Hey Aloha,

Nice family camping pictures, makes me look forward to spring as we still have 3 feet of snow on the ground here!

I bought a couple of Svea 123 stoves off e-Bay about a year ago. There is considerable collector interest in them but you can get a decent one for around $50.00. New ones are available from e-Bay retailers for about $100.00 but I think they are now made in Asia intead of Sweden. There are a couple of companies selling them on the internet like The Great Outdoors Depot. and A and H Enterprises .

Some reviews from "The Backpacker" can be found here .

I did a post last summer about Svea stoves that generated some comment from out ETS group, it can be found here .

I have both the Svea 123 stove and the Optimus Hunter 8R, both are of a similar design, but the Hunter has the burner off the tank in a horizontal manner and it fits in a compact metal case. I also did a brief write-up on using the Hunter 8R found here .

I prefer the Svea 123 to the 8R design, as I find the tank heats up better therefore generating more pressure and a hotter flame.

Svea 123's came in a few versions but the biggest difference was that the Svea 123R's had a built-in cleaning needle that is handy. I have both a 123 and a 123R, I find the original 123 has better simmer adjustment but both versions work well.

When you light this type of stove it usually "freaks-out" the people around you as flame surrounds the outside of the tank to heat it up and generate pressure. After you use it for a while it becomes easy to do.

I recommend one of these old design stoves and I keep one in my work truck to heat my bush meals with. It is not as easy to use as a modern cannister or propane stove, but cheaper to operate and fun to play with.

Mike