Optimus 111 Swedish Civil Defense

The soldering of the fount is much heavier on this stove than any other 111's I've seen. I'm not sure if it was just generous soldering, or done on purpose. The spirit cup is soldered to the burner too, even though it's the normal threaded type.

 

Right nice, bloody shame it's a roarer.

Murph

 

Now, that's what I call a stove! Thanks for sharing her with us.

HJ

 

Nice stove Matt!!

Is the flame ring screwed in place?

Jeff

 

Thanks Guys, I've been wanting one of these Military 111 stoves for a long time and finally found one.
Jeff, that screw in the flame ring isn't screwed to anything, it's just screwed into the ring itself, along with a second one on the opposite side. The screw extends about a quarter inch out the other side. With the two of them, it makes it impossible to remove the flame ring/spreader. You have to remove both screws to get the ring off. Done to keep it from getting lost no doubt, just like wiring a silent burner cap in place to keep it from getting lost. The filler lid is also chained, just like the other Military 111's. I wasn't going to put this in the Gallery, as there are others here already, but when I saw the different name plate on the case, I decided to add it to the rest.

 

Thanks Matt.

I remember reading about that now. Handy feature along with the filler cap.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

Jeff, I took one look at that and thought how simple is that? You could do it to virtually any roarer burner! So many are seen without the flame ring.

 

Well, I would guess the military is just making sure that the stove will not loose any vital parts while ruggedly being used hence the solder and screws. Practical solutions

Anyway, its a nice stove.

Thanks for sharing.

Ron

 

that's a very convenient idea! could we see a closeup of the filler lid in profile?

are these lids uncommon?

(have looked at some other pics of these lids, but this one looks like a 'cleaner' application of the idea)

 

Only, it looks like it has never been fired up, if it stays that way -- it is silent.

Personally, I like the roarer burner. It just seems less sissy-fied. (I know -- the marines used 111's with silent burners, but I'll bet that wasn't by choice)

 

With practically everything else chained up I bet a squaddie could still lose one or both of the pot supports first time out! Mmmmm, did they solder the spanner (wrench) in place to prevent that getting lost

Nice stove, thanks.

Cheers, Graham.

 

No solder on the wrench, although I think that was next!
Here are some more details...notice the spirit cup soldered to the burner. No doubt to keep any possible leak from spilling meths into the case. You can also see the screw inside the flame ring.
Finally, the cap chain. It's a normal chain you would find on the valve spindle/wheel, but the lid is not the same as you would find on a civilian 111. There is a recess in the collar that allows the chain to grab ahold. I also noticed the pump is mounted higher than the civilian model. Maybe just a production fluctuation, maybe not. It did make switching out the burner/tank assembly a problem. I tried to switch the two in the picture and they will not fit the others cases. The pump knob hits the rear pan support when I tried to switch them.

 

thank you, matt!

i'm almost ready to contemplate modifying a standard 111 filler cap, creating a valley to support a grip for a chain end... my only wonder is how thick the walls of the cap are and how much brass can safely be removed to support the valley...

 

There are so many different cap styles, that one of them has got to have enough meat to carve out a groove.
Good Luck!!!

 

Hey Matt,

Very cool stove you got there. Looks like a winner!

The screw in the flame ring was obvious genius. It's obviously simple and it keeps two pieces from getting lost.

Not putting chains on all the loose pieces must have been a really big problem in the early stages of military gear since most military items are characterized by a chain or anchor to hold on to everything. Looks like this was done mostly with lids on containers like canteens, fuel cans, lantern and stove founts, vehicle fuel caps, etc.

One argument is that in the heat of a battle, no one has time to think about putting lids back on as you advance/retreat as you throw things into the back of a truck/trailer/jeep. The other argument is that some of the buck privates may not have had the sense to put the lids back on and would lose them... I'll go with the first argument, my military family members were pretty smart.

sam

 

Sam, I'm sure you're right. Especially when the loss of one relatively small part, and hard to find if you drop it, would render the item useless!

 

Having been in the military, I think you are giving them too much credit. I am guessing there is just some regulation somewhere that stipulates that if a small removable part can be chained it will be chained.
In any case, I think the chained cap is a great detail on this stove.

 

Anyone know which year this stove is introduced to market? It that 1953?

 

The first Op.No.111 was marketed around 1952.

The Civil Defence model described in this particular thread is a later model.

Putting a date to Optimus 111

Best Regards,
Kerophile.

 

I've forgot to bid for the exact same one of this as New stock from Tradera last week...