Annie,
My Optimus stove already has those wicks. I guess I was just a bit rusty on using that stove so I gave it an extra dram to be on the safe side. I think the bottle cap was bigger than on earlier alcohol bottles as well.
And yes, the kerosene leaves a smell in everything. I kind of didn’t notice when I was in the boat, but when I sold Johanna and removed some sweaters and blankets, they surely started to smell in the car.
Timothy, as for pure lamp oil, I am not so sure. I once tried it on my Optimus, but it simply didn’t work. However much I preheated the stove, it just flared up, so boiling temperature must be much higher than on kerosene. I later learned on a Primus expert's a home-page that lamp oil is not just refined kero, it is something else.
Anyway, I reluctantly declare the Origo as the winner for my use.
Arne
PS: So what do people use for preheating their grills? Have everyone switched to gas grills these days?
Edit, evening: Tonight I lit the Optimus a final time before reinstalling the Origo. I tried a 2-minute preheat, but that wasn't enough and resulted in a yellow flare-up. Switched to the other burner and preheated it 3:10min with good result. The special thing with the Optimus 111 is that the pan around the burner is closed. The burner sits in a pit, kind of. This prevents one from spilling any alcohol on the table below, which is good, but on the other hand, airflow is not good to the preheat flame. I guess this is why it takes a little longer to preheat than other models I have used. This is also why I make a funnel from a tin can, to concentrate the preheat flame around the burner.