<<...my old 1971 Svea...>> No kidding! That's when I bought my Svea. Lots of great memories there... Mine has been re-wicked and other misc parts replaced over the years. Converted the fuel cap with an Optimus + pump a long time ago to make self-priming in cold weather easier.<br><br>"Alpaca" sounds familiar, but I'm pretty sure I've not seen the stove - do they also make heaters? The stoves I've used have a wick inside an "inverted can" with holes on the sides and generally burn with blue flames at the holes. (The oldest one I had used a circular wick of asbestos - a two burner rig)<br><br>Somewhere in the "archives" (attic) is an old heater/stove we used as a (canvas) tent space heater when I was a kid. Dad was concerned about CO, flare ups, spills, etc. and sought this out as the fuel is alcohol. It's a round can of maybe 3 gallon bulk with a tank full of batting in the bottom, a wick (think giant zippo), flame spreader, aluminum "lid" to difuse the heat (pierced with lots of 1/2" - 3/4" holes), and a crude means of removing the lid and using as a stove. Refueling was an exercise done far from the tent and with LOTS of waiting to make CERTAIN that any pesky "invisible" alcohol spills had totally evaporated. Seemed like quite the gadget at the time... modern counterpart would be a catalytic heater, I suppose.<br><br>Time to hit the door - maybe more later.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom

If you buy food you like and normally eat, then you simply rotate the goods everytime you shop. Planning on canned chili for a quick meal? Buy a can and put it on the shelf and pull the one you bought a few months ago for dinner. <br><br>Now you really don't have to worry about shelf life.

Yup.. mine was re-wicked a long time ago, new flame spreader and seals, and I think it's on it's third jet. Last time I had someone else work on it he was dubious about finding some parts the next time.. apparently the later models had self-cleaning jets, and some of the parts changed. I still have the little steel folding cleaning needle that came with it.<br><br>I also have an Optimus that's the same basic unit with a larger tank inside a painted metal box instead of the brass windscreen.<br><br>>>Converted the fuel cap with an Optimus + pump a long time ago to make self-priming in cold weather easier.<<<br><br>Nah. Real men just squeeze the tank.. seriously, I never had much problem with the priming, so long as I released the vacuum in the tank after it cooled. Even if I forgot, it only took 20 seconds or so to do it with hand heat in the cold, or a Bic when it's warmer. It looked to me like that pump was bound to be a hassle with the windscreen, but maybe not. The old way you only had to remove the windscreen for filling.<br><br>I have an MSR Whisperlite that I use mostly these days, but I used the Svea last summer to melt some lead for casting balls. Still puts out an awful lot of heat for it's weight.. of course, the roar has scared newbies witless at times... it is noisy. And a high center of gravity, with a pot on top.<br><br>The Alpaca is very much like a scaled-down space heater. About a foot tall, it has the tubular wick and an elaborate combustion chamber just like a heater, but with a pot rack on top. I haven't seen heaters by them, but I'd sort of be surprised if they didn' t make them. It's NOT really suited for camping, I wouldn't think- too bulky. The Whisperlite is the multi-fuel model with a kerosene jet if I ever need to use it that way. <br><br>The Alpaca fit in well with my setup, as I decided against an emergency generator and went with kerosene instead- space heaters, stoves, Aladdin lamps, lanterns. Redundant and overlapping systems- there are fireplaces, and a wood stove with a removable internal pot rack and a Peltier-junction fan as well. Candle lanterns and a gross of candles as another backup, but mostly to have something to give to help the neighbors... not much light there, but no learning curve.<br><br>I see that Kirkman is selling a Peltier junction that powers a radio from the waste heat of a kerosene lantern. Why not?

Yeah, mine's had about the same amount of replacement parts, near as I can remember. Put quite a few gallons of fuel thru that. Almost certain that I bought mine from EMS. Ever forget to remove the key when it was running? I think that might have been the REAL reason I started carrying needle nose pliers back then, LoL. It's still one of the easiest stoves to pack and as long as you don't let the tank run dry (ahem - that's why I had to replace the wick) they're darned reliable. Same guts as the 8r or 10r, I think - the box stoves. For reasons beyond my understanding, I have seen many of the Optimus box stoves leak, flare, and pop the pressure relief - too exciting for me. Almost every person I knew who used one from ~ early 70s to mid 80s - had that happen at least once. Some fixed/replaced, some went to other stoves. I'm sure I personally saw more than 6 of the Optimus go up in flames. Wierd.<br><br>Yes, the windscreen has to be removed to use the pump - but it was well worth it. I needed that in the Arctic. It's not a great extreme cold weather stove, but I made do with it a long time. I had (have) a little disk of 1/8" plywood with three tiny round-head screws arranged so that I could "snap" the rim of the tank onto the disk pretty securely and then put the stove on a scrap of ensolite. When the snow is 60 feet deep... it's bad for the stove to core down - spills the soup <grin>. And lordy, the wind could test my patience. I fiddled with various wind shielding arrangements including in-situ materials (snow, rocks, whatever), and never did totally whip that. I'm hoping some of the GREAT memories that stove brings back are imbued in it as I pass it to one of my sons - and hope he creates his own good memories with it.<br><br>Next "serious" stove was an MSR XGK - I think they had just come out with the XGK, and it hurt me to pay that much for a stove (they are actually cheaper now than they were then, plus the dollar is worth a lot less - practically give them away now). There's a stove that makes a racket! As I'm sure you know, they're far more complex mechanically than the simple Svea, but I have never had a lick of trouble with it. What a rocket ship! If the object is to boil water, that's the stove. And that foil windscreen really works great. The drawback, similar to the Svea, but writ large, is that those primus-type roarer burners have almost no "throttle" - it's off or it's running at "melt the pot" speed. Difficult to cook with, but a great way to boil water. Very awkward stove to pack. I sewed up little canvas pouches (I had the canvas and sometimes needed to pack the stove up FAST - ie, still a bit hot), complete with what folks now call ALICE clips, and usually rigged the pounchs on the exterior of whatever pack I was using. Still use that stove, of course, and still carry the rebuild parts with it, although all I've ever replaced was a few o-rings (that was on spec, not because there was a problem).<br><br>One of the stoves that overlapped those two was - don't laugh - a Coleman Sportster (didn't call them that then). You know - Coleman type burner on top of a single mantle lantern body. I rarely carried that "on my back" - in a pulk, stowed in an over-snow vehicle (if I had one to use), in my canoe, etc. It was a good little stove - I saw LOTS of those in use by far north native Americans. Someone stole it... never did replace it. In really cold weather (way sub-zero) I would usually have to remove the pump plunger, flex the leather cup out, and put it back together before I could pump it up for a cold start. I think synthetic oil would solve that problem, but it didn't occur to me at the time. Cooked a lot of real food on that rascal.<br><br>(I'm sticking to talking about stoves that worked well for me, BTW - skip the "failures") <br><br>Most frequently used stove for quite some time is my now-ancient Coleman Peak I - really should replace it with the newer version that has an alloy tank instead of the all-steel model I have. It does everything I want in a packable stove and stows almost as easily as the Svea - I sorta consider it my "current" Svea stove. It has never given me any protest and I'm getting tired of keeping spare parts in my repair kit, because it's chugging along good as new with all the orginal parts (I did replace the fuel filler cap with a tethered cap for fear of losing the cap some frigid place and time). Compression nut leaked a few drops once after the stove rattled around in the back of my truck for 3,600 + miles - didn't catch on fire, I shut it down, and tightened the nut a tic with my pliers and that was years ago - no problems since.<br><br>I used a Peak I duel-fuel (multi-fuel?) in Africa for quite some time because I knew I couldn't get white gas (or even mogas where I was). After I ran thru some local kero I bought before I left "civilization", I burned JP5 in it - it was a "single fuel theater", so we used JP5 for everything. Real PITA and the outside of the stove was forever slick and "stinky" with kero or JP5 - nasty. Stove burned great after it preheated. Preheating with JP5 or kero looks like an oil refinery fire... I gave the stove away after a few months and used other methods of heating stuff up. I probably would have kept the stove if I'd had white gas to use in it, but I hated it by the time I gave it to someone. Just as well - the fat little tank didn't stow as nicely as the sleeker old Peak I of mine.<br><br>BTW, I found Blazo noticably superior to Coleman fuel in extreme cold. Hard to find Blazo around here though, unless I want to order a 55 gallon drum of it. When I was a kid there was a gas station here (probably more than one) that had a pump for... white gas. Dad never bought Coleman fuel until they went out of business...<br><br>Of course, we have a couple of big green boxes for non-backpacking campouts and other reasons. A "large" two burner with a propane converter and hose stashed inside so we can run it off white gas or disposable tank propane or bulk tank. Also a 3 burner propane-only one (we sometimes cook for more than just us on family rendezvous, and the family is getting large). Kid picked up a brand new "classic" two burner off the neighbor's curb a while back - they never even fired it up. Bought it and a really nice lantern intending to go "camping", never camped, used the lantern once during an extended power outage, and then "spring-cleaned" it to the curb. He'll take those with him when he leaves home, I'm sure. Hard to beat those big green boxes in a base camp.<br><br>New stove buyers have a bewildering array of really decent stoves to choose from at very attractive prices now. Buyer's market, I think. Whisperlite is a really nice one - couple of aquaintances have them.<br><br>I saw pics of that W.T. Kirkman gadget, too. Nifty. The cold side radiators make it seem a little bulky, but hey, it's using waste heat to deliver 2 1/4 watts DC - not bad.<br><br>Too long a post already - I'll quit here before Chris banishes me to the Campfire Forum forever...<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom

Just my 2 cents, but I didn't see a lot of people recommending fire extinguishers. In a situation like these, the fire department will be stretched so thin, your house's (or what's left of it) ashes will be cold before they show up. I keep a large fire extinguisher on every floor of my house - one in my bedroom, one in the kitchen, and one in the basement, with two more out in the garage. There's no such thing as 'too many'. You may end up being your only 'fire department' (And after an earthquake, water may not be flowing). I've also heard a few people recommend buckets of sand (or even soil dug from your yard), kept inside the house, to be thrown on a fire if need be. I guess some old blankets would work too.<br>Another thing - I was walking through the local Home Depot the other day, and noticed they now carry an 'explosive gas' detector. It detects natural gas and propane. I thought it was a good idea to have one. My house (boiler, fireplace, range, dryer, etc.) is almost all gas. It was $60 bucks, but it'll help me sleep. (A guy I work with gave me a nice idea - chain a old wrench near your gas shut-off valve. This isn't the time to go searching for a wrench).<br>I keep two 23,000 BTU kerosene heaters (stored in the basement), with the kerosene (in 5 gallon containers) out in the garage (also bought at Home Depot, on sale for $89 bucks each). I think they'll help if it gets too cold. I want to get more.<br>I, too, keep a fair supply of 'civilian MRE's' on hand (Campbell soup, Chef Boyardee 'whatever', various canned fruits and veggies, canned tuna & chicken, etc. Anything that has a decent shelf-life. You could even heat them on the kerosene heaters if you needed to, though some of them taste good cold). I also have some 'comfort' foods - hard candy, chocolate bars, hot cocoa drink mix, etc. - I even have some stuffed animals to hand out to the kiddies to help keep them calm. <br>I have two 55-gallon plastic barrels with water in the basement. I got them from a local soda-pop manufacturer. It's how syrup is shipped to their business. I asked if they would sell them to me, and the guy said "we just throw them away, take as many as you like." I just rinsed them out with hot water and a little bleach, and filled them with water. <br>That covers the food going in, but what about when it wants to come back out? If your toilet isn't functional (and your yard is somewhat private), you can make an impromptu latrine with a post-hole digger. Leave the dirt by the side of the hole, and throw some back in after you use it. When it's full, just dig another one a few feet away. I even keep an old shower curtain as a 'privacy tent'. I use a piece of 1/2 inch EMT electrical tubing, bent into a square and hang the shower curtain from it. I've never actually used it, but I guess when you 'need to go', it'll work just fine. Don't forget toilet paper! You may have to give some to neighbors if they run out. <br>If you have babies - diapers, formula, etc. After an emergency, these things will be hard to find. Think about everything you use in your 'normal' life, and try to keep some on hand - just in case.<br>Sorry for talking so long, I guess it's the scout in me that likes to be prepared. <br>

You're electrical question is easy- lick two fingers... Seriously, you can get a good multimeter for about 40 bucks. If you or someone who might need your kit doesn't know how to use one, you can get a little plug tester. It's mostly used to check wiring, but it will tell you if you have current and if you have too much, while warning you if you have a bad ground.<br><br>With your canned soups and veggies, don't forget the instant rice if you can cook. You might not think about it, but the rice will give you extra food, if you use the cooking water of the canned goods, and you won't loose any value from veggie water. Add it to any kind of soup or gravy (water it down some), and you're in business. I know that instant chicken gravy and rice doesn't sound like much, but it might be better than nothing.<br><br>And forget about containing cooking smells in an apartment building, unless the septic goes. That is the only smell that can cover food smells.

Irrr..... If there is a short, it might not be grounded. You touch, you become the ground. ZAAP!<br><br>If you have a doubt, don't trust anything electrical. Why do you think I don't trust computers further than I can throw them? (PDAs don't count- they can be skipped on water. )<br><br>If a breaker goes, it may have been from a surge outside or inside. Check everything, and if you can't find anything that looks likes signs of a problem (melty spots on casings, scorching, the smell of o-zone), reset it. If it throws again, you've still got a problem. <br><br>But then again, my electrical knowledge is all from electronics, little stuff.

I agree with you on the fire extinguishers. I did mention them, but it was just in passing, with the battery-powered smoke/CO detectors.<br><br>I've got you beat on the water- 4 55-gallon drums, 2 15-gallon drums (with nice handles that are a sick joke, at that weight), and 3 5-gallon bottles, not counting the contents of the water heater. Ok, I’m paranoid. That goes without saying. I’m HERE, aren’t I? :-)<br><br>As for sanitation, if you’re even more paranoid than I am, you might consider a check or gate valve on the sewer line from the house, if you’re not on a septic system. If the sewage treatment plants ever fail, I can’t think of anything that would ruin your preparations and force you to become a refugee faster than sewage backing into the house. Unfortunately, check valves tend to be iffy, you probably won’t know until too late if it ever closes, and gate valves require forewarning and a conscious decision to close. From experience with local governments, I consider forewarning unlikely.<br><br>For primitive sanitation, may I recommend that you check out “The Humanure Handbook”, subtitled “A Guide to Composting Human Manure, Emphasizing Minimum Technology and Maximum Hygienic Safety”, by J.C. Jenkins? I found it a very entertaining, even fascinating read, and unless the guy is just lying about his results, it would seem to be a breakthrough in primitive sanitation.<br><br>All that having been said, I’m a bit cynical on the issue. By the time sanitation becomes a serious problem, I suspect that FEMA and/or the National Guard will impose “forced evacuations” (for our own good, of course). They won’t care how well we've prepared or what we have to lose, and they won’t take “no” for an answer- forcing us to become refugees and separating us from 95 percent of our resources anyway.<br>

OK, so barring electricity (may not be turned back on yet) and gas (possible gas leaks) how do I warm up food in my apartment?

Skunk, Go to a Smart and Final outlet and buy a supply of Sterno fuel. It is nontoxic and each small can burns 45 minutes.