I found an old stove I had pretty much forgotten about down in the basement. A Coleman Peak One model 400-499. White gas model. It has to be 20 to 25 years old at least. I've only used it a few times, very short duration, over the years. It still has the same original tank-full of white gas in it.

This stove is way too big and heavy for modern backpacking, but I wanted to see if it would fire up. With that same fuel that had been in it for those 20-25 years! (Oops - forgot to drain it I guess.)

That sucker fired right up instantly. Settled down in 30 seconds or so. Beautiful well-regulared blue flame. The adjustability was fantastic. You could go from almost non-existant flame to a roaring monster flame, all with beautiful blue color. With very precise control.

Gotta say, I was impressed! So I oiled up the leather seal in the pump, and the O-ring in the filler cap. We'll see how it does in another 25 years! Report to follow ... (for those of us still living on that date).

the gang over at Classic Camp Stoves post these "it works it works!!" stories every month or so.Coleman stoves,the two burner suit case models,left in the basement by Granddad are found and fire right up.white gas Optimus stoves like the 123 or 71 also get good marks for lighting and running after years of neglect.
thats something to think about when you choose a stove to put away in a home or car kit.
Coleman fuel itself also is said to last "forever" even in stove tanks and forever plus if still in the can.

If I had to pick one stove the Svea123 wins.
Stove 18oz.
1 qt of fuel= 2weeks normal burn.

The Svea is a pretty good choice - the basic model was developed and marketed for the first time in the 1890s, I believe. I think I would go with the Trangia, at least for conditions other than severe cold - much lighter (3 oz) and simple to operate for basic cooking and heating.

I had one of those Coleman Peak One 400's back in the late '70's. It was our backpacking stove. The wife loved to cook gourmet meals, at home and in the woods.

The stove had the best adjustment to the flame, burned quiet and wsa reliable. The only problem I had with it was the weight, it was a beast.

I made the mistake of selling that one off and buying the later model 550. The 550 is not nearly as good as the 400 was. I would love to find another 400 I could afford:)

You can use it to melt some 64 year old lard...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/01/64-year-old-tub-of-lard-found-in-germany-still-edible/

I considered Trangia, they do work, just not very well when measured
against a simple self-pressurized stove.

My MIL has a circa 1900 Svea stove her grandfather used for "touring". REALLY cool. I hope to inherit it one day.

Only issue with white gas (I have many many old Colemans) is/ will become availabiity. Like all the other "junk" produced today that is disposable, people are buying propane fired stoves instead (many paper thiin cheap and chinsy). FYI, you can get a converter kit for you suitcase white gas Coleman to run on propane for $15 at most camping stores.

Ironwood

My first camping stove was/is a Coleman 502 which was called a camping/backpacking stove, but compared to recent lightweight stoves, the 502 is heavy. Heavy but pretty much bullet proof. I've had mine for 30 years and it still works too.

I highly doubt that white gas AKA Coleman fuel is going to disappear from from the wholesale and retail markets anytime soon as millions of litres are still sold worldwide every year and the expected shelf life is very good.

On Coleman's website, it states:

An un-opened container of Coleman® Fuel stored in a dry area with no rapid extreme changes in temperature will remain viable for five to seven years. An opened container stored in the same area will remain viable for up to two years though will be at its best if used within a year.

Given that, as Canoedogs mentioned, there have been posts on other forums where people (like I did recently) have purchased old stoves and the gas in these stoves is probably 10-20 years old and still lights up fine.