Optimus/Svea Svea 123/123R Review

"Was at an EMS recently and asked the child working there why no SVEA 123s. She never heard of them!? T'was a time when a SVEA 123 was IT! All backpackers had one. Bought mine in 1975 at an EMS in New Hampshire for $15. When I got home my mother was ticked that I had spent $15 of hers for a stove. In hindsight seems like the best investment ever made now that they seem scarce and about $100. This was my first stove, and I always came back to it. It's my last stove. I had a very brief fling with the first Coleman Peak, and a daliance with an MSR Whisperlite: I did not like either one of them: too many moving parts on the Peak, and it went splewey in no time. The Whisperlite would depressurize so fast I could not cook anything requiring simmering. Stoves that need frequent pumping are a pain. I HAVE NOTHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT THE SVEA, SO THERE! My original was the 123 with the separate cleaning needle. Actually that was kind of hit and miss and a bit of a pain. I replaced the 123 stem with a self-cleaning 123R stem because I thought the 123 stem had become hopelessly clogged from long-term unleaded gasoline use. TIP: a capful of STP or similar engine cleaner mixed with a tank of fuel will clean that baby right out. For lighting I pour fuel into the moat at the base of the stem and some on the tank, light it, them turn it on just before the flame goes out. Easy. No problem. Don't understand some reviewers' complaints about difficulty lighting the thing. TIP: In winter set the base on a small piece of old insulated groundpad, and the brass won't suck up the cold. (I think that tip as well as the STP tip I got from Colin Fletcher's book a long time ago.) You can't go wrong with one of these. No other stove need exist."