Morning, Mates, So, what did we decide as far as which stoves are allowed in this photo shoot? Shall we limit it to just 8's, 8R's, 99's, and clones of those stoves? Or, are we going to allow their cousins, the 199's and Ranger #10's, too? I believe that all those stoves are in the same family, as they have a similar, backpacking, niche. The 111 series of stoves is not really designed for backpacking, though they certainly can be, and have been, used for that. I'm good with whatever the concensus is on this. How about it, Lads? Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
If its ok with you folks, I think 199's and Ranger 10's are fine. (I wish I had one ) They do fit in that little box after all. Manny
Hi, well I suppose I made the suggestion for the Optimus 8 photo shoot so I'd better kick things off... The 8R for me was my first 'proper' stove and my 2nd or 3rd hand example served me well on all sorts of mountain and bush trips for a number of years. here it is out on the back lawn.. about 12 months ago I joined up with CCS and I gave the old 8R a coat of paint It's been joined by lot and lots of stoves and lanterns in the intervening 12 months.... Here it is doing what 8R's do best chugging away and making some serious heat. One of the stoves I've aquired in the past 12 months is an example of CCS at it's best.. Spudz in Italy sent me a well loved Optimus 99 and after a minor fettle which was a change of jet it went very well.... I posted about this a while ago and Kerophile in scotland sent me a natty Arno strap to complete my 99 The 99 got some use a weekend or so ago on a bush trip. Here is my recent tent aquisition. Its a Pheonix Phreak. It was very few dollars in an op shop ( the best kind of tent eh) Here is the 99 on tea duty on the same trip... So I'm looking forward to seeing all the other Optimus 8 series stoves. All the best from NZ 'first to see the sun' Cheers John
Hi Men, Well since I "advertised" this Photo shoot I felt I better take my stove to a beautiful spot. I selected Storm King Mountain on the Hudson River. Yesterday afternoon we had a snow squall that left a one inch covering around the area. The Hudson Highlands looked beautiful with the new frosting of snow. Storm King juts out into the Hudson and has long been a landmark along the river. The original Dutch settlers thought it looked like a mound of butter and called it ?Boterburg?. In the 60?s the mountain was at the center of an environmental battle. Con Edison, a major power utility, wanted to carve away part of it in a power generating project. Happily the project was abandoned. The footing was slick, but the views up and down the river were amazing. The Northern view with Bannerman?s Island and Mt. Beacon. The early inhabitants of the island included the wife of a fisherman who thought she was the Queen of England. Later it became an storage site for a Scottish Arms merchant. The ruins of his "castle" are another Hudson River landmark. http://www.hudsonriver.com/bannerman.htm The southern view with the village of Cold Spring. The foundry at Cold Spring was famous for its Civil War Parrot Guns. Apparently they tested them by firing rounds into the sides of Storm King. After checking out the views I found a sheltered spot and fired up my 8R. I fashioned a windscreen out of aluminum after seeing Wild Child?s post on her 8R clone. It worked very well and I was drinking hot chocolate in minutes. Thanks for coming along for the hike. I can?t wait to see your 8R?s in action. Cheers, Manny
No great hiking stuff for me. But had a scrounge around the garden. Only come up with this. 99 in action first caramalise the pineapple and then placed in thick slabs of sliced butcher ham. Put a spreader plate under the pan to help disperse the heat a bit but the end curvy bits made things too hot for me liking. After 3/4 hr ended up this this very mouth watering tea. Not the healthiest but sure tastes good Had probably enough juice in the tank to boil the billy but filled 'er back up and we had coffee later. Yes it got awfull hot and not me first choice of stove for this sort of thing but got by. Iv'e only cooked on a big pan for say 1/2 hr max before and I think it may be a bit too much to ask of it but it worked anyway.(I usually use a small fry pan for one) Barra
Hi Team. Sadly my plans for a trip away this w/e were stuffed up by having to work saturday, then crappy weather in sunday, blowy and wet, not at all inviting So, once I'd finished sleeping till 10.30 then plugging into the star trek marathon that takes place every sunday on channel 5 (4 assorted episodes back to back, keeps me going for the week) I rolled out to the garage and hunted out an 8R. This would be it here Unpainted and only a fuel cap seal's difference between now and how I brought it from work for NZ$10 a couple of months back. It's running on 35:1 lawnmower mix..... I hunted high and low for my Trangia fry pan, couldn't find it and had to make do with a small Le Cruset dealie. A very nice pan to cook with and just the size for the 8R. Onions and garlic sauteeing in good olive oil, the 8R on about 1/3 throttle, I want them soft and fragrant not brown and crunchy. MmMMMmmMM! Wonderful smell! \ Add chopped ham, black pepper and a couple of good shots of Tabasco, turn up heat just a bit. I'm getting hungrier by the second. Once the ham starts to colour up nicely, push the whole lot to the back of the, push the pan back as far as it will safely go to get the heat away from the ham and onion, add a knob of butter and 2 nice eggs I collected from the girls this morning. This is going to be a sandwich, so pop the yolks and dust with salt and more ground black pepper. Turn the heat right down to just blue. Tahdah! Ham, egg and onion buttee with a nice cold Speight's Old Dark on the side. Bliss.. Ok, so it wasnt the trip I had in mind, but near enough for all that. 8)
Yep sure is Its key and chain now resides on a 123 .. cos I brazed the head on as the threads were stripped on it. Can take the nipple out with a spanner if needed thou. Ohh I put the meal photo in for some reason left it out. #-o Now I'm hungry again Mike Barra
Hi, Friday night was cold and by Saturday morning there was a heavy frost on the ground and the locks on my car were frozen up. However, the sun was shining and there was good surf on our shoreline so the surfers were out : In the photo below you can see the heads of the surfers in the water, awaiting the right wave. Scrabster lighthouse is in the background; I was some distance away but those with sharp eyes will see a surfer on the crest of this wave; It was still cool at lunchtime but the temperature had now risen to 5 deg C in the shade and it was time for a snack; Above is my trusty Optimus 8R, originally purchased from that other Surfing Mecca, California. Before anyone asks it is hard anodised Aluminium, not Titanium! On the menu today, Scotch broth, crusty bread and a mug of tea. This is a view, westwards, across the Thurso river towards the town, and the sandy town beach: . Having crossed the river, I can look back towards the ruins of Thurso Castle, from where I had watched the surfers and then had lunch; There were some kayak surfers enjoying the smaller waves on the town beach: Finally, as I look along the coast eastwards, beyond the Castle I can see Dunnet Head, which is the most Northerly point on the British Mainland; A nice day out and as usual the Optimus 8R performed faultlessly. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Yeah, there's a little old lady living over here who thinks that, too. Anyway... The planned activities of the North-East Chapter were severely curtailed this weekend - Trevor has gone to the Riverside Stadium to watch his team Middlesbrough "thrash Arsenal" - his words - and Gary has one of his lads boxing later on. So:- For starters, I decided to have a nice mug of coffee whilst relaxing in the back garden. The stove was somewhat reluctant given the cold, windy conditions today... (Yes, I know I've left the key in and, no, I didn't burn my finger and thumb ) ...so I fashioned some sort of windshield for it from cooking foil - burning much better now. In fact, steam up! Success! (Twix is a chocolate bar that's probably called 'Swonkers' or 'Starkers' or another equally silly name in the US ) Now this being the UK and over six hours having elapsed since it last rained, guess what - bah! (Whaddayaknow - Twix is called, erm, Twix in the US... =D> )
Mindful of the date I brewed up today on my 8R. I don't bother with anything more elaborate than boiled coffee for occasional brews these days, after resorting to it when I left the coffee pot at home some time back. Santa came early for Mrs. M. this year and she was more than happy to pose with her new toy whilst enjoying the coffee,
Hi I got together with a stove collector, Poul, nearby to light a couple of stoves. It actually turned out to be more of a fettling effort. Poul has quite a collection of these small stoves so we started with a 199. He had never lit it before and was in as found condition. After a bit of a wipe off and a drink it started first time. Here it is. I only have one 8R which we also lit. If I remember correctly it's the one on top of the vice. We also tried one of the russian clones but it wasn't cooperating. Large yellow flames and it couldn'y be turned off. It was very miserable weather here so by the time we got this far it was time to go inside and get warm. Br Nils and Poul
My 8r experience started out today with a morning brew of Coffee... Doc might recognise the Perk I bought it at a local Antique store this summer when he was visiting. I had been eyeballing it for a while. I use it almost daily and love it. My little 8R I picked up about a year ago and have done nothing to it. It was a surprise find at a local junk store $20. Then my daughter and I headed for the hills. Our local mountain The Grand Mesa (Highest point 11k EL we were about 10k) got about 3 feet of snow over the weekend so I thought it might be fun to go up and throw ourselfs down the hill. I have snowboarded about 12 years now and I am getting my daughter into it. This is about the 4th time she had gone and she is picking up on it way faster than I did. She is 8, 6 feet tall and bullitproof! We had a good time dodging all the sledders. Then we had to stop for some Hot Chocolate. I added a bag of coffee to mine. We had such a interest in our little stove we spent more time talking about it then we did snowboarding. All in all it was a good day. Sorry about not having more pics I was busy with the little Chick and all the questions about the little 8R
Hey, Lads, I have very much enjoyed your 8R photos, and will look forward to seeing them over, and over again! After seeing your stoves in action, I decided I'd better get a leg on, and get busy taking my own offerings, as well, so as not to miss the special 8R day!! So, here is my family of 8R stoves, which include some close, and distant Cousins!! In this family portrait, you will see a selection of 8R stoves, 99's, 199's, Ranger #10's, an Optimus #8, my new little Russian, "Cyril", an 8R Cousin from across the pond, and a Primus 8R! This is an almost mint pair of "almost Brothers", a 99, on the left, and an 8R, on the right. These came to me, almost unused, too, and they will never be fired up again. These are my "purty" stoves in this family! 8) Next to another almost mint 8R, found in Colorado two years ago, is my only Optimus #8. I really like it's nickel-plated fuel tank, and the lack of an internal cleaning pin. It's got a certain something, too, that just whispers, "Hey, check me out..... I'm special"! And, indeed, it IS!! Works very well, too! "Cyril" was a real surprise to me, as I'd not expected him to be as nice as he is! He's already made friends with all his 8R Cousins, and they are quickly developing a Bond of Brotherhood, and I'll be firing him up soon!! (He's already teaching the rest of them how to cuss in Russian!!) These four brave Lads volunteered to go before the flame, representing all their Cousins!! The other stoves groused about it, just a bit, but soon puffed out their little tanks in pride, and fully support their four Cousins! And, the same four, under fire.... And, a better shot, with less light, so we can see "the flame"! Featuring the Fantastic Flaming Four: The Ranger #10 .(kerosene) Almost holding hands (IF they HAD any hands....) these two close Cousins, the 99 and the 8R. (Coleman fuel) And, now, the versatile 199. (kerosene) Let's all sing together! Here we go - one, two, three, four: "FIRE"!!!! Warming the hearts and fuel tanks of all their Cousins: And, last, but certainly not least, the Star of the show today, my very first brand new Optimus 8R!!! He was purchased, brand new, at REI, in January of 1989, and came with a very nice "Robin's Egg Blue" paint job on the case, that I've not seen since. He's quite a Guy, and a worthy trail partner!!! Never given even a bit of trouble, and I really love him, a lot!! So, there you have it, Lads! Now, all my 8R Family Members are cooling off, enjoying having had their "moment in the sun", as it were, even though it's cold, snowy, and windy outside right now. I'm pretty sure that I noticed the Flaming Four peeking out at the snowy landscape, somehow wishing they were out there, doing what they are designed to do!!! I wouldn't hesitate to take any of the four out on such an adventure, though I am slowy becoming a Kero-Head, I must admit! The Ranger #10, and the 199, today burning kerosene, are simply fantastic stoves, which would perform perfectly in the snow, with little to no effect from the cold!!! That's one of the great things about using kerosene in cold weather! But, the 99 and the 8R, which burn Coleman fuel, are also fantastic stoves, and with a little pre-planning and care, they can be used very nicely on any snowy adventure! Neat!!! Take care, Friends, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc P.S. The question was asked, whether the #10 and 199 are 8R's with a larger burner, or 111's with a smaller tank. My own personal belief about this is that these two wonderful stoves are the ultimate development of the 8R series of stoves!! Though they are distant Cousins of the 111 series of stoves, they much more belong to the 8R Family, as far as I'm concerned!!
Hey, apparently I belong to those whose weekend turned out different than planned... I spent all day helping a friend doing some construction - 4hrs planned, 12hrs actual. As usual. Eventually went for a brewski and something to eat, hence never found time to upload the two meagre pictures I took while making 'coffee' until now. Took my 99 and the trusty red 8R. Good thing i did take the back-up: the 99, for whatever reason, started to sputter and belch fire after a few minutes. Suppose the wick has a problem...oh, well, more fettling to do. So, first pic is the red 8R merrily chugging away, with the useless 99 lurking in the back. I tend to bring a stove for making coffee or tea whenever doing construction - people seem to like that quite a bit. Forgot the coffee, though, so instant-something it was. Oh, almost forgot: The keen ones might spot the Coleman 400 sitting in the sink in the back - that was a present to my buddy, but he put something in the tank and it fouled-up the generator, so it's toast for now. I think it was motor oil.... Second pic is an attempt on cherry-red; Ok, free-hand and wrong setting on the camera, but I had been swinging a hammer for a while before taking the pictures... Works fine! Unfortunately i lost the inner part of the percolator, so cowboy-style is the way to go. Edit: Picture-size; Sorry for the trouble!
