Over at the Paleotool blog, they have this picture: An old Svea 123 stove, which they apparently still make
Wow. There's a flashback, and not necessarily a good one.
It is essentially a brass fuel tank and a burner; a Molotov Cocktail with a valve. And it comes in one of my favorite colors, shiny brass.
Yep. I loved the size and look of my Svea 123 - right up the point it shot a flame straight pass my face almost taking me out.
The next month in the woods was all raw food and campfire cooking, which can be hard after walking 20 miles a day in snow in winter.
When you are burning 9,000 calories a day, a stove explosion can end up stripping calories off you fast, which can do a very bad number on your head.
So yeah, I remember the Svea 123. It's a mixed memory.
2 comments:
I've no experience with the Svea, but I do have good memories of Primus stoves. The most interesting of which was from the time I was living in the North of Norway. Late evening, I answered the door to a young conscript of the Norwegian army, holding the pump assembly and asking if I had a small spanner. I did indeed and helped him replace the pump gasket. The temperature outside was dipping towards minus 40 and presumably a good deal colder up in the Mountains where they were camped.
Wow, memories of camping on Mt. Washington in my native New Hampshire in winter, burning aforementioned number of calories and getting them from freeze dried mac + cheese and a nice stick of butter. YUM.
My stove actually needed a couple tablespoons of raw fuel lit under the main tank to give it pressure. ( think not quite exploding yet) you needed to have the burner turned on or you got a real explosion!
SOUNDS hairy but that little stove kept us alive and warm under crazy wind and cold, never fail.
Now the couch is more my style I am afraid, but I would still go if someone else handled the logistics and put up the tent.
I can bring the stove, still have it.
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