watched all of youre vids of these stowes and been thinking of buing one of these. After I have seen how polaris burns different types of fuel I made up my mind and the adjustment of flame is way better on primus. So optimus omnilite is the one for me. Thanks for great comparison vids helped me a lot.
I bought an Omnilite to replace a Coleman 442. Great stove though very loud. Primus do sell a silencer for it but this is expensive and they recommend it with white gas or canister gas only. When using dirty fuels like kerosene or diesel, I find priming with alcohol prevents a lot of the soot. Using this method I was able I was able to use the silencer while running on kerosene.
Cheers, this really helped me out. I've decided to go with the omnilite for the increased fuel efficiency. I plan to only burn white gas or similar and if that's unavailable petrol is universal so switching over the jets for gas/diesal isn't an issue (but useful just in case). If you had measured the bottles before and after to calculate the exact fuel efficiency would have been great but oh well. Thanks for all your hard work!
When it comes to maintenance which one is better in the field? The Polaris with the magnetic needle which can be used anytime, or the Omnilite which requires removing the jet in order to clean it?? Superficially I would assume the Polaris jet is easier to clean as one does not have to take anything apart. Does the Polaris require cleaning more frequently than the Omnilite (perhaps owing to using one generic jet for all fuel types) ? Which one requires more cleaning between uses? I worry that the cleaning needle on the Omnilite multi-tool is a little flimsy and easy to break. If one does not have to use it frequently however that should not be a problem. What is your experience with this?
The frequency of cleaning is dictated largely by the quality and kind of fuel used. While the Polaris does have the convenient magnetic needle, I did have to take it apart at one point to clean more thoroughly because it was too clogged for the magnet to push through. As far as longevity of the Omnilite needle, mine is still intact so I can't attest to that one way or another. Field cleaning really hasn't happened all that often for me. I usually clean it thoroughly before I head out and it's good to go with store bought white gas.
@@Rokslide Thanks Rokslide. I will probably go for the Omnifuel then. Primus still does manufacturing here in Europe and have excellent customer support on this side of the pond.
That's great! I'm glad we could help. If you have any recommendations for other products, we're always taking suggestions. Be safe out there in all your backcountry adventures.
I now understand the main factor of burning power/BTU/watt is the fuel. A combination of petrol with 10%-20% of anhydrous alcohol will be cleaner yet still have high burning power. The same law happens to fuel type with no Oxygen molecules like kerosene, diesel, paraffin.
@@Rokslide not durability was meant. I beliebe both are durable. My question is more related to that the Titan surface (matt grey Color) is more sensible for scratches and the Omnilite gets discolorated from the heat and carbon. This is not visible on the Polaris due to its Black Color.
I guess I can't really speak to that with any authority as I as I haven't noticed any real durability issues with either.. The black color does hide the soot better but That doesn't mean it's not there just that you don't see it.
Chose the Optimus Polaris for me. Really happy with it. Using it with a silencer cap. Assembled it with a Little wire on the burner bell to avoid the cap dropping off. To avoid spottering of the flame you just Need to close the valve on the bottle side a little bit. The omnilite is more a masterpiece of titanium material. Only a question of time that I will buy it too 😊
@@Carpediem1312thats beacuse its raw titanium brother it can turn diffrent color but if that fussed some fine 0000 steel wool will polish any marking out. Besides who cares if they get scratched there outdoor camp stoves not jewllery.
When you say "more fuel" how much more is that? 5% 10% 20%? Any actual numbers? I looked for the written review, couldn't find it so far - any info in there about this?
Hey this is the author. I'm not sure what the actual numbers on quantities of fuel used were. I failed to put them in my article and I can't find my original notes. In retrospect there are some things I would have done differently to cut some of the variables out and get the data a little more refined, but I think the results would ultimately be similar. If I get some time in the near future I will see if I can refine my results for you, but no guarantees because I'm pretty swamped right now.
@@Rokslide ottomh yes, been months/years since that :) - you, ninja2000 and a bunch of other playing with the stoves, I got the idea of how they work and it seems to me the polaris was more sturdy and I saw a burn test somewhere (prob yours too) where they cooked a meal and consumed not much. So for a low maintenance bomb proof tiny thing which can hold a large pot, no nozzles to fiddle with - this seems to be like the ultimate stove. I wanted an Optimus Omnilite 1 or 2 - but after looking at its legs and whatnot - seemed too flimsy/fiddly.
I have burn pure grain alcohol with Primus Omnilite Ti by drilling one of the jet/nozzle's hole to 1mm. And the performance is still below LPG/kerosense/gasoline/white-gas as fuel. Have you tried Optimus Polaris Optifuel to burn alcohol? Do you need to modify the jet/nozzle to burn alcohol with Optifuel?
I have not tried alcohol in either. I can only report second hand claims of guys that told me they were able to burn alcohol out of the Omnilite. I have no idea if it's possible out of the Polaris.
@@Rokslide I guess we have to modify the air inlet since the jet/nozzle in Optimus is 1-for-all fuel. Just like POC of Whisperlite burning alcohol with an addition of air-inlet adjuster.
