Old stoves

[Valmet]

Anyone use the old stoves anymore. I went hiking this past weekend and was going through my gear and pulled out my old Optimus 80 stove. Since I was only going for the weekend I though why not. There was something very comforting with cranking it up on the trail. The brass was shined and the burner roared like a lion. I have not used it for at least 22 years.

I was heating up some water for lunch and some young kids came by and stopped. They had never seen this type of stove and asked all kinds of questions. It is the one that has the storage tin that also serves as the cook stand. They called it the geezer stove. One of them said they wished they could have seen the trails way back when. Sort of made me feel old but also very fortunate. If you ever get the opportunity to buy a Optimus 80, 99, 8R or a Primus 71 get it. They are a lot of fun in this very modern world espicially since they do not make them anymore.

[Alligator]

While I won't carry my old Coleman Peak 1, 17 years old, I still use it for canoe and car camping. Still very reliable, just need to keep the pump cup oiled.

[Dances with Mice]

I guess it's been 6, 7 years ago when a massive snowstorm hit the northern suburbs of Atlanta and closed down everything. By the way, a 'massive snowstorm' here is about 4 - 6 inches of snow with 3 or 4 days of freezing weather in a row. That's enough to bring the entire county to a standstill. Schools closed. Power was out for a bunch of people. Oh, quit laughing. We're talking about Georgia where our county's snow removal equipment is a pickup truck full of sand and two shovels.

We never lost power at our house, but I had all my camping stoves out just in case. Sometime in the middle of all that, I drove up to the local Wal-Mart. I walked past the camping section. The stove aisle was empty! Even the display models were gone! The only thing left on the shelves was one of the little Coleman backpacking models. I was standing there looking at it, wondering why it hadn't sold, when somebody lunged past me and grabbed it like a pro football player pouncing on a fumble! Every single stove, fuel bottle, and Coleman fuel can had sold out.

So keep your old stoves maintained for household emergencies.

[JimSproul]

I know what you mean. I have sold my Coleman's (Feather 400 & a Peak 1 550B) but I still have my first backpacking stove. It is a 30+ year old Svea 123, no pump or cleaning needle in those days.

Use to have to use hand heat to get the fuel to dirbble into the priming bowl. I remember using that stove while cooking on my elbows, in the pouring rain, as I leaned out the door of our A-frame tent on top of Garfield in the Whites. 1972 I think.

[MedicineMan]

I've got the 99R and it is now relagated to paddle camping.
It served well hiking for over 20 years and never failed, and yes they were fun to prime and I remember one time forgetting an ensolite pad to keep it up/off the snow so spare socks filled in. I guess they still have their place, for me in the kayak.

[jac]

I still have a Svea 123R. I think the Optimus 8R is identical to the Svea, but has a metal case.

Anyway, the Svea doesn't go into a backpack any more, but I still use it as others have, car camping, snowstorms, etc. Seems like no matter how long the Svea's been dormant, you pull it out and it works like it always did.
Hard to part with an old friend.:)

[Rain Man]

If you ever get the opportunity to buy a Optimus 80, 99, 8R or a Primus 71 get it. They are a lot of fun in this very modern world espicially since they do not make them anymore.

I have an old Optimus 00, purchased by mail order from REI about 28 years ago, during my caving (mostly car camping) days. It's brass, has three fold-out legs, and a cast brass (?) screw on burner that roars like a jet engine once you get it going. Takes denatured alcohol to prime it, though some of the kerosene will do in a pinch if you don't mind the smoke.

I've returned it twice to REI over the years to have the leather pump seal replaced.

Still works like a charm and produces HEAT like mad.
:clap
Rain Man

P.S. My backpacking stove is an Anti-Gravity Gear pepsi can alcohol stove.

.

[Kerosene]

I've still got the Optimus 8R stove (re-painted in matte black from the original light blue gloss) that I purchased in high school for my 1974 section hike of northern Pennsylvania. Still works like a charm with all the original parts, but I only pull it out when the power goes out! My backpacking stove is now a SnowPeak GigaPower Titanium canister stove with piezo lighter which is lighter than the 8R even if a week's worth of canister fuel is included!

[ga>me>ak]

Still have my Peak-1 (replaced with a new one after a overnite island trip went waaaaay bad.sunk the boat, lost all kinds of gear,wallet, and had to swim a couple miles to shore). The stove is reliable and cranks out some heat. Plan on a soda stove for thru-hike, but ain't gonna throw this one out

[Footslogger]

We keep em all ...and we've got dozens (literally). At the rate we lose power out here during the Winter in Wyoming they generally come in handy sooner or later. As long as I can still get the fuel for them I'll probably keep em in the gear locker.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[Valmet]

It is really great to hear the stories of the stoves of yore. I carry a turbo D alcohol stove the majority of the time. I have a SVEA 123, Primus 71 and a couple of other ancient stoves. I really love the modern equipment as compared to the heavy stuff I carried in the 60's and 70's. The only items I still have from those days are my stoves, just could not sell them. Now I'm glad I did not. Happy Hiking everyone! Enjoy the Fall!

[Dances with Mice]

I posted this last week in the off-topic forum, but now it's become topical.
-------------------
A fellow in Japan that goes by the modest name of "Super Shioshio" has a great collection of antique camping stoves. He shares pictures of his collection here:

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~we2a-sod/index.htm

But by far the best part of the site is the mangled English translations. For example, his description of lightweight equipment includes the statement:

“For example, the pack can't be shouldered if a pad doesn't still do firmly though it is extreme light weight if a shoulder string is put on the plastic bag.”

And his trip reports:

Mt Kinpu – “The meal is a calm calculation even if I walk soon because the change of clothes is worn halfway and I am eating it, too.”

Mt Fuji: “No one comes for the person who is a mountaineer so that the time may be early though I tighten the shoestring slowly. … GPS is in bad condition suddenly in my being disappointed, and I can't complement the artificial sanitation!”

Actually, it's a pretty cool outdoor website. I'm sure he translates Japanese to English better than I could do the reverse. To get to the trip reports, scroll down the left hand frame to the "Menu in English" button.

[Dudeboard]

Old gear. 1960s longboards. They were good stuff but I'm not sure I'd want to carry around a 2 pound stove for nostalgia's sake.

[steve hiker]

Car camping yes, backpacking no.

[hikerdude]

Everything is just a faint memory now. The vison dim. But I remember the burning of 100's of gallons of fuel in a custom upgraded generator 400A stove. The Cold, weather, 2 foot flare up, "that"s my primer" I would say. It's about $2.50 for auto gas and $2.83 gallon for Ozark trail camp fuel at walmart and something like 13 hours at full throttle per gallon on the higher octane camp fuel. My old 400A went the big miles, even got lots dents in the steel tank paint all stripped off around the pump and the steel legs rusted and some of the burner. It really was the stove of its day before MSR in the days of 00's and 123R's. The 400A is B.A. American. The first 400A's had to small a generator and I had to pump 100 time a meal, everybody that got the first ones did. And I called the company even. So after a year or so on the market they fixed the problem with a larger generator. so I went to the Camp store and Tom never saw anything as lightweight as a 400A, but could fix it no problem. So Tom put the new generator and put a new leather on the pump in the back of his store for about $10. And It's burnt 100 gallons at least of only coleman fuel. I never tried gasoline. Your not suppose to and that is where they all end up. But it only last about a week on a tankfull, 2 hours, 20 minutes sim time. 3 days at 8500 btu's.
I got another one at a real deal. Not the 400A. But the 442 duel fuel, so much better it burns gasoline to and only 21.5 ounces. I wouldn't carry it on the whole trail, but for up to 5 days backpacking in this cold. That's my choice.:o