Vintage Backpacking Stove Overview and Lighting * Optimus 8r* 

I had this style in the 80s for my Motorbike trip to SouthAmerica. I added a half a straw to the kit. Insert straw in tank, place finger on straw, place in base, allow gas to flow into ring by removing finger from top of straw, close tank, light .and turn on.

Awesome help video. I got this stove in a yard sale miscellaneous box and didn't know anything about it. You helped a ton. Thank you

I usually fill the priming pan with denatured alcohol for priming the stove. Much cleaner than burning the raw Coleman fuel without the proper air mixture. Nice stove. Thanks for sharing and God bless

I love my 8R! So fun to use in the woods!

Brilliant reliable stove. Bought mine in early 70s. Never, ever failed me. Best to preheat with methylated spirit, or alcohol in the priming bowl, before opening the gas valve. You can preheat with gasoline, but smokey and leaves it very sooty, but I run mine on unleaded gasoline with no problems.

That was the funniest 'EDUCATIONAL' video that I have seen in a long time. I have the same stove and I can assure you that this isn't the correct method of use. You are dangerous, not so much the stove. LMAO

Seasoned pro. didn't even flinch when the bench caught fire.

Thanks for the video . With out my watching I had the shield on upside down. I had to put it in the sun to get the tank warmed. I got my coffee water boiled in no time .

Back in the early 90s, I was an arctic instructor for that Marine Corps and we actually used these stoves for awhile before finally getting the Coleman single burner stoves. The Optimus stoves we were issued were really old and you could easily burn your tent down if you weren’t careful.

Cool little stove! Glad you didn't burn the shop down! Same thing happened to me first time lighting an old coleman stove, way too much fuel and flooded the whole system. Love these old school vintage things. They sure don't make them like they use to!

Cool stove for sure. A gal I was dating back in the early 80's liked it a lot. We took the train from Anchorage, AK to Denali and rode the bus into the park and camped. She rocked it for boiling water and dehydrated meals and coffee in the morning. Its a great stove but an uglier version of the Svea 123 which is so much cooler with the brass and such. The advantage to the Optimus is it has metal case for protection while the Svea does not. I still use the box the Svea 123r came in although its got some duct tape on it. These days I only car camp for solo fishing trips and go back and forth using the Svea and a Coleman Dual 533. Love them both equally. Cool video even though you probably lost your homeowners fire insurance for airing this video LOL!

Light a fire and warm a man for a night, light a man on fire and keep him warm the rest of his life.🔥 Be safe out there!

LMAO had a good laugh made me think of the time my neighbor threw gasoline on his BBQ only difference was his hair was on fire by the time we got him put out he looked like Mr Clean😮😮😮

Just bought one and i'm delighted with it.....sure it must have only been used a couple of times, its mint.

Used this in Outward Bound excursion. For high altitude, avg >12,000 feet, we also used a pressure pump attached to the can port. Worked great.

I just weighed my Optimus 8R Swedish at one pound nine ounces dry. The valve sequence is OFF>ON>CLEAN , where CLEAN is a pin that projects through the orifice to unclog it. A useful modification is to drill a hole in the side of the case and add a Coleman flint ignitor meant for a Coleman lantern. It just fits and retracts away from the burner in use.

Ive never seen such muppetry . 😂.

It does have a off setting. Far left is clean. Needle up through jet. From right is off. In between off and middle is your flame settings from high to low. As for preheating I see your point but doing that I. Winter doesn’t work. I just carry denatured alcohol. It’s also clean burning and keeps the burner and parts free from soot. But you should close the valve when preheating so it won’t flood it.

Great stoves for winter. Nice job showing it. Used the 8R and 111B ( kept an 8R for trips) , and are still used by some EU military. BernieDawg online does a super job restoring these. Looks like you're suing too much gas to start the stove. Try just about 1/2 fill in the cup to warm it. JMNSHO

I had one of those when I was a teenager, you have to pour some denatured alcohol in the reservoir below the flame spreader. Then use white gas Used it for many years.

Dude this gave me a laugh, you stayed calm while flame spread to your bench. Interested in getting one of these are they safe? Can I use regular unleaded gas that I use my to fuel my truck?

Phew ! What a laugh I've had . Also known as the Huntsman , this brilliant stove on white petrol will run at full noise for 75 min and on 95 octane 45 min . IS fully adjustable and at the lowest maintainable flame 3 hours is possible on 95oct petrol . Hotter flame at sea level as well as at altitude than butane etc . Many comments said to use some spirit to preheat and have the valve closed at lighting , They Are Correct . By the way you could have left it in the fire . No harm would result, well maybe some paint blisters , also note over pressure relief valve in fuel cap .

Would you happen to know, if this stove runs on any fuel? I have only used white gas but have heard it will run off of denatured alcohol. would love to get your input especially if the fuel can damage the stove. Thanks

Watch that flame! An easier way to do that, is to use an eye dropper of fuel from the fuel tank...

Thank u

I used to have one of these years ago, used it once when camping and the bars at the top went red with heat.

Just as I was about to comment on how dangerously close that fuel tank is to the flame, the whole damn forest catches on fire

In the manual, you would see where it says to prime the fuel bowl, with a small amount of fuel.

I have one I dont use anymore ,not camping for years if someone needs it

Btw what fuel you were using ?thanks

ha ha had me in stitches......nice stove.....dont use near your tent

Do yiu do repair work on the Optmus huntr8

You don't mention what type of fuel, but I've seen other videos use petrol. Would other fuels also work, i.e. paraffin or ethanol? Surely using petrol isn't good for your health?

Did you know that you can use holts brake and clutch cleaner for fuel...?

Mine has the same sticker on the lower right or at least appears to be what yours is but in the upper left there’s a round sticker that says CCCP and some kind of insignia does this do you know possible Russian use

radius 46 was another similar stove

Would this be worth $250 now?

5:50 , I dis the same thing ,when I was a kid :D

You don't really need to pressurise the tank as it is designed to do it self when the heat flows into the tank from the fuel tube, I have seen some models that had the pump, think it was for alpine use, mine is still going strong after 50 years

This is awesome. “For some reason my workbench is on fire”. I like little campstoves but this seems ridiculously dangerous. ETA not the stove….this seems to be Operator error…seeming extreme lack of knowledge of this fuel.

Was the fuel leaking?

I worried that it would leak fuel while in my backpack. Apparently for transporting you pour the fuel back into your extra fuel container 😅cool

How long does it burn on full tank?

Stove is on. Fire... Moves it closer to the rags and flammable carb cleaner. Lol

Just my opinion, but you DID NOT turn off the throttle once you had some fuel in the reservoir, this is why it spread to your bench, the best way to start these is to put some denatured alcohol in the reservoir bowl and light it, and just wait for it to go out with the throttle closed, just before it goes out, crack open the throttle just a little bit to warm it up even more. also you are too impatient to get it up and running, as I say, JUST MY OPINION

Don’t think you need a “pool” of fluid to start it lol

I hope this guy's insurance man never watches this!!

Im glad I dont share back country huts with you bro...youll burn the place down!

To dangerous keep away from it. Safety first.☠️

Your not doing things correctly. Use denatured alcohol for drip try