Optimus
Optimus Polaris Optifuel
- 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): 6/10 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 and high-altitude trips: it burns liquid fuel (white gas, petrol, kerosene) and gas from a canister, and has a 4 Season Mode for cold-weather gas use (Katadyn)
- Fuel
- Liquid
- Weight
- 475 g
- Boil 1 L, still air
- 4:00
- Windshield in the box
- Yes
Packed size 0.728 L, 14 x 8 x 6.5 cm Compare with a 2-litre bottle
Shorter than a 2-litre bottle and thinner than one. Drawn to scale.
Where to buy
Ultralight Outdoor Gear £229.99 In stock. Free delivery. The page shows RRP £254.99. The 2024 Great Outdoors review also gives £255. Other UK shops show £214.95-£226 struck through, which are their own earlier prices, so £254.99 is the highest list price found.
View at shop: Ultralight Outdoor GearAlpinetrek £175.06 Out of stock. Price includes duties and taxes. Free UK delivery from £85.
View at shop: AlpinetrekPrices 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 475 g including the FLIPSTOP pump (330 g without it), in the 300 g and over band. The method counts the pump on a liquid-fuel stove, so 475 g. The fuel bottle is not included.
Packed size
From maker's figures 4/10How much room it takes in your rucksack. 4: A bit below average.
Katadyn's factsheet gives a packing size of 140 x 80 x Ø 65 mm. Taking the three figures as a box: 14 x 8 x 6.5 = 728 cm3, 0.728 L, in the 0.6-1.59 L band.
Boil speed (still air)
From maker's figures 6/10How fast the maker says it boils 1 litre in still air. Wind slows every stove: see Wind performance. 6: A bit better than average.
Katadyn's factsheet gives about 3.4 min per litre on liquid fuel and about 4 min per litre on gas (its web page says 3-4 min). The method uses the slowest figure when a maker gives one per fuel, so 240 s (gas), in the 230-299 s band. The liquid-fuel figure, 204 s, would be band 4.
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 and high-altitude trips: it burns liquid fuel (white gas, petrol, kerosene) and gas from a canister, and has a 4 Season Mode for cold-weather gas use (Katadyn)
- Cooking for a group or melting snow: 4200 W on liquid fuel and 5300 W on gas, and reviewers found it very stable
- Trips where you refill from a pump or fuel station and do not rely on canisters
Strengths
- Burns liquid fuel and canister gas, so one stove covers different trips
- 4200 W on liquid fuel and 5300 W on gas; Katadyn gives 3.4 min per litre on liquid fuel
- Very stable on its wide supports: The Great Outdoors called it extremely stable
- Windscreen, heat reflector, multitool, pump (FLIPSTOP) and stuff bag come in the box
- Three of the four reviewers who scored control say it simmers
Weaknesses
- 475 g with the pump (330 g without it) and about 0.73 L packed, heavy and bulky for one person
- Wind: UKClimbing found it blew out easily on gas, even with the foil windshield
- The Great Outdoors found simmering impractical on either fuel, although four others found it simmers
- Needs priming and a pump, and the jet needs cleaning now and then
Sources
We haven't tested this ourselves. Every score comes from these specs, tests and reviews.
ShowHide sources (7)
- Katadyn (Optimus): Polaris Optifuel, factsheet (PDF, version 24.09.2021)
- Katadyn (Optimus): Polaris Optifuel, product page
- UKClimbing (Toby Archer): Optimus Polaris Optifuel multi-fuel stove review (stove supplied by Optimus)
- The Great Outdoors: Optimus Polaris Optifuel review
- The Next Challenge (Tim Moss): Optimus Polaris stove review (stove loaned by Katadyn)
- Some Camping Stoves: Optimus Polaris Optifuel review
- The Great Outdoors (Chris Townsend): Optimus Polaris Optifuel stove, reviewed in the June 2015 issue