High Sierra Topix

freestone wrote: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.

Dude! I hope you're joking about that priming technique. You really could cause the safety release valve to release -- not safe!

Check out this priming demonstration for an alternative to "dousing with gasoline"


HJ

great video, HJ! My friend bought his Svea 123 in ~'76. He was a pyro, so he kind of enjoyed the white gas priming experience He also learned about why you remove the key the hard way.

I also have had one since 1972. I got a nostalgic kick out of the video. I have the same setup of the stove and windscreen as in Freestone's photos. I used it for years, but finally gave it up when I took it in for repairs to REI and the cost of the repair was more than a Coleman Feather 400. Having just been on a group trip with my son's school where someone had a Feather 400 that worked perfectly, I opted for the Coleman. But I can't bear to throw away the Svea.

rlown wrote:He also learned about why you remove the key the hard way.

Yeah, it only took me once to learn that one.

Priming isn't really hard with a Svea 123, particularly if you use a little squeeze bottle of alcohol (which primes cleaner and doesn't fireball). I think priming a Whisperlite is much trickier, particularly in kerosene.

Glad you liked the vid.

HJ

LMBSGV wrote:I also have had one since 1972. I got a nostalgic kick out of the video. I have the same setup of the stove and windscreen as in Freestone's photos. I used it for years, but finally gave it up when I took it in for repairs to REI and the cost of the repair was more than a Coleman Feather 400. Having just been on a group trip with my son's school where someone had a Feather 400 that worked perfectly, I opted for the Coleman. But I can't bear to throw away the Svea.

Dude! Don't throw away your classic Svea 123! That's like throwing away a '63 Chevy Corvette. Sacrilege!

Seriously though, the Svea 123 is very simple. You can almost always repair them unless the tank is physically cracked or something like that. If there's no physical rupture or failure, you can almost always get them working again. New wick, new tank cap gasket, good to go.

Like I say, the Svea 123 is the only stove that came out in the 1950's ('54?) that is still being produced today. There's a reason for this. It's one of the most reliable white gas stoves ever produced. It's extremely robust and well designed and is the lightest and most compact in its class. Very worth restoring. Heck, send it to me before you scrap it!

HJ