Optimus
Optimus Svea
- Weight: 1/10 How much it adds to your pack.
- Packed size: 4/10 How much room it takes in your rucksack.
- Boil speed (still air): 3/10 How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in still air. Wind slows every stove: see Wind performance.
- Wind performance: 5/10 How well it keeps boiling in a breeze, as sold, without an extra windshield.
Winter trips and cold-weather cooking where you want a self-pressurising liquid-fuel stove with no pump to fail
- Fuel
- Liquid
- Weight
- 550 g
- Boil 1 L, still air
- 7:00
- Windshield in the box
- Yes
Packed size 1.02 L, 13 cm long and 10 cm across Compare with a 2-litre bottle
Shorter than a 2-litre bottle and about as wide as one. Drawn to scale.
Where to buy
Alpinetrek £109.56 In stock. Free delivery. Price includes duties and taxes. The page shows £136.95 struck through (its own earlier price). Free UK delivery from £85. Delivery takes 5-7 working days.
View at shop: AlpinetrekAbsolute Snow £150.95 Out of stock. Shop page says currently unavailable. Free standard delivery over £100; the charge under that shows only in the basket.
View at shop: Absolute SnowPrices checked 8 Nov 2026 on each shop's own page; shops can change them. We earn no commission on these links; shops are listed by price. More
Our ratings (out of 10)
1 to 10, compared with the whole market. Each says what it's based on. How we score
Weight
From maker's figures 1/10How much it adds to your pack. 1: A real weak point.
Katadyn (Optimus's owner) gives 550 g for the burner, regulating key and the small aluminium cooking pot that serves as its lid, in the 300 g and over band. Katadyn gives no weight without the pot. It has no pump and the fuel is not counted.
Packed size
From maker's figures 4/10How much room it takes in your rucksack. 4: A bit below average.
Katadyn gives 100 x 130 mm (diameter x height), worked as a cylinder: pi x 5 x 5 x 13 = 1021 cm3, 1.02 L, in the 0.6-1.59 L band. As a box (10 x 10 x 13 cm) it would be 1.3 L, the same band.
Boil speed (still air)
From maker's figures 3/10How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in still air. Wind slows every stove: see Wind performance. 3: Below average. Fine for some trips, not others.
Katadyn gives about 7 minutes for 1 litre (420 s), in the 300-479 s band.
Wind performance
Estimate from maker's specs: windshield in the box 5/10How well it keeps boiling in a breeze, as sold, without an extra windshield. 5: Does the job. Average for wild-camping gear.
Estimate from maker's specs
In short
Good for
- Winter trips and cold-weather cooking where you want a self-pressurising liquid-fuel stove with no pump to fail
- Simple one-pot cooking with one burner in sheltered spots, such as a hut porch or behind a wall
- Keeping it for years: it has a built-in windshield, no moving pump parts and a 2-year guarantee (Katadyn)
Strengths
- Self-pressurising: no pump, so there is nothing to carry or break
- Burns white gas and has a built-in windshield
- Reviewers say it simmers
- Comes with a small pot that serves as the lid, and a regulating key
- Renowned for performance at high altitudes, and it burns white gas (Katadyn)
Weaknesses
- 550 g and about 1.0 L packed: heavy and bulky for what it does
- Slow, about 7 minutes per litre, and only 1400 W
- Both reviewers found wind a problem: it blows out in a hard wind even with a windscreen
- Burns white gas only; a 0.12 L fill lasts about 50 minutes
- Needs priming and has no feet, so it needs a flat, firm base
Sources
We haven't tested this ourselves. Every score comes from these specs, tests and reviews.