Optimus 111 Hiker Review

"I have several different 111 models, but the Hiker multifuel is my favourite; it will burn just about anything, white gas, Alcohol, and Kerosene (you need to change the jet for different fuels, but thats no big deal). My fuel of choice here in the UK is kerosene as Colman fuel costs about $20 US per LITRE! The build quality of the stove is super - like all Optimus stoves and lamps, it has a good size fuel tank, simmers well, boils fast. Its not the lightest of stoves, but its reliability is worth the extra weight. I really cannot find fault with this cooker, and although expensive to buy, its worth every penny,,,,,get one and see."

"I have owned this stove for over a year and have taken a half dozen backpack trips with it.
This stove is dear to my heart- it is a beautiful, reliable, sturdy piece of equipment and a joy to cook with. However, the incredible weight and bulk (due almost entirely to the steel case) at 4.5 lbs is making it impractical for me. I am now looking at lighter weight stoves such as the JetBoil, Optimus Crux, Nova, or maybe the Svea 123 to use instead.
I bought this stove partly for its multi-fuel capability- I wanted to use biodiesel as an enviro-friendly fuel source. Alas, the biodiesel didn't work well (the flashpoint is too low) but I tried other fuels- alcohol, kerosene, and white gas- and it performs fabulously with all of them. I found the white gas to be the most efficient.
The stove is very easy to use, reliable, and the flame can be fine-tuned from simmer to high. It cooks like a gas burner at home- this is definitely the stove for the backpack gourmet. Mostly I just boil water and heat up dehydrated mixes, which is why the JetBoil has growing appeal for me..."

"The 111 has a fabulous history. The original 111 burns Kerosene and has spent many decades in Antartctica. The 111B is the white gas version. Both have the wonderful roarer burner and burn hot! The 111T is the USMC version and has a silent burner that will handle gas/coleman fuel, kerosene and with a restrictor..alcohol. The 111C is an upgrade that will also handle deisel and it\'s silent cobra burner is almost as hot as the roarer version.

The 111C is a good stove and the burner is mounted lower... this should give off considerable less CO when cooking in a closed space as the flame is not impinging on the pan as much. All versions are heavy, reliable and wonderful. All steel and brass construction and easy to work on especially the T\'s and C\'s with the multi-tool flame adjuster. Even when backpacking this isn\'t a bad choice for a big group. Very stable and capable cooking gear that works especially well at low temperature.

The American antarctica teams have found the 111\'s more reliable than the MSR\'s and only marginally less fool proof than the good old coleman suitcase 2 burner.

I have 6, 111\'s and non has let me down. There is also a 2 burner version which makes a much trimmer and lighter briefcase version of the Coleman suitcase type stove. The 22 and 22B are fantastic canoe tools for a big family trip. You can\'t have mine!"