Optimus Terra Solo Cook Set, anyone got one.

[John Sheridan]

Just would like some feedback on the Optimus Terra Solo Cook Set, I like the look of it and was wanting to buy it, but would like some feedback before hand though.

http://www.optimusstoves.com/seen/optim ... -cook-set/

If you have one please chat about it, I would like to know what you think of it and some info like what the total height is with the Lid on and how many mls, litres the lid,Frypan can hold, is think the main pot is 600mls, but from all my interneting no idea what the frypan holds.

Oh and the width of the pots would be nice, I want to know if i can put the Optimus into my Trangia Mini pot, that way I can have three pots If I need them.

Cheers if you can help.

[Capt DropBear]

Do you need it that small? I was eyeing off the Solo before I settled on the slightly larger Weekend HE - even the Weekend HE seemed small when I finally saw one in the shop. That being said, the Weekend HE seems the perfect size, so depending on what you're cooking, you might struggle to fit in in the Solo. That, and it suits a 200g gas cylinder, the Solo only fits a 100g.

Either way, you'll have a good quality cookset - it heats quickly and packs away well.

[corvus]

JS ,
I don't own that cookset but have found that a small 600ml pot is only really good for boiling water so depending on what you want to do cooking wise I would consider the next size up,also I suspect the cup has a 200ml max usable capacity and not much good as a fry pan
Measure the base of a 100g gas canister and that will give you an idea of the capacity of this cookset.
corvus

[JohnM]

Got the weekender, just used it on a 3-nighter up on the high plains.

Pot holds a touch over 800ml, which is enough water for 2 double sized freeze dried meals and change. The frypan is pretty small as you'd expect, but a great size to fry an egg or two, but it's more of a glorified lid really.

If all you want to do is boil water, it's a great setup. In the weekender, I can fit a 200g canister, stove, lighter, a chux, a bit of detergent... The whole cooking setup.

[John Sheridan]

I would only be using it to boil water and add my own dehydrated meals,pasta and or noodles to the 600 ml pot to cook, I hope the lid holds 250mls as that is 1 cup and enough for my coffee, if possible could you measure the lid and see what it really holds

I would be using it with my Alcohol stove, so that should easily fit in it.

I am just looking for something that's fine for a ultra light back packing set up and just for the one person, I thought maybe it would be perfect, also I would probably put it in my Mini Trangia pot, as that holds over 500mls, not too much more extra weight and I can user that as a bowl as well.


Cheers for the feedback.

[JohnM]

If you're putting it inside a 500ml trangia pot, why buy/take the optimus in the first place? You're just doubling up by carrying two pots the same size. I'd still consider the weekender though. Weighs about the same, but the extra depth gives you the flexibility to use it for two, or to hold a bigger canister for longer hikes. Extra size isn't wasted in any event: because it all packs together neatly and securely, you can use the space inside the weekender to put food. So you get added flexibility for no effective increase in pack-mass.

The weekender also has one of those little heat-trapping thingies on the bottom, which makes for more efficient and quicker heating, and less gas use. Last time I looked, the solo lacked that.

[John Sheridan]

I am not using gas, I am using alcohol as fuel.

Does the dehicky on the bottom work with a Alcohol stove ???

Cheers.

[JohnM]

Dunno.

I think you need to get into a store and eyeball them for yourself. Last time I was in Paddy's they had plenty of them there to check out. Bring your alc burner in and see if it works (sans flame of course). They'll kick you out for that.

[flatfoot]

I ordered the Weekend HE early last week as a more flexible alternative to my Jetboil. I'm still waiting for it to arrive

I first saw the Terra Solo in use by an ultra lighter on the Overland Track last year. I was quite impressed by it's compact size, but in the end decided on the weekend HE.

The main feature I'll miss from my jetboil is the built in piezo electric lighter.

[John Sheridan]

When it arrives let us know what you think about it and how much water the lid holds :0


Cheers.

[Gusto]

they look nice pots. What stove do you want to use? I know it's an alcohol stove, I'm just curious as to what alcohol stove it is?

Just to tempt you to think a little more out of the box you should check out these stoves http://www.traildesigns.com/

[John Sheridan]

Trangia or my stoves I made from coke cans and deodorant bottles, or my soon to be made wick stove, which ever is more fuel efficient

I am not really fussed what kind of stove I use, just have not tried a gas stove yet, will get around to it, more worried about fuel efficiency.

Cheers.

[flatfoot]

My Optimus Weekend HE Cook System arrived today. I fired it up so to speak. I did a test with 800mls of tap water in the pot. Water temperature would have been about 15-20 degrees. It comfortably reached a vigorous rolling boil in 1min 57 seconds at full throttle. The gas canister used for the test is an 80% butane / 20% propane mix.

The lid comfortably holds 250mls of water. You could comfortably push it to 312.5mls (1 1/4 cups).

This is bigger than the Terra Solo and is designed for use with a 230gram canister. The pot is 800ml and includes the heat exchanger (unlike the Terra Solo).

I'm not sure if it's my gas canister, however the stove head does not fit snuggly under the canister. Maybe it's the Gasmate cartridge? Do other 230gram cartridges have a deeper concave base? With the stove tucked into it's pouch and slung under the canister, I don't think this is really an issue since the pouch material provides a degree of padding for the stove head. With stove and canister arranged in this way, this tucks snuggly into the Weekend HE pot and should provide adequate protection for the stove head.

[John Sheridan]

I might just get both of them and see which one works best for me

Not much to buy them both.

Cheers.

[flatfoot]

Not much to buy them both.

Good to have some choice when packing for a trip

I'm going to mod my crux by adding the piezo electric ignition. I'll let you know how well it works and also how well it packs.

[corvus]

It is good and fun to modify gear however piezo igniters have been known to break/fail my choice of spark now is a cheap fire steel ,I can even get a hot ignition spark after few strokes when it has been immersed in water and as a plus I can ignite paper with four or five good strokes mine weighs 41 gm and will be reducing with use .
Would never have believed how good this simple system worked for less than $10.00 till I bought and used one
corvus

[John Sheridan]

I just bought them both at Wildearth, when I get them hopefully on Friday I will let you know what I think of them and test them out with some water boiling and meals

1 x Optimus Crux Lite Stove with Terra solo Cookset Bundle
1 x Optimus Terra Weekend HE Ultralight Cook set 0.95L

Got the Crux lite stove as well, might as well try some gas cooking when i am at it, where would be a cheap place to get some gas canisters from, Bigw ect looking local.

Cheers.

/PS As both cook sets are different sizes I guess I could nest them and use them like that and use them in the field and see which one works best for my needs, well that's the theory :O


Thanks.

[John Sheridan]

I received them on Friday and have been testing and the SOLO is SMALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, not usable for my needs at all, but the Weekend is about the right size, but at least i got the crux lite stove with it, will probably use that.

The weekend is just right, the lid holds about 1 and half cups of water which is just the right amount to fill my coffee cup, so that makes me happy, while the big main pot is more than big enough to cook my meals in or be used for water boiling for freeze dried bag meals.

I can boil 2 cups of water with my Mini Trangia stove in the main pot in six minutes with about 22.5 mls of metho, so I guess that pretty good. That will do untill I build my Wick tri burner stove, should get the fuel down by half with about the same or better cooking time.

One reason I bought the Optimus range is because of the handles are BUILT-IN, I hate screwing around with clip on handles.

Can't wait to try some meals in the pot, Just have to make that pot cosy.

Cheers.

/PS I am going to make Two flat lids for it so I can use main pot and lid at the same time, this should reduce the boil times a bit on both of them, more on the main pot i would think.