View Full Version : My trusted companion
Feral Bill
01-03-2019, 16:07
This is the fiftieth anniversary of my Svea stove. It has traveled with me from Nova Scotia to the Grand Canyon, and from Alabama to Denali National Park. I've cooked on it in the depths of Adirondack winters and broiling heat in eastern Oregon. It's been around the Wonderland trail with me twice, and to the summit of Mount Washington. I've sauteed onions in the Canadian Rockies, made pancakes in Harriman State Park, and curried a pike in the Yukon. It has never failed. Maintenance has amounted to replacing the fuel filler gasket three or four times, at a cost of less than three dollars, total. I expect never to own another stove.
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Gambit McCrae
01-03-2019, 16:30
Well that's pretty cool FB! I am on my 3rd year with the same cat can stove and I myself couldn't be happier, although I am quite jelious of that piece of history you have there. Looks like that little stove sells for $119 now days. Curious if you remember its retail 50 years ago?
Tipi Walter
01-03-2019, 16:37
Cool pic. My backpacking stove from 1970s thru 2001 has been the same stove. I started with the older style without the self cleaning jet needle. Is yours the old style or the new? (The new one is where the key turns the "throttle" all the way in one direction to protrude a jet cleaning needle). All Hail the Svea 123!!
My current stove is "the lightest white gas stove made"--MSR Simmerlite. (Of course now discontinued by MSR---what idiots---so I bought 3 and am set for life).
Hard to believe you have all 3 of the pot support prongs---I lost several over the years and replaced with bent nails.
Also hard to believe your top brass sleeve is still in good shape and not bent to hell (it must be removed to refuel). I guess I put my Svea thru too much crap---like stepping on the thing.
My first Svea exploded in a fireball when I was trying to impress a potential girlfriend back in 1983---in the Conehead Backcountry. Actually, the pressure release valve opened after priming and then cooking---fireball.
The Svea could simmer perfectly---and it was the stove of choice for field cooking up a big pot of brown rice and lentils---the thing could hum for an hour with no problem. BUT---the gas tank on the thing was too small for long cooking and so I had to stop and refuel---always a big hassle with a Very Hot Svea Stove. And then priming a hot stove can get dangerous.
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Feral Bill
01-03-2019, 17:03
Well that's pretty cool FB! I am on my 3rd year with the same cat can stove and I myself couldn't be happier, although I am quite jelious of that piece of history you have there. Looks like that little stove sells for $119 now days. Curious if you remember its retail 50 years ago?
$9, $14 with the Sigg Tourist pot set.
Feral Bill
01-03-2019, 17:13
Cool pic. My backpacking stove from 1970s thru 2001 has been the same stove. I started with the older style without the self cleaning jet needle. Is yours the old style or the new? (The new one is where the key turns the "throttle" all the way in one direction to protrude a jet cleaning needle). All Hail the Svea 123!!
My current stove is "the lightest white gas stove made"--MSR Simmerlite. (Of course now discontinued by MSR---what idiots---so I bought 3 and am set for life).
Hard to believe you have all 3 of the pot support prongs---I lost several over the years and replaced with bent nails.
Also hard to believe your top brass sleeve is still in good shape and not bent to hell (it must be removed to refuel). I guess I put my Svea thru too much crap---like stepping on the thing.
My first Svea exploded in a fireball when I was trying to impress a potential girlfriend back in 1983---in the Conehead Backcountry. Actually, the pressure release valve opened after priming and then cooking---fireball.
The Svea could simmer perfectly---and it was the stove of choice for field cooking up a big pot of brown rice and lentils---the thing could hum for an hour with no problem. BUT---the gas tank on the thing was too small for long cooking and so I had to stop and refuel---always a big hassle with a Very Hot Svea Stove. And then priming a hot stove can get dangerous.
44399
Original model. I have not needed to clean the jet in years. I do keep a bit of speaker wire handy. Yes, the tank is small. Mostly an issue melting snow. The only Svea fireball I have seen was a friend's, cooking near a campfire and overheating as a result. Operator error. A quick trip into the snow stopped the blaze. I'm not sure how I still have the little pot stand bits. They used to try to escape once in a while, but not in the last few decades. I'm looking forward to a few trips this summer through fall.
Tipi, you may be among the few that actually like the Simmerlite. My impression of it was as an overly complicated Whisperlite replacement that didn't simmer worth a darn. At least with the Dragonfly they got it all right - it simmers flawlessly and burns like a blowtorch when needed.
The Svea is an awesome stove. More of a piece of history now compared to some of the recent designs, but still a timeless work of art.
Tipi Walter
01-03-2019, 18:13
Tipi, you may be among the few that actually like the Simmerlite. My impression of it was as an overly complicated Whisperlite replacement that didn't simmer worth a darn. At least with the Dragonfly they got it all right - it simmers flawlessly and burns like a blowtorch when needed.
The Svea is an awesome stove. More of a piece of history now compared to some of the recent designs, but still a timeless work of art.
I agree, I see the Svea as a type of museum piece---and a work of art. Sort of like the old Aladdin kerosene lamps of yesterday (and today). Works of art---and if you have a good supply of fragile mantels they put out the equivalent of a 60 watt light bulb. Thread Drift---it was my main source of light in my tipi.
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Whisperlite and Simmerlite experts will tell you it's possible to simmer on these stoves if you turn your head to the North three times and cough once per second---or if you don't pump up the fuel bottle---or if you fiddle with this or that doodad . . . or whatever else. Luckily my days of long cooking a pot of rice and beans is over---now I just need to bring a pot of water to a boil---for oatmeal, for morning tea, for all dinners. No simmering required.
imscotty
01-04-2019, 00:06
That is an impressive run. Often wish I had kept my circa 1970's external frame Kelty. I was dumb to throw that workhorse away.
This is the fiftieth anniversary of my Svea stove. It has traveled with me from Nova Scotia to the Grand Canyon, and from Alabama to Denali National Park. I've cooked on it in the depths of Adirondack winters and broiling heat in eastern Oregon. It's been around the Wonderland trail with me twice, and to the summit of Mount Washington. I've sauteed onions in the Canadian Rockies, made pancakes in Harriman State Park, and curried a pike in the Yukon. It has never failed. Maintenance has amounted to replacing the fuel filler gasket three or four times, at a cost of less than three dollars, total. I expect never to own another stove.
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I know there never used to be an issue taking one on an airplane, but not so sure what a random TSA agent might think these days.
Feral Bill
01-04-2019, 14:49
I know there never used to be an issue taking one on an airplane, but not so sure what a random TSA agent might think these days. I wouldn't even try. I've gone stoveless for a trip or two.
That is an impressive run. Often wish I had kept my circa 1970's external frame Kelty. I was dumb to throw that workhorse away.
I tossed out my Svea, along with the Sigg nesting pot set. Used it from late 60's to the turn of the century. Comments in my Dad's journal confirm that it was cantankerous and persnickety and we had several trips with cold meals, but he stuck with it. I used it until I switched to canister stoves. The Sigg nesting pots were a bear to clean if you scorched anything in the multiple ridges.
The 1969 Kelty A4 - I still have that!
Feral Bill
01-04-2019, 15:34
I tossed out my Svea, along with the Sigg nesting pot set. Used it from late 60's to the turn of the century. Comments in my Dad's journal confirm that it was cantankerous and persnickety and we had several trips with cold meals, but he stuck with it. I used it until I switched to canister stoves. The Sigg nesting pots were a bear to clean if you scorched anything in the multiple ridges.
The 1969 Kelty A4 - I still have that! My stove has never been cranky. The Sigg cookset however was a cleanup nightmare. I switched to the nice Sigg kettles with the flat bales. Now using some 30 year old English Bulldog kettles. They work fine.
Tipi Walter
01-04-2019, 15:46
In the last 20 years I've seen alot of fellow backpackers---hundreds---and in that time I only saw one Svea stove used by an old codger still stuck in the 1970s. The overwhelming percentage of white gas stoves were of course MSR Whisperlites. The others were alcohol and canister stoves. Here's a pic of a typical group using their MSR Whisperlites---
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2015-Trips-161/Trip-163-in-March/i-ZMdZ6MD/0/3474bb49/L/TRIP%20163%20218-L.jpg
They were an an anachronism when I hiked the Trail with one 35 years ago, when the masses had Coleman Peak1s, and the flush had MSR XKGs.
The Sveas were loud, and left their mark. Litterally.
For those who missed out on the fun, you pressurized the tank by dripping jut a bit (yea, right) of fuel on the stove, then putting a lighter to it.
The black rings on picnic tables and shelter floors added charm, I think.
Tipi Walter
01-04-2019, 17:58
They were an an anachronism when I hiked the Trail with one 35 years ago, when the masses had Coleman Peak1s, and the flush had MSR XKGs.
The Sveas were loud, and left their mark. Litterally.
For those who missed out on the fun, you pressurized the tank by dripping jut a bit (yea, right) of fuel on the stove, then putting a lighter to it.
The black rings on picnic tables and shelter floors added charm, I think.
I forgot about the melted Svea rings in several of my ccf pads. But I remember clearly wasting precious fuel by pouring gas on the thing to prime. I know I know, we all carried eye droppers for this and/or sigg bottle pour spouts---but we lost or broke the eye droppers and the pour spouts invariably leaked. I would only carry a Svea 123 now if we were doing a retro trip for Outside magazine and you paid me.
I forgot about the melted Svea rings in several of my ccf pads. But I remember clearly wasting precious fuel by pouring gas on the thing to prime. I know I know, we all carried eye droppers for this and/or sigg bottle pour spouts---but we lost or broke the eye droppers and the pour spouts invariably leaked. I would only carry a Svea 123 now if we were doing a retro trip for Outside magazine and you paid me.
Not every one.
I got my fuel with a long plastic “straw” and a finger on one end.
Remember candle lanterns made out of a coke can?
Whisperlites don't whisper (they roar) and Simmerlites don't simmer...but they work, dependably. Like TW, I bought a couple of Simmerlites when they were discontinued.
When our hiking group does our annual trip (high altitude in Rockies), we bring a minimum of 2 simmerlites--great for groups(or solo). Particularly in the cold or high altitude. When I go solo(in the East)----canister.