Where can I find an Optimus 8R?

I'm considering using an Optimus 8R on a 5-month kayaking trip. Can you tell me the best sites for shopping for one? So far, I've been looking on LetGo and eBay. I'm on a pretty tight budget, so price will determine whether I use that stove. What is the average low price range?

And if I find one in ratty condition, are they fairly easy and inexpensive to make operational?

 

getting hard to find one on ebay for less than 70 dollars or so. nice one are 120 and over. Found a new Hiker plus for 135 or so. New, bigger but you are kayaking so that won't matter. I like it more than my 8r. You may not think so.

 

How much time do you have? I paid $40 for mine at a swap meet.

 

@Dorraine Stanley
Sounds like quite a trip. How about a few more details?

Years ago I took my 8R on a kayak trip in SE Alaska. After a month of wet/salty conditions it was getting a little rusty. But it worked fine and still does today. However, it is not a powerful stove, especially under wet, cool and misty conditions. In my opinion it is best suited for 1 or maybe 2 patient people. If I were to do it again, I might go with a little stronger burning stove.

 

I hope to launch from Three Forks, Montana, around June 1, where the Missouri River begins. I'll take the Missouri River to the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. I plan to take my good ole sweet time about it, too. I'm so excited I can't sleep. Buuuut I may not be able to afford it. I'm buying gear and preparing as though I can go, but I won't know for certain for a few more months. If I can't afford it this year, I'll put it on next year's bucket list.

I know I said I'd use this stove twice every day for five months, but there will be plenty of times that I heat dinner with the campfire. Unless I'm in a Gordon Ramsay mood, I dread dragging out gear just to heat up a pot of water for a dehydrated meal, which is why I'm looking for stove simplicity. I really do like how I can just shut the lid on the 8r and stick it into the kayak. I looked at the Coleman multi-fuel stoves, but I don't like how the top is open and unprotected. I'll be cramming stuff in every nook and crannie in the boat, and it'll be a tight squeeze, and I don't want to risk damaging gear. I've seen folks used the round Folgers coffee cans to store the Coleman stove, but those would take up twice the space as the 8R.

I think I'm still open minded on stove options. I mean, I'm pretty sure I know what features I want, but I'm still learning. And I know canister stoves are super convenient, but I really don't like them. I swear, the anticipation of that pssssst noise they make when screwing on the stove jacks my anxiety into the red zone. I visualizing it blowing up while I'm putting on the stove. I jump out of my skin every time it pssssts. I just can't take it! lol. So that stove will only serve as an emergency backup. I also have an Outon wood stove. Since I can build a campfire, I'll probably just leave the wood stove at home. But it all depends on my total weight and bulk in gear.

 

If simplicity is desired - how about an Optimus 99 - you can use the “lid” as a small pot, and it has no folding hinges or closing mechanism.
Regarding salty waters - its mainly brass and Aluminum?
(Said the seller of a nice 99 ;-))

 

Harder, the 99 is definitely on the short list. I know it sounds petty, but I'm not crazy about having to keep it closed with a strap, or having a separate lid, even though it would be nice to leave my cup at home. But it's still a contender. I do like it's compact size.

 

You don't seem confident.

Develop an equanimous attitude before you start this adventure, rather than drag dread and anxiety along with you and into it. You'll need to be comfortable with uncertainty, adaptable to change and skillful enough to avoid the plentiful array of interesting floating objects in the Big Muddy that you'll be overtaking or that will be overtaking you.

Learn to pack light. More experience will guide you to what is truly necessary for this adventure—like a functioning debit card secured somewhere on your person. If you haven't logged many extended trips kayaking alone, use this year to develop experience in cooking, first aid, and self-reliance, then take on the Missouri next year.

A reliable, compact gasoline, kerosene or alcohol camp stove will be useful because dry firewood is more likely to be found away from a river rather than alongside it. Even if you find some, unless you're in a state or national park and have an open-fire permit, building open fires is not advisable. Taking firewood from private land and building open fires with it might put you in conflict with private landowners. When landowners see smoke rising in the distance, they're likely to come investigate its source.

I recommend bringing an effective water filtration system with you on your trip. I use a First Need. One can be purchased cheaper from outfits like Campmor. It removes bacteria, viruses and other contaminants. Much of the water surrounding you on your journey might be unappealing or unhealthy to drink. This filter quickly purifies and clarifies a reasonable amount of water and makes unnecessary the carrying of many containers for water storage. You're going to be thirsty, that's for sure.

Good luck! Enjoy your trips whenever they come and wherever they go.

 

I'd bring a Sigg/Svea set or a Trangia; but then I'd be using a canoe. I can see that with the kayak space is everything.

 

As far as a stove is concerned—which in fact was at the root of your query before I got on a roll —I suggest a Trangia 27 hard anodized kit. Alcohol in the form of yellow container Heet or denatured alcohol should be available all along your route. I use a Trangia with a stainless steel Clikstand.

The Clikstand, windscreen, Trangia, firesteel, spork, and Bic lighter contained in pouch.


The pouch inside a 5.5 inch diameter Evernew 1liter ceramic-coated pot. Ballpoint pen is for size comparison.


The Evernew with its handles collapsed.



Bagged.

 

Laitch, I've been primitive camping for 20-plus years, and have been on solo paddling trips before, but I still don't have the confidence I should. I reckon it's just my personality. But I'm not letting my lack of confidence take away from an opportunity for adventure. I'm going, regardless. I like the fear of the unknown, but I just don't like those gas canisters! They just ain't my bag. lol. I've used them in the past, as well as a wood stove and a Trangia, and none of them seem to hit the spot. I'm still on the hunt for a stove that I'm satisfied with. I might as well give the 8R a try.

Refining gear is always a work in progress, and always changes based on which river I paddle. I've gone ultra light before, especially when I have long portages, but on this trip, we'll have some assistance with portages, so I can afford some luxury items and extra weight. I'm working hard to keep those luxuries within bounds though. I'll be refining that list between now and then. I'm sure I'll get greedy and decide to take more than I should, and then have to sit back and rethink everything all over again. Oh, the struggle.

 

This is what I took two trips ago. It's my most compact set. I know how to reduce bulk and get the weight down, but don't think I like that setup. I don't like canisters, and I don't like how tall and tippy it is when there's a full pot of water on the stove. I want something lower to the ground. Wider. More stable. Something I feel comfortable with. I know there's fun in testing new stoves and pots and pans, but I think this hobby could break me financially -- and I haven't even gotten started.

 

On my list is a remote canister stove that can handle inverted-canister operation. Lower, more stable, easier to safely use a windscreen, better low temperature ability, etc.

With my Trangia, all that may have just become moot.

 

I agree, I really like both of these.
But then you said you tried the Trangia.
Alcohol or white gas should be easy to find.

Caldera Cone set up.


Canister? We are a classic stove site.

 

Hmm. That Caldera is interesting looking. It wouldn't work with a frying pan, though, would it? Or would it?

 

Is the 8R self pressuring and with a wick in it like a Svea 123?

 

Yes, the 8R is self-pressuring with a wick like the Svea 123. The flame plates on mine tend to glow red almost immediately after lighting.

 

Hmmmm, fry pan on a Caldera Cone??? I would have look it up.
But they have a model that uses wood, tablets, or alcohol.

In the case of fry pan, back to Sigg/Svea 123 kit, or Trangia. Frying is easy in either one. Wind protection, too.

MSR Whisperlite Universal.

 

Well, there goes the experience breeds confidence theory down the drain.

I would think your enjoyment of fear would make canister fuel and its tippy cooking arrangement more attractive. Maybe fear of the known is un-likeable.

Nevertheless, enjoy fear however you can—there's plenty to go around. Here's wishing you un-charred travel. At least there will be plenty of water available for firefighting.

 

Have you used an 8r yet? They are a bit underpowered... at one point you mentioned "we will have help.." We, as in more than one?? Get more stove.
The Sigg/123 set-up is stable, plenty of heat, awesome.
Trangia super stable, I love mine, quiet, never ever fails nor do I have any fear of it not lighting, pricking jet etc. It just works.
Keep posting!!! about your upcoming adventure!