of my wish list for Christmas that year (1987). I got it, and I still have it today. In addition I also have a couple of others which I bought a few years ago, most likely ex military stoves from the Norwegian forces. They work great, but a couple of them are in need of a few spares. New pump O-rings, new nozzles and simple things like that. All parts on order, and should be all good as soon as I get the spares needed. I might also look out for a good SVEA 123, as I've always wanted one for some reason. We will see. I'm no collector as such, but I love to fiddle with things like this...
Nice thread archeology... Well, I don't consider myself a stove collector, I just happen to have a few Optimus stoves out in the man cave... And the 111's I have about 10 of. But the stove I use the most nowadays is the Optimus Polaris + PolarDawg2 I built into a Trangia 25 (in order to let my trusty KAP Arctic retire after 29 years of service): (Excuse for showing it here: While I know it's not a Classic Camp Stove yet - I usually feed it liquid fuel. Inverted canister gas or kerosene...)
i was most fortunate to be able to partake of thesportsmansguide's blow-out of mil-surplus 111s at US$99 each a number of years ago - snagged three: 111 111 111T all three were in very good shape, with two of them including the plastic white meths bottle... traded one of the 111s, but kept one as a user and the 111T as a 'shelf queen' willie on the hot and humid Gulf of Mexico p.s. i also have one of those hideous 'new' Optimus Hikers - it's a real, well to put it politely... POS (but it does have a companion hand-made BD silent cap, which makes it a tad better)
Hello I have about 15 different 111s. Used to be more of them. But luckily they stopped breeding. Below is the photos of my user stoves. Good stoves that have lived a hard life and still doing what they are supposed to do. My favourite is the roarer. Think I've had it for 30 years now. Only replaced the tanklid washer and pump cup. @Odd Nice family of 111s you have. I see many of them has a chain fastened to the tank lid.Is this your modification ? I have a 111B that came with this mod. @Roy Karlsvik Welcome to the club.You will find spares for you 111s at Finn.no. There is a seller called Finn that has all the parts you need. Bjørn