| The paraffin, (kerosene), pressure stove first
appeared in 1892 when a Swede, Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist,
registered his 'Sootless Kerosene Stove'. The design
burned Paraffin gas which was vapourised from the liquid
fuel in tubes forming the burner head. His design was so successful a Company was formed to manufacture the stove and 'Primus' , (Latin for 'first), appeared to the World. The first model was the No.1 stove and the range rapidly expanded into many dozens of models aimed at different markets. With Amundsen using a 'Primus' to reach the South Pole and Hillary taking 'Primus' stoves to climb Mount Everest the word became used by many people to describe any pressure camping stove |
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| In 1962 the paraffin division of Primus was sold
to Optimus but continued to manufacture stoves under the
name 'Primus Trading'. The Company was closed in 1972 and
the range consolidated just to Optimus models. In 1966 Primus joined with one of their rivals, Sievert, and concentrated on L.P.G., (Liquified Petroleum Gas), camping stoves as well as blowlamps. In 1997 Primus re-entered the liquid fuel stove market with some excellent designs of multi-fuel stoves still available today. The Optimus Company had also been making a range of stoves since the late 1890's and continued the traditional paraffin stove right up to 1996 when the range was gradually withdrawn to concentrate on the range of Petrol, (Gasoline), and multi-fuel stoves manufactured today. |
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| The basic Lindqvist burner design was copied by
manufacturers all over the world, many adopting the same
method of numbering their models by the burner size and
style, ie. 00, No1, No5. This variation in models makes stoves appealing to collectors, some prefer to find one model from many different manufacturers, some try to collect every model from one manufacturer. Further interest is added by long running models 'evolving' over the years. A glance down a list of some brands shows the wide choice such as Monitor, Burmos, Parasene, Buflam, Valor, Royal Standard, Thermidor, Kenrick, (U.K.), Optimus. Radius, Primus, Svea, Prince, (Sweden), Coleman,(U.S.A.), Meva, (Czechoslovakia), Metacel,( Australia), Petromax, (Germany), Hipolito, (Portugal), Anchor, Shinabro, (China), Manaslu (Japan). |
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