WOFT,

I'll be a lot of people here have tricks for this; this stove was very popular, and everyone had their own favorite techniques.

The goal, as you say, is to get the stem area hot enough to start vaporizing the fuel, and that requires some priming.

I've seen a lot of people use an eydropper to take a little fuel from the tank, insert it onto the depression in the tank around the base of the stem (that's what the depression is for), and light it there. Some even carry alcohol or kerosene just for this.

Most of us, however, use some variation of warming the tank to cause a little bit of pressure, just enough to cause fuel to well out of the jet, run down the stem, and into this depression on the tank. This way, you do not have to remove the windscreen to get at the filler cap.

First, you have to know that no technique will work unless you have equalized the pressure inside the tank with the pressure outside while the stove is COLD.

If it's cold out, you can do it with your hands, so I'll use that to describe the process...

1. Pull the stove out of your pack, and, while it's COLD, open the valve. One of two things will happen. Depending on the temperature and air pressure the last time the valve was opened, maybe 5 percent of the time, a little fuel will start to well up out of the jet. If it does, go to step 3. The other 95 percent of the time...

2. Wait a few seconds for the pressure to equalize, then close the valve. Wrap your warm hands snugly around the tank for 30 seconds or so, so that you feel it warm up a little. Set the stove down, open the valve again, and, if you're lucky...

3. A little fuel will come out of the jet, maybe hard enough to hit the flame spreader, but usually not. It will run down the stem and start to fill up that depression in the tank around the base of the stem. When that depression is almost overflowing, turn the valve off, and light the fuel at the base of the stem with a match (through the wind screen). When the flames start to die down, open the valve again, and the burner should catch. If you wait too long, you will have to use another match... not important.

If it's warm out, the heat from your hands may not be enough, and you may need to warm the tank further. I've used a butane lighter, or very small, brief fires made from bits of scrap paper. The idea is just to get it a little warmer than it was the last time the valve was open, never hot... just enough to cause a little pressure to get the fuel to rise up the stem and start the process.

It takes a little getitng used to, but if you've been using the Svea, you already know it takes a little getting used to. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Hope this helps- let me know if this works out for you.