Hi There,

I've got got a seemingly never been fired up(I'll rectify the sorry situation soon. Do we call stoves with this affliction "maiden stoves"?) Veritas Mk. 1 Compact Camper Stove. It doesn't have the nice picture on the lid of the tin like Ross' does, just the transfer with "Veritas Paraffin Mk. 1 pressure Made in England". Around the tank is embossed "Duoburn Made In England".
Does anyone know what what year range it may be from?
I would like to know what the duoburn refers to, does anyone know?
What sort of burner is it, is it a silent or a roarer?

All the best,
Dave.

I've since discovered that it's a tube burner.

Here's the instructions etc.

Dave.

I currently own one of these stoves but did have another one which was bought out of curiosity as it had Mk 1 included in the lid transfer. I sold that one after comparing the two stoves. Apart from the box transfer the only difference between the two stoves was the knurling on the tank lid.
Using the tank lid as an airscrew seems a good idea as there is one less part to lose. In fact the tank lid is a heavy piece of brass which retains a lot of heat and burns your fingers when you try to adjust the flame.

You have come up with a third version of the stove. The two that I have owned both had transfers on the tanks. I will check this later. Your stove appears to have engraving on the tank which is different to those I have seen. Whilst I have referred to three versions that applies specifically to the stoves. However there were also three versions of the tins whch may not coincide with the changes in the stoves. The two stoves that I have owned had plain brown tins. I think Ross has one with a more fancy box marked with a transfer including the Mk 1 in the wording.

I think the stoves were probably produced initially straight after the war. Initially there was no reason to identify the model because it was the only half pint stove that they sold. When a more sophsticated model was produced such as one with an air screw in the tank lid they needed to differentiate between the models and this was when the Mk 1 got added to the label. I think this model was probably produced between 1945 and 1955 but I doubt any sooner or later than that. The tank lid was not as good an idea as it looks so I suspect that the model was dropped because of that.

The Duoburn on the tank is interestng as I believe that I have been told that Falk, Stadleman & Co Ltd did not make the stoves. They simply sold them under their own brand name of Veritas

I will find my stove and come back to you if there is any more information to give you

I have had a look at my stove and the transfer on my box does not coincide with the transfer on the stove. The transfer on the box simply says Veritas Made in England. The transfer on the stove is broken up but a 1 still shows so the stove has been marked as a Mk 1. It may be that the wrong transfer has been put on my box.

I noticed that your stove had the lettering embossed on it.

Thanks for that Bryan. Yes the filler cap is very weighty, I can imagine that it would get very hot in use. Mine is straight knurled.

How does the burner fare in the elements? Is it as fussy as the silent type burners on the Primus 5's?

Dave.

I think the straight knurled tank lid was later. The knurling was much deeper and this was probably to reduce the contact area with your flesh and lessen the heat that would get to you. It also increased the surface area of the edge of the ld and probably helped cooling.

The burner works much the same as any other 1/2 pint stove. The heat output is low and any wind increases cooking times rather than blowing it out. It is more than 10 years since I tried it but I remember that it was very slow to boil water. This may have been because of the leg length. The one that I have now appears to have too long legs. This lift the pan too far away from the heat. The legs of the one that one that I sold appeared to be too short. The one that I still have appears to be original but there is no way of knowing whether the legs have been replaced as a set.

Veritas also sold a 1 pint version of the stove with a matching tank lid and a conventional burner. I also have one of those. If you send an email address I will send you photos.

I bought a Veritas half-pint stove from Ross long ago. It's a nickel-plated conventional roarer, and has always been my back porch workhorse stove; very hot and reliable. I light it and a Radius 21 out there when I just want to smoke a cigar and hear the stoves roar.