Stove specialist Optimus has been busily expanding its
range and - in one case reviving an all-time classic as well - with
new stoves, pans and cutlery due in the shops shortly. Here's a quick
run down of what's new for spring 2008...
Optimus Crux Lite
We've covered the Crux Lite already but aparently we screwed up on
spelling and pricing, so here's the accurate info. The stove is a
simplified Crux and saves vital grammage by doing away with the
original's folding head making it slightly less compact but also
slightly lighter at 72 grammes compared to the original's 93
grammes.
Otherwise it shares the Crux's effective burner design and
two-and-a-half turn adjustable-friendly control knob for added
cookabilitty. Definitely worth a look if light is your priority.
Price is £40 versus £50 for the Crux so you save
dosh as well as weight... Note: the stove in the pics is a
pre-productions sample, in the production version the black block at
the base of the burner is machined down to reduce weight from 77 grammes to the production version's 72 grammes.
Return of the Climber 123R
If the new Optimus Svea looks familiar, that's because it's
actually the hitherto defunct Climber 123R, one of the most reliable
mountaineering stoves ever and proven reliable at altitude.
Made completely from brass, the 550-gramme stove burns only white
gas from its integral tanks, can boil a litre of water in around
seven minutes and chuck out 1400 watts for 50 minutes from one tank
of fuel when running flat out.
The self-pressurising burner means no dodgy pumping and the
stove's inate simplicity is a godsend when you need your water boiled
no matter what. Above all though, it's a little slice of history and
a thing of classic beauty and all for £80 complete with
lid that doubles as a mini pan.
Pots And Pans...
There's a lot of cunning stuff going on with Optimus, their alpine
pan set, the Terra for example, features an insulated carry sac so
you can keep one pan warm while cooking in the other, and two new
smaller pan-sets carry the ingenuity over.
The Terra Solo and Terra Weekend hold 0.6 and 0.95
litres respectively and are hard anodised for extra durability. Both
comprise a small fry pan clipped onto a pan with a mesh storage
bag.
That's just the start though. The weekend, for example, has been
sized to hold a 220 gas canister inside, along with a packed and
folded Crux stove and a folding Optimus titanium spork. The Solo
version does the same with a 110g gas canister. Very clever, very
neat and a great way of saving space in your pack.
Weights are 222 grammes for the Terra Weekend (£25) and 166
grammes for the Terra Solo (£20). We also really like the cute
new Terra Kettle which holds 0.7 litres and is designed to sit
neatly inside a Terra pan-set. Costs £15 and weighs 153 grammes.
A luxury maybe, but a rather neat one....
Titanium Cutlery
Last but not least, Optimus has also launched a range of titanium
cutlery. Ti is great stuff being light and strong and you get a
choice of a folding spork - 18 grammes, £10 - a conventional
spork weighing one gramme less at the same price and two and
three-piece sets for £15 and £20 respectively. Weights for
the latter are 34 grammes and 52 grammes and both include an Optimus
mini-karabiner to keep them tethered together :-)
All available shortly from your local, friendly Optimus dealer.
Online information at www.optimus.se.
For information on UK stockists contact sales@arkconsultants.co.uk.
stephen lord
