I have to add my top ten. Forgive me, but I have only ever owned ten liquid fuel stoves & not at the same time. 1. Optimus #5. Big heavy old bruiser & horribly impractical as a camping stove. Best used behind the scemes at a Classic Camp Stoves display on tea or waffle making duty. I had one, it started the rot............ 2. Any #96 plug burner style of stove. Perfectly practical stove even today. Beauty in a small package. 3. The roarer Optimus 111. Son of the Campingo with the four tube burner for kerosene. Best stove for family camping or picnics whether a fry-up or a brew up is wanted. 4.
I should of added the borde to my top 13 and optimus 9 to the top 14 even though these were never popular My list is still in no particular order
Sorry. I posted my ramblings accidentally . Lets us carry on. 4 Optimus 111T. it sits below the original 111 only because in OEM form it had a annoying 'O' ring pump seal. Replace that and they are equals. The roarer 111 is more wind-proof, but the silent 111T has a better simmer. The four tube roarer 111 is dual-fuel too. Whoever burns meths in a 111T anyway? 5 1 1/2 pint collapsible stove. E.g. SVEA #105 & #106. On the edge of what is a camping stove. If you are traveling by car with a family in tow, then you need one. 6 Optimus 00/Primus 210/ Manaslu 121. Better than the 96 for camping & the extra power and fuel capacity aren't too hard on the back to carry about. The Manaslu has every right to stand with its elder brothers. 7 Optimus 8R and clones from the USSR and Asia The best little camp stove (when used with a mini-pump & cap). That is, if you won't be doing fancy cooking. 8 Primus #71/Optimus #80. A classic brew-up stove for the motorist. Not too sure if a camper would carry one. Better than a SVEA 123 as far as usability goes, but only by a whisker. 9 SVEA 123. The original version without the pricker. Similar to a Juwel 33 that the Whermacht soldiers used. I score them fairly low because they are unstable if used with regular camp cookware. I never got hold of a Sigg Tourist outfit. 10 SVEA 123R. To be fair i'd have to organise a shoot-out between examples of each before I utter any firm opinion. Some say the pricker addition makes it inferior to the original version. Has the same stability issues as it's elder brother of course.
My random preferences: - Trangia 25 - Trangia 27 - Svea 123 - Phoebus 725 - Optimus 80 - Primus 71 - Borde Kocher - Campingaz bluet (the old one) - Optimus 199 Hiker - Optimus 8R - Optimus 111 - Bushcooker
I wasnt going to start the war but sorry I have to begg exception on this one "8 Primus #71/Optimus #80. A classic brew-up stove for the motorist. Not too sure if a camper would carry one. Better than a SVEA 123 as far as usability goes, but only by a whisker. 9 SVEA 123. The original version without the pricker. Similar to a Juwel 33 that the Whermacht soldiers used. I score them fairly low because they are unstable if used with regular camp cookware." The 71/80 are taller and narrower in profile to the 123/r There is no way they are more stable. Also they have a greater tendency to overheat. Both types are good stoves and true classics but I have to rate the 123 higher. I have used my 123r many many times with a full 8 pint billy.Never lost my tea yet.
Might be where the question has been asked, so I suppose it's inevitable that... Results in the majority of answers being for old liquid fuel stoves. I see only one mention for the jetboil and nothing for the optimus crux. Methinks you fellas are a bit partisan. I would think "most popular" can be definitively answered just by looking at sales figures. My "best guess" for the top 10 selling camping stoves (and therefore by definition the 10 most popular) would be, in no particular order.... trangia and variants (probably the top selling stove of all time) SVEA123 Optimus Nova MSR Whisperlite MSR Pocket Rocket Optimus Crux Jetboil Optimus 111 and variants Primus No5 Primus Himalaya/Omnifuel Bluet ...ooops, that's 11. I'd love to see some actual sales figures for the different models.
I think that when one only looks at the numbers sold, there's no way any manufacturer can beat the CampingGaz ones running on pearceable cans. These are sold everywhere, camping shops, DIY shops, iron-mongery, supermarkets and so on... The list is endless . The only stove that comes close (I think) nowadays is... the CampingGaz ones running on Lindall valve bottles . I have examples of both varieties, but they are NOT my favourit camping stove Also, there is a big difference in preferences between the Olde World and the US of A , making it rather difficult to determin the "real" most favourit ones Best regards, Wim
Yeah, I stuck Bluet on the end as an afterthought, but you are probably right, they probably outsold everything else including trangia. Sales are probably in the many millions. Is this the most popular stove ever made? ...I agree, not my favourite either. But that wasn't the question. Coleman Peak 1 should probably be in the list somewhere. I would love to know what actually was the top ten best sellers of all time.
I really did like my companion of many years and trips, the Gaz GT106 Globetrotter and I get the idea they were quite popular as well. If I could get the cartridges for it I would probably still be using it, or at least have it in the line up. The stove itself I could take or leave tho the dedicated burner head with it's neat lil wire flip ups for holding the pot in place was a useful touch, if double edged-you couldn't (safely) use any other pot. The stove is long gone now and while I remember it fondly I can't say I miss it. The pots went to one of the lads here, the stove to another. I managed to score a brand new set of hard anodised GT pots a few years back, just in time to give a new home to the Brother Lance Svea 123 My preferred walkin' rig.
Yes the gaz was realy the first truly portable gas stove with a practical disposable cartridge. Its worthy of being an my top 10 list along with the other 14 stoves on that list. This is despite it being far less capable than a lot of far cheaper gassys around now. Why couldnt the question asked for the top 20
I saw the original picnic Bleuet in a tin on one of Ross's displays. The cartridge was a tiny one, being a pierced, disposable type. I am not sure how many grams of butane it held, compared to your Gaz GT though. Thanks to the fettlers I have seen one of those little Bleuets burning. That little stove started off a revolution in camping stoves. I mentioned Optimus 111 and 8 in my list, though in a all-time list of major stoves we should definitely have an example of the earliest Campingo. As for gas stoves: Which was the first stove that had the standard EN417 canister with the Lindel valve?
Wow! Thanks everyone. That provides me with the exact background I need to start looking into a collection. I own a few of the stoves mentioned, namely: SVEA123 Primus 71 I have always used these as utilitarian pieces and never really though of collecting, but once you see them in a new light, you get hooked!!!! By the way, I have never once been let down by my old SVEA123 - Just an awesome piece of equipment! Thanks again!!!!!!
