Well Ross, your site has just solved a (for me) historical conundrum. George Mallory's last communication (Everest, 1924) was a letter he sent down from Camp VI the day before he and Irvine made their fatal attempt. (I'm quoting this letter from The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest by Conrad Anker and David Roberts.) I've often wondered what an "Unna Cooker" is, and now, thanks to you posting the 1930 Phoebus catalog, we can be pretty sure it's a Phoebus 100 (assuming it had the same designation 6 years earlier). Many manufacturers gave their products names as well as numbers back then -- Optimus 100 is "Armand", Primus 100 is "Pkomp", Radius 100 is "Yahze", etc. (Of course, it's possible Mallory was using "Unna" as a generic, like "Primus", but it doesn't seem likely.) Thanks again for a great site! ....Arch
I just finished reading this same book on Mallory, and had the same question about what the heck an ?Unna cooker? was. After searching a bit, it appears to be a Primus stove that had been specially modified for the Everest expeditions to burn solid fuel, and named after Percy Unna, the Scottish climber and member of the Everest committee during the 1920s. I?ve had to piece together a number of different references, so bear with me: First is in a catalog of books offered by Blackwell?s Rare Books (of Oxford England) for a listing for a 1907 menu for an Alpine Club jubilee dinner. The description of the dinner?s attendees states that it included ?mountaineering luminaries such as D.W. Freshfield, F.F. Tuckett, G. Winthrop Young, and P.J.H. Unna, among many others. Unna (inventor of an ingenious portable stove) would later feature in one of George Mallory?s last messages: ?We?re awfully sorry to have left things in such a mess - our Unna cooker rolled down the slope at the last moment. Be sure of getting back to [camp] 4 tomorrow in time to evacuate before dark, as I hope to.?? (Blackwell Rare Books: Travel - http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/extracts/150.pdf) Percy Unna, often described as a ?climber-scientist,? was a committee member supporting the several Everest expeditions (specifically head of the ?Oxygen Subcomittee?), and in this position was chiefly responsible for development and use of the oxygen breathing apparatus used on Everest. (Unna?s role is described in a number of books on Mallory and Everest, including Fearless on Everest: The Search for Sandy Irvine by Julie Summers, and The Wildest Dream: The Biography of George Mallory by Peter and Lenni Gillman, among others). While most accounts of Unna focus on his pioneering work in developing the oxygen apparatus used on Everst, it also appears that he was responsible for modifications made to the expedition?s Primus stoves that enabled them to operate in the oxygen-starved conditions found at high altitudes. James West, writing in the May 2003 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology (George I. Finch and his pioneering use of oxygen for climbing at extreme altitudes) focuses mainly on Unna?s work with George Fitch in developing the oxygen apparatus used for the initial Everest assault in 1921. (Fitch was on the Everest committee with Unna and also a climbing member of the 1922 expedition.) However, West also notes in passing that Unna and Fitch were also working in 1921 on improving the performance of Primus stoves in high altitudes: they first ?duly modified [the stoves] for high-altitude use, and then Finch and Unna switched their attention from the effects of oxygen on the stoves to the possible value of oxygen for climbers.? Alas, West does not indicate how they modified the stoves. The evidence on the solid fuel modification comes from a passage on page 166 in Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine by Hemmleb, Johnson & Simonson: ?Mallory?s note to Odell also apologized for the fact that they managed to let their Unna cooker (the solid fuel stove) roll down the slope just before they left Camp V for Camp VI.? Now I'm really curious about the "Unna cooker."
Some tantalising clues here, including some of your quotes Arch Link Although, as indicated above, Kellas' experiments with oxygen equipment on Kamet in 1920 were subsequently ignored, another of his observations was responsible for a renewed interest in oxygen equipment in 1921 and 1922. In discussing the reasons for their failure to reach the summit of Kamet, Kellas and Morshead referred to the difficulties with stoves at high altitude. Morshead wrote, "I was unaware until too late that the large Primus stove, on which I had been relying, would not work in the rarified atmosphere of 20,000 feet, beyond which point methylated spirit is the only possible fuel; while Dr. Kellas had only one small spirit stove which took an hour to thaw sufficient snow to fill a teapot" I also see reference elsewhere to using "Meta" solid fuel in the high altitude food kits, together with cigarettes I have a book with collections of photos from various summit attempts that Ive just been leafing through but I cant see any stoves
John--Jason--high quality information..thanks..we hope to hear more from both of you..i have the link to Blackwells in my favorites now..
Thanks for the praise Arch but I think John is right. Great bit of research! I noticed your post is nearly 4 years old! I seem to remember this being discussed here. The code names were for telegraphic use when placing orders. The general public are unlikely to have any knowledge of them - they only appear in the trade catalogues - not the retail.
Nice bit of research, guys! I had run into Percy Unna's name, and was aware he had some consulting role with the expedition's oxygen apparatus, but couldn't find out much about him. Also, in the materials I read (which I don't have at hand at the moment) the meta fuel stoves were called just that -- "meta cookers". The only place I encountered the "Unna" designation was in Mallory's note. I think the research that John and Jason have done is convincing, and that the Phoebus designation of model 100 as the "Unna" is probably just a coincidence. Great job! ....Arch
I didnt notice the OP was 4 years old! Slightly later, safe to assume Mallory didnt use a grasshopper but does anyone recognise this guy? I was told that Primus sneakily filled the cartridges with a prop/butane mix for this expedition and possibly messed with the jets long before prop/but mix cartridges were commercially available. No idea whether it got anywhere near the summit though. Sorry about the bad photo, the original is not much better.
I have grasshopper stoves and a couple of the lanterns both work very well and are frugal on the gas. I've used both since the early 70's, I thought the yellow Primus cans were always a propane/butane mix, never a single fuel? The Grasshopper is the stove I dumped my Primus stoves for when I was a lad
I also used grasshoppers on backpacking trips years ago still have one in its box and Ive got a few of those lanterns as well. I thought the resealable cartridges were all plain butane at one time, but Ive got no old ones to check? Ive also got a propane version of the grasshopper, fits on a refillable plumbers cylinder, weighs a ton of course but good output. At one time everyone was dumping the liquid fuel stoves in favour of cleaner safer gas, I ended up with lots of gas stuff myself
Is that a Primus 2220 on the extreme right of that shot? I have yet to see what a original mantle would have looked like for one of these. Mine has a caravan #2 hard gas mantle in it.
All of mine were the hard mantle type, I think I still have one NIB with original mantle installed. Bit of pain really, I modified one of mine to take a soft mantle with various bits, tube from a camping gaz lantern if I remember correctly, it works but not brilliantly. I have photos of my old man demo'ing these same lanterns to Prince Charles on the Primus stand at an exhibition somewhere, surounded by all the latest gas stoves
Hey, Guys, Reading about the finding of Mallory's body up on Everest, caused me to dig out my own "Ghosts of Everest" book, and peruse it once more. I am drawn to that book, still, just as I was when I first found it! The search for Irvine and Mallory was incredible, and for it to be, at least partly, so successful, is amazing to me!! I guess that Irvine remains to be found, but I do hope that, one day, he will be. Both were amazing Gentlemen, I believe, and seeing the photos of Mallory's body, outstretched and grasping at the mountainside with dug-in fingertips, even after suffering a broken leg, possible broken elbow and a severe gash on his forehead, very clearly illustrates what kind of man he was and his tenacity for life, even in death!! Damned amazing stuff..... Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc (who believes that, even in death, Mallory remains, "larger than life"!)
Back to Mallory?s stove ? still trying to figure out just what Unna and Fitch did to modify the thing. Nothing earth-shattering so far, but mostly more confirmation that the ?Unna cooker? was adapted to use Meta as the sole fuel (as opposed to using Meta just to preheat the stove). In an article by Finch and others appearing in ?The Geographical Journal? (Vol. 61, No. 3, Equipment for High Altitude Mountaineering, with Special Reference to Climbing Mount Everest (Mar. 1923)) concerning the preparations for the 1924 Everest expedition, is the following passage: ?Food.?Altitude does not impair the appetite, at all events in which oxygen is used. Food, together with the necessary fuel (Meta) for cooking, should be made up in 10-lb. parcels contained in three-ply wood cases and clearly marked ?for high altitudes only.? From this I conclude that Meta was the primary fuel. There?s also a listing of supplies for Camp VI (Mallory and Irvine?s highest camp) in an online article posted on the Mounteverest.net website in November 2007 (The Mallory and Irvine Mystery - Oxygen issues, a re-examination by Phil Summers- http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=16695), although the source of the equipment listing is unattributed. However, it also appears to confirm Meta as the sole fuel: ?Mallory?s written notes pertain to the loads and kit to be carried by the porters up to Camp VI. Included on the Mallory notes are four porters? names (presumably the ones intended or hoped to reach Camp VI along with various kit and their masses including of relevance below; 1 coolie bag 6lbs coolie rations 15lbs 1 sahibs bag . mattress 10lbs 1 sahibs bag . mattress 10lbs 2 oxygen cylinders 1-16lbs (indicating unitary carriage by one man of two cylinders 2 oxygen cylinders 1-16lbs 2 oxygen cylinders 1-16lbs 1 unna cooker and meta 5lbs 2 thermos' 1/2 tent pole? As for how the stove was actually modified, I found a tantalizing snippet in a medical journal recounting the Everest expeditions? early work with oxygen at high altitudes, but it seems fairly specialized and I cannot get access to the full article (George Ingle Finch And The Mount Everest Expedition of 1922: Breaching The 8000-m Barrier by G.W. Rodway, High Altitude Medicine & Biology (Mar. 1, 2007) ? this is the journal of the International Society for Mountain Medicine.): ?Captain Farrar, Mr. Unna, and the author went to Oxford to experiment with the Primus stoves. The burners had been changed in the meantime, so that they would function satisfactorily even at great altitudes. ? Anybody have access to the full text this journal?
I think it must be these ED . . . . . solid fuel tablets ? ? I love the way they are Safe Solid Fuel Tablets but poisonous to humans and animals . . . .
Yes, I'm assuming that the "meta" referred to for the early Everest expeditions is short for "metaldehyde."
Link above expired. Found in archive.org George I. Finch and his pioneering use of oxygen for climbing at extreme altitudes -- West 94 (5): 1702 -- Journal of Applied Physiology
