I was a bit retarded until about 1971 - IIRC, I bought mine in the spring of 1972 - probably from EMS, as I bought a fair bit of gear from them through about 1975 or so. Not sure my recollection on those dates is accurate, but close enough. Didn't know they are self cleaning now - I still have the pick that came with mine.

I made a lot of trail meals in Alaska with mine, but winter use drove me to put the Optimus conversion fuel cap on mine. About three strokes of the pump, open the valve to fill the spirit cup, etc. Grasping the fuel tank of a stove that has normalized at -30F or colder is NOT a good idea... I also carried a little circular piece of 1/8" plywood about 2" larger in radius than the stove. I had three tiny roundhead screws in the plywood just *so* - the rim of the fuel tank would snap in and make the base one with the stove. Glued to the bottom of the plywood was a scrap of 3/8" ensolite. All this to 1) try to keep the tank warm enough to stay pressurized 2) retard the sinking of the stove when placed in a depression in the snow made by stomping snow down with either my skis or snowshoes. At about -35F and colder it was usually a losing battle on the tank pressure... the Optimus pump helped a LOT then, but what I did with it was specifically forbidden by the instructions, LoL - I actually stroked some pressure into the tank.

As you wrote, I had a real ritual down... pack snow, remove ruck, set up stove and preheat it (sub ritual), put seed water in pot and put pot on stove, sit on pack, add snow to seed water while laying out my meal, etc. Unless I needed to attend some wax issues on my skis, I rarely even took off my skis or snowshoes. Make water, make soup (thawing meat and cheese in soup), make coffee in soup residue (more water making), drink coffee with frozen Snickers, wipe pot with one tissue, make a little replacement seed water, refuel stove, pack, and go. Whole thing was usually 20 minutes. Sometimes I had to make a fire instead (too cold for the stove to work well) and then it took about twice as long.

Then there was a Coleman Sportster - still sell them (this was pre-Peak I). Single Mantle lantern body with a burner on top. Ugly big thing that I hated to pack, but it never failed to work and was VERY popular with many natives at the time for that reason. Leather pump cup; often had to take the pump out and flex the cup, which makes me suspect that the modern synthetic cups probably suck in those temps.

And then I bought an MSR XGK - one of the first ones to hit Fairbanks. I don't love that stove but it was revolutionary to me. I still use that, but it's just a water boiling demon that works all the time - nothing quirky about it. I think it is (still) a PITA to pack, even tho I made up a couple of special sleeves or pouches for the parts. Used Sig fuel bottles with it until just a year ago, which is a no-no, but I got away with it (use the MSR bottles - they are more robust!). I've carried a rebuild kit for, uh, 20 years (?more or less) and think all I've used has been one o-ring that I nerfed. Even still use the original windscreen. Didn't use the sparker after the first season - it sucks in really low temps. No asbestos pad since ages ago. In deep snow it was never as handy as the Svea with base plate ( I carried a scrap of playwood with the MSR, too) BUT it always boils water pronto.

Nowadays I use an original Peak I (steel tank) most of the time - at least, here in the MidWest. The MSR goes about 1/2 the time on more serious trips.

I have some affection for the Peak I, but my Svea will always be my "first love" in stoves. A real fond memory maker. <wipes tear away>

BTW, the only thing I ever found the Svea pot good for was making a small package of Jello - an every-other-day noon sub-ritual in the winter back in those days for me.

Tom