My first Optimus stove. 111 and it's a gem.

I know just about everybody that is serious about stoves will have an Optimus 111 and I have wanted one for a while. So here we have it, not NOS but not far off it. Has the Optimus Sweden marking on the roarer burner head and Sweden Sweden on the flame ring. Also, it has an embossed lid with the large globe, cookie cutter valve knob, steel wind guard and slotted type fuel cap. So from what I am reading on this forum most likely mid 1960,s. All it needed was a new seal in the fuel cap and away she went with no problems. I see why people enthuse over these stoves, they really are great pieces of Swedish design and they run nice and hot, should be able to boil up a couple of litres very fast. I am glad it had been fired previously as it removes any question about firing it up and enjoying the roar!





And it's away roaring!

 

Pretty nice. Enjoy that puppy!
Duane

 

Congratulations on your find.
It's very well preserved.

 

That's a nice find. They are a fun stove.

 

Wow, so that’s what it looks like when it was new. Yeah..mine looks like it IS 65 years old compared to yours but I love the patina.
Great find you got there, word of warning these 111’s have a tendency to multiply.

 

Great find. I don't have one yet.
What is in the paperwork?

 

Nice stove, congratulations

 

Nice one

 

The paperwork is the original operating instructions and also a pamphlet produced by the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council Inc. explaining which fuels you should use for the stove and how not to confuse kerosene with gasoline type fuels including naptha and alcohol.

 

Great find, love the condition, always good finding them like that and not much fettling required to get them going.

 

My favourite model of stove. Enjoy being a proud owner.

 

Good to know. Is it a 111T [triple fuel], 111B [benzine = white gas] , or just 111 [kerosene]?

 

It looks like a 64-66 one, according to @OMC 's research listings, so would be kero only. Similar to the one I have.
Tim

 

Yes, Kerosene only. Which suits me just fine as the cheapest naptha fuel (we have a product called Shellite here in New Zealand) is now more than twice the price of Kerosene.

 

No just the 111 model for Kero. Cheap to run and gets nice and hot.

 

You can use gas in a 111, just like a 111B. But, the difference is that you cannot properly vaporize kerosene in 111B.
That said, I do not use 111B, abd I do not use gas in 111. I do not trust the valve systems.

 

I don't use gas/petrol in anything as I don't trust the valve systems and the fuel type either.

 

This is a great stove, and I am pleased you found one in NZ. I have found that kerosene burns hotter than Shellite or Fuelite.

 

Yes you are right about Kero stoves being hotter. I have a Coleman 4m twin burner which is a naptha stove and it is not as hot. I also have a few single burner brass stoves which are pretty hot but I have found that the roarer burners are definitely hotter than the silent burners.

 

Beautiful stove!!