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Cold weather cooking – stove choices
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Mar 6, 2014 at 7:49 pm #2080379
"Nick, have you ever considered leading guided tours of your garage?"
There is so much stuff in it, I need a guide to find stuff. My wife wishes we could park our vehicles in it.
Mar 7, 2014 at 11:39 am #2080593Roger – Okay, second iteration maybe not so accurate – how 'bout we call it the second "release"?
that's how the software guys do it.Mar 7, 2014 at 11:50 am #2080599I've never used a Svea 123 ( I'm still rebuilding my first! I need a key and graphite seal..) but I do have plenty of practice with an Optimus 8R. I quite like the old beastie, just not for backpacking as it is a heavy toy. Always gets the job done!
Priming in the snow –
Runs fine in cold weather –
My idea of winter cold isn't arctic though. Boy, talk about a tiny gas tank and filer!
Never ran out of fuel when cooking with it, I'd simply refill it once a day.
Had to carry a little funnel for it.Ya know, I always opened the gas cap prior to priming it to release any vacuum. I reckon that is an essential step with any such heat-pressurized stove.
I prime with a bit of soda straw that I carry in the case. Open gas cap, stick straw in, put thumb over base of straw, remove it and drip the bit off gas into the priming cup. Works great.A feller can buy a new Svea and I reckon that is about as good a choice as anything else, if it tickles yer fancy.
Mar 7, 2014 at 12:50 pm #2080628Hi Paul
> second iteration maybe not so accurate – how 'bout we call it the second "release"?
Oh, you can call it whatever you like. But it may not describe reality very well.I have been making the stove in batches of about 16 – the jigs used for some of the parts determine the batch size.
After every batch I have reviewed all the feedback from beta testers AND my own assessments to see what improvements could be made in the next batch. There have been no major changes so far, and I don't expect there to be any either. Most of the changes have been very minor tweaks of dimensions – typically by a fraction of a millimetre, to make the machining easier.The only really visible change has been the redesign of the tripod legs. That happened right at the start, and meant I had to scrap about 10 sets of legs. later on there was a slight change when I moved a little tab on the legs by about 15 mm. I don't expect any further changes there either.
The question you need to ask is whether there will be a 'second release'. Will I continue making stoves after I have finished the 100? I don't know.
Cheers
Mar 7, 2014 at 1:01 pm #2080632I have ten Optimus 8/8R's and one Russian clone, run great after a good prime. I've read that the original 123/123R's made in Sweden are better quality than the new R's, made in China. The originals should say on the top, "made in Sweden".
DuaneMar 7, 2014 at 1:15 pm #2080639Robert, the SVEA 123r is still sold. You can purchase parts from Optimus: http://www.optimusstoves.com/
Mar 7, 2014 at 1:19 pm #2080642You have ten 8/8Rs!!!
Ye gods and little fishes! So I gather you kinda like these stoves?
Do you use 'em much or mostly collect 'em?Back in the day I remember my older brother had an Optimus 8R.
He had an nylon pack with an aluminum external frame, a down filled sleeping bag and that beautiful blue 8R. How I envied his outfit!
I has a canvas rucksack, a sterno stove and a cheap synthetic bag!I used to sneak into his room and play with that 8R when I could!
So, years later, when I finally found an 8R for sale I had to have it, even though I already has an MSR Whisperlight!
Mar 7, 2014 at 1:41 pm #2080649I've only had it for less than a year, but I really like the little bugger. I use it with the Optimus HE Weekender pot. I created a safe flashing windscreen for it. And I improved the priming by wiring a chunk of wood stove door gasket around the base of the stem. Oh and the very first thing I did was move the key chain from the stem to the brass windscreen body.
I carry a circle of silicone pot-holder for base insulation. And I made a reflectix cozy for the pot. Everything nests together nicely.
And the main thing is that it WORKS. Always. And it simmers. And it is miserly with fuel. And it doesn't seem to care what I put in it (unleaded, Coleman, mineral spirits). It has just enough BTU output for winter use for one person. I'm half-deaf so I don't mind the puttering sound of it running.
I figured out a way to simmer with big pots on hot days without popping the relief. And I found that wiping some FP-10 on the brass prevents corrosion.
I think I'm irrationally attracted to shiny things with few moving parts that just work without excuses.
Mar 7, 2014 at 2:55 pm #2080670As much as I love my old 123R and the 8R hunter, I have settled down with using my XGK-II in the winter, but with kerosene, not white gas.
Yeah it's a little more of a chore to start the thing with kerosene (fire ribbon), but once its burning, its very powerful and totally consistent, regardless of the temperature.
I pretty much only use it for the winters, now.
But if I had to choose one stove for the cold, there's no question that would be the one.
Mar 7, 2014 at 3:33 pm #2080678Duane, I believe they fired the Chinese manufacturor of the SVEA. Some of the aluminum parts are still made there, or were left over from a larger order. Latvia(??) I believe is producing most of the parts with the valves(?) machined/assembled in Sweden, again.
Mar 7, 2014 at 7:57 pm #2080740I try to get my 8/8R's out, with so many, it is hard to get some use out of them. The 10 are only a small fraction of my old/vintage stove collection which I only started four years ago. HJ (HikinJim) has a lot more stoves than I do, I have the oldies though. A few date back to the 20's, forward, the Optimus 8's starting in the late '30's that I have. With so many, they get little use, except to bench test every weekend at home in the garage. When I go bping on weekends, I bring two or three different stoves. Some of my other stoves, heavy, single burners are quite rare, from a number of countries, I think I came up with 8 countries. I posted pics of most of my 8's on the Coleman Collectors Forum a few weeks ago, not many bpers there. I have a few less rare, but pricey, two burner stoves also, gas and kero.
DuaneMar 7, 2014 at 8:01 pm #2080742Duane, you could consider putting them into mothballs. You could empty the fuel and stick the rest of the stove in cosmoline. Then just wait for the museum curators to find you.
–B.G.–
Mar 8, 2014 at 1:44 pm #2080897I have zero experience with Kerosene stoves so I'm curious why you like it for winter.
Mar 8, 2014 at 3:23 pm #2080926Back when I first started using the XGK (mid 80's), I had been intrigued with the fact that the stove specs indicated that it boiled water about 30% faster than with white gas. So I decided to try it (and a bunch if other fuels) and I was impressed.
It was also more fuel efficient burning kerosine over white gas. Although kerosene takes more effort to light, is "sootier", and if spilled, is stubborn to clean up…
It is less volitle than white gas (safer), burns hotter, and as I mentioned before, the stove seemed to be less "finicky" once the stove got going..I would imagine the specs on the newer XGK might indicate some of this, assuming they still make it to burn kerosene.
Mar 8, 2014 at 3:25 pm #2080927"I would imagine the specs on the newer XGK might indicate some of this, assuming they still make it to burn kerosene."
If it didn't burn kerosene, it would be model XG or XG-EX, and that just doesn't have a nice ring to it.
–B.G.–
Mar 9, 2014 at 6:33 am #2081056Thanks Bob,
I sibcerely forgot about that acronym! I guess there's just too many out there nowadays.
;>D
Mar 9, 2014 at 2:55 pm #2081148Bob, use them or lose them. No way are they gonna get moth balled, I empty the fuel out after a trip. I had my Radius 43 roarer out snow camping this weekend up here in the Bucks Lake Wilderness, simmered ever so nice on kerosene, fixing a boxed pasta dinner, the Dragonfly should be lighter though. It was cool, used a GK also for melting snow.
Duane -
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