State of the stove market 2023

Am I the only one who thinks that talking about the SVEA 123 under the topic of State of the Stove market 2023 is ironic?

My Svea 123 blew out the tank back in the dark past ages flamethrower style. I believe that was the first stove I’d ever had. My local outdoor shop had a good two dozen Svea 123s refurbished on the shelf for sale. Every single one had a welded tank where they had blown out.  I thought they had a high cool factor too before it did that.

some believe the danger comes from using a larger pot. That tiny thing that comes with is so small.

I got my Sven 123 in 1974. It’s still humming along. I’ve used it at -15F and +100F, it’s never missed a beat or been hard to light (but you’ve got to know how to prime it). Mine was one of the generation before the self cleaning apparatus was added, which I’ve been told diminished its performance. I’ve never once used the little “pot” that came with it, but always used a larger Sigg pot. My guess is any tank issue is related to a bad batch. I got an MSR XGK around 1986 and tested it against the Svea. The Svea whooped it, bringing water to a boil more quickly in a variety of temps. What I’ve observed over the years is most folks are too timid with priming it…

I didn’t own a 123 but often used my dad’s which was purchased sometime in the 1950s. No blow out. No problems. Just worked… one you developed a good touch with the priming.  We never used the tiny pot.  A small fry pan for trout and a 1l pot I think. In that era was fairly compact, specially well the fuel reserve was large enough for the trip and you didn’t have to bring another fuel bottle.  It was regularly use until sometime after 2010 when it was donated to a local non profit to be used in a display. During the same period I went through three MSR stove before I switched stoves to save weight, though to be fair one of those stoves was stolen.

Jerry, it is a bit like vinyl records, especially for those who grew up with vinyl.  The bottom line is that it was the only really reliable stove back in the 70’s that was that small and light.  I too never had a problem with mine but it was also pre-self cleaning and you did have to know how to prime them.

I’m always amused when folks talk about how “loud” canister stoves are. Loud?! The Svea resembles a 747 takeoff by comparison. I’m likely a bit of an odd duck, but I always found some sort of comfort in that noise :)

Some 1970’s thread drift here – “state of the stove 2023” irony indeed!

It was about 45 years ago when I got that 123 so memory is a bit obscured but I’m remembering some folks saying the pressure valve would become stuck on some units and that might have been the cause of the tanks rupturing. I’m well aware that not all the 123s did that but all it takes is one time to really make a memorable event that I’d never want to repeat. Lol Prior to that stove small wood fires powered all the cooking. Stoves are much more carefree and convenient.

what is the most efficient stove to pot distance for Esbit ? I often use Coghlans fuel tabs . 750ml pot

there used to be a chart by ayce  http://thru-hiker.com/articles/esbit_stove_height.php but but it is flash :( Sent him mail, hopefully he can easily update to use a currently supported display technology.  Hikin Jim might have a chart somewhere as well.  my practical answer is the caldera cone seems to have been optimized well.

We have an old MSR whisperlite, a MSR Windpro 2, a Kovea spider, and a soto windmaster. We mostly use our windmaster, even in winter, snow camping, melting snow for water, temps down to 15 (our lowest temp to date) with a moulder strip-works great. When it is very windy we use the Windpro or the spider. The spider, and wind pro for that matter, seem to take more fuel and or more time to bring water to boil than the Soto…but that is subjective, we are not sure.

I have way too many stoves each because I thought it would fill a niche that I didn’t have covered. I’ve gotten rid of the white gas MSR Dragonfly, multiple alcohol stoves, a BRS 3000. I also handed down a Snow Peak Gigapower.  None of these were good enough in my mind  (YMMV)

Now, in order of most used:  MSR WindPro for car camping, Flat Cat Gear Snow Leopard (Ti Lite?) for solo BP, and either a Kojin+SideWinder or a Soto Windmaster with a 1.3L pot for BP with my son.  I’ve probably missed some innovations recently; the only one that has caught my attention is Jon’s Flat Cat Gear’s Ocelot windscreens that I’m looking at for a lighter  but still wind capable and efficient canister system for smaller pots.

Mark, here is the image in an old bpl thread.

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/101822/page/26/#post-3558027

If I remember my stove history correctly, the Svea 123 was a near clone of the Primus 1. The Primus 1 was developed in response to requests by the Swedish and Norwegian polar explorers for a stove that could burn gasoline and replace various animal oil and alcohol burning stoves. Amundsen supposed took one or two of the first models on his race to the South Pole.

So while ironic to bring up the Svea 123, it seems appropriate since many of us bought it as our first backpacking stove, and still have one in our garage. :-))

BTW anybody know what happened to Hikin’ Jim. I have not seen him post on BPL in a long time.

Looks like Hikin’ Jim is hanging out on reddit these days.

https://www.reddit.com/user/hikin_jim

Thanks John!

Hikin’ Jim has been hiking with and without his daughters around Southern California, based on his Facebook posts.

Thanks David!

I’m not sure there has been all that much change.  I just bought a Soto Windmaster to add to my quiver, not because I needed it but because the nature of my trips has changed as my kids age.

My favorite solo set-up is still Jon’s Flat Cat Snow Leopard kit for my GSI cup.   I solo hike much less than I used to because of family dynamics and I’m doing more cooking for two.    I have a JetBoil Zip that is fast and easy but it is heavy by my standards so I bought the Soto Windmaster and the Soto cook set which drops 7 ounces from my carry weight and it has more flexibility in terms of what type of cooking I want to do.

With all the fire issues out west, I think there may be a movement away from alcohol simply because of what is safe during fire season.

@Jon Fong: It is ironic how much of this thread discusses the classic Svea 123.

Back in the day I was on a trip with 2 friends, me + one in one tent, third guy in another. Guy alone in the second tent tried to refuel his Svea *while it was running* with predictable results. He did manager to bowl over backwards and out of the tent before it and all his gear and clothes except his boots went up in a fireball. It was a too-cozy night in the one remaining tent, and we all hiked out naked the next morning in solidarity. Which was fine until we turned a corner and encountered a Girl Scout troop hiking in – fortunately there were trees beside the trail.

FWIW, the Fire Maple Wasp/Hornet is far superior to the BRS3000 out of the box, and can be easily modified for use with kits like Jon’s.

I spotted an alcohol stove on Amazon with an on-off valve:

It’s way too big (10+ inches across) and heavy for our purposes here, but it sure has me thinking. That, plus seeing old Kern alcohol blowtorches with on-off valves. It sure would be great to get better and easily adjustable performance from alcohol stoves, be able to use them anywhere, and eliminate the need for fossil fuels or hazardous chemicals.