High Sierra Topix

Anyone still using a svea 123 white gas stove?

paula53 wrote:Anyone still using a svea 123 white gas stove?

Heck yeah. Good stove.





HJ

I currently have a Whisperlight. Want to buy a Svea 123. I had one for 20 years, then let it go. Its not fussy at all & will function perfectly for many, many years. Not like most of the white gas stoves sold today.

I use my old Primus 71 for weekenders. That thing never let me down. I purchased it from Pico's Sporting Goods in Lompoc, CA in the summer of 1970. I rebuilt it once with a kit...do they still make the kits?

paula53 wrote:I currently have a Whisperlight. Want to buy a Svea 123. I had one for 20 years, then let it go. Its not fussy at all & will function perfectly for many, many years. Not like most of the white gas stoves sold today.

Paula:

Plenty of Svea 123's around. They still make them today although they're made in China not Sweden now. The Svea 123 is the only stove from that era still made today.

Manventureoutpost has them for $75.00 which is a good price.

You can also get them on eBay -- for a lot less.

you could probably also get one through this forum.

HJ

Tom wrote:I use my old Primus 71 for weekenders. That thing never let me down. I purchased it from Pico's Sporting Goods in Lompoc, CA in the summer of 1970. I rebuilt it once with a kit...do they still make the kits?

Dunno if they make kits for a Primus 71 or not. The parts from an Optimus 80 or Svea 123 (not Svea 123R) should be compatible. You could check http://www.optimus.se" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and see what they've got.

HJ

Thank you HJ. I plan to buy one very soon to try out this October, up in Desolation.

Going back in time again. If you are a pyromaniac, this stove is for you. This is a Svea 123 I purchased back in the early 70s with an aluminum windscreen and made in Sweden. It still fires right up and is blowtorch strong, however, I am not a fan of white gas stoves, they tend to be noisy, leak fuel when not in use, and priming involves dousing the stove with gas then lighting it, and pray that it will start sputtering and not blow up. If I were to use it now, i would ditch the pot and lid, use a teapot and only boil water. In this mode, one liter of fuel would go along way.

I've never seen a SEVA set like that but IIRC Primus offered a set. The Primus also had a slightly larger fuel tank.

Still have mine, purchased circa 1972.

Makes the devil's own noise, but once going, cannot be blown out in the worst windstorm and is (relatively) easy to light in below zero temps. I do not have the leakage problem mentioned above.

It used almost exclusivley to boil water in an old small teakettle, and if miserly, a liter of fuel will last a full week of meals.