I took one to Iraq (GW1) no facilities, pre-internet, etc...The little SVEA happens to run well with aircraft fuel, which as a pilot I had plenty of... It was perfect to boil some water for a hot cup of coffee/cocoa and to heat up my MRE rations. Really held up well. I still have it and fires up without any problems. I added (back then) the pressure kit and that was a game changer. It cost me around $60 USD and that was money well spent. Thank you for your review.
There are only two stoves that I use and find worth owning. The Svea 123 and the Coleman 533. The Svea for light day backpacking fishing shore lunches and coffee and the 533 for car camping. I also use a 6" Lodge cast iron pan for the Svea and an 8" for the 533. Perfect for just me and my dog. On another note, I pack a 4 oz. can of Zippo lighter fluid which refills not only my Zippo's but also works great as a preheat squirt for the Svea. You can squirt the fuel into the dish without removing the wind screen and light it. And yes, remove the key from the base of the fuel assembly and attach it to the windscreen. Works so much better. Mahalo!
Aloha. Zippo lighter fluid and Coleman gas are both naptha. I use Coleman fuel in my Zippos. I like your squirter idea. I have not figured out how to reload the Zippo cans yet. They are intended to be disposable.
Excellent review. No extra faff or nonsense just straight to the point. Been wondering about getting a Svea or Coleman Sportster. You made my mind up. The Svea is a bit dearer but I like the simplicity. Thanks for making my mind up.
Great presentation, I've watched several of these videos on this stove and you are the first person to mention not using an additional wind screen and explained why. Great information to know! Thanks! ATB Sam Adler
Yep .. a Windscreen around the Stove, especially when using a large base pot is not a good option. However, one can be used up on the windward side of the stove as a 'break'. Still plenty open space to the rear into which the heat can safely escape.
That was a nice overview .. thanks. A great little stove and a Classic. I have it's Cousin .. the Optimus 8R Hunter .. same Burner Mechanism. Bought new 45+ years ago, still in regular use, as reliable as can be and has never needed a 'pump'. One thing if I may please .. I saw something on You Tube a while back regarding the built-in Jet Pricker. Apparently a Swedish Military Instructor .. they use the 123. Don't use the Jet Pricker when the Stove has been running for a while and is really hot. The Pricker Needle apparently can become 'welded' in the Jet, necessitating the Stove having to be sent away for repair and an intense Instructor / Conscript Interaction. Take care ..
If you move the key chain and fasten it to the windscreen instead of the valve, you will find it much easier to remove and place the windscreen while running. I use a wee piece of 1/4 copper plumbing pipe as a straw to lift fuel out of the tank to prime. Started with the fire paste, gave up on carrying extra weight. It was a great review. Cheers.
@Black Dawg Never had such a condition as you describe. 123R may fail to shut off, if the needle is not correctly adjusted (Remove the jet and needle, turn valve all the way to right, put back in the needle, and count 4 tooth skips as you turn the valve to the left, then turn all the way to the right, reinstall jet and the bell). When the tank is near empty, the pressure is probably highest inside, so the gas escapes through the tiniest imperfect seal the valve makes. If the tank is too full, very little air space exists, and does not generate enough pressure inside, so the flame output may become insufficient. Fill only to the lowest lip of the filler opening or less. And before each priming, open and close the filler cap, in order to equalize the pressure inside the tank. As the fuel is consumed, air space increases, causing negative pressure.
You can also prime it by covering the tank with both palms of the hand for about a minute or so (depending on outside temps), the heat from your hands warm the tank, increasing the pressure inside the tank. Keep your hands there until you see fuel ooz out & fil the tiny trench, then light the fuel. It’s more simple that it is to type these directions.
I'm also in the Pump Free Zone. I use a Evernew Appalachian ( Alcohol burner) set. It's light weigh ( Titanium ) at 5.7 ounces with no moving parts. It also can be a wood burning stove in a emergency.
I've gpt a Primus version of this stove that dates from (at least) 1955. The housing is quite different. It has a hinged lid, a drop-down front, the pot supports are 3 fixed vertical sheet metal sections, and there's no built-in cooking pot. Mine runs on white gas (naptha) and like yours, has no pump. The tank is smaller in diameter but deeper - overall height is about the same The filler cap is quite small, and the over-pressure valve not as prominent. I still use the stove today, and I was able to buy a few spare jets and "prickers" from Optimus/Primus/Svea in the early 1990's by writing to their Swedish office. I learned about Optimus and Primus stuff early on - my dad set up a wholesale business supplying outfitters, bush camps and the like all over the Canadian northwest after the war, and Optimus/Primus appliances were all very popular - and there was quite a variety of them. Probably the most popular "small" stove was the little 8R, but the work camps used the big Primus kerosene stoves quite a lot. Probably the most unusual item in their catalogue was a very large tripod mounted floodlight, with a big reflector housing about 18" in diameter. I've often wished I'd managed to glom onto that particular item before my dad retired and sold his company - I've never seen another like it, although I've had many other Optimus and Primus lamps and stoves. Thanks for this demo. If I ever get a decent camera, I'll do a video showing my "unrestored" Primus.
The weight issue. When that model came, was other gears heavy. Glass bottles for fluids and metal container to keep things dry. Now all gears are very light. No important matter how much stove weight is total weight. Gas stoves bottle weight is 60 % of its weight.
Thanks for the reply. I really like the concept of the self-pressurizing stoves. I easily become disinterested if there isn't a hint of danger. I'm just getting back in this sort of stuff after about 20 years. It's crazy what is available now for the cost. I would say, "Fine by me.", but apparently something happened while I was away. Keep up the good work!
The handle works but is less stable. I've had one of these (while Svea was a seperate company competing with Optimus and Primus) since about 1970. I wonder if anyone has experienced the pressure valve releasing. My guess is, if the Svea engineers had thought of it, it would release slowly with only a small fire. I've had Sigg fuel bottles catch fire and it's not dramatic, but of course they're not pressure vessels under normal use. I'm guessing the psi under operation isn't dangerous, but I'd like to hear from people who've experienced it.
I could hear your stove kinda pulsing as it was heating up. Mine does the same thing. Is that the way they always run? I swear I've seen some on RUclips that do not pulse. Anyone care to chime in.
Kelly Riverwalker Thomas Well Kelly, that’s a great point. I’m using “white gasoline”. Mine is Coleman brand purchased per gallon. I supply my Troop’s MSRs with the same fuel.
Not should , it will release....... I have had one where its opened, it does not go off like a pressure cooker, it just opens a tiny amount and lets the pressure off, in opening the valve the stove turns off anyway.
That is the Chinese made copy made for optimus in China. Not made in Sweden. The tank will say made in Sweden if it's a original. The new China made copy is just marked Sweden.
I don’t know. I am pretty sure it is a Taiwanese origin. Right now it’s out in my garage and in a storage container. If I get a chance to look in the next few weeks I will and I will let you know. I can’t say that it’s better than the Swedish one. That’s probably unlikely. However, since I don’t have the Swedish one I have no way of comparing. I was more interested in the novelty of a liquid fueled stove that did not require a pump and yet was pressurized. I know there are some alcohol stoves that behave similarly as there are also some paraffin stoves. But this one was unique and I was intrigued.
Thanks Dad! You forgot to mention why it is a SVEA 123R instead of just SVEA. It's because the SVEA 123R has an internal needle that cleans out the burner nozzle when it starts to get plugged. With the SVEA they used to include a pricker, a small piece of metal that looks like the handle for the cup, it's got a sharp needle type thing on the end of it that can easily prick your finer. You had to clean the nozzle manually by yourself when it plugged by sticking the pricker into the plugged nozzle of the stove. You failed to mention if a mini SVEA pump will work to pressurize it without having to burn fuel on the outside of the stove in the little cup indentation in the middle portion of the stove just to warm it up and pressurize the tank and thus the entire stove system. The answer is YES. With the mini pressurizing pump all you do is pump it up and start the stove up just exactly like we do in the real MODERN world where we use MODERN technology in our backpacking stoves. You didn't say anything about a SVEA 123R rebuild kit that would give you all sorts of seals and wicking and other parts needed internally to make that stove hum. it appears to me that you just bought an overpriced piece of Chinese reproduction of the SVEA 123R not one of the real stoves made in Sweden. You paid a lot of money for a backpacking stove implementing about 1910 technology. There are better white gas stoves out there that weigh a lot less and don't sound like jet engines when you fire them up. Please do a little research for the next video or before leading your impressionable scouts of troop 25 from Pelham, NH astray. Hope this helps you. Ha Ha Ha.
I've used Svea 123s, Trangias, MSR gas stoves, coke can alcohol stoves, Kelly kettles, butane and propane stoves, and esbit stoves over the past 60 years. I'm back to Svea/Optimus and Trangia types after all is said and done. Effective, cheap to operate, compact, and as safe as or safer than "modern" stoves. Not much at all to go wrong, ready to use in a few seconds.
No. This stove is not designed for ''Paraffin,'' which we call kerosene in the US. Coleman fuel or White Gas [really naptha] is the preferred fuel. Automotive gas [''petrol''] would work for a while but the many additives in it are toxic and also gum up the works. UK users can use ''Panel Wipe" and Aspen 4 as Coleman branded gas is expensive there.
@@pauleades9037 Lately Coleman fuel is $14 USD for a US Gallon [3.8L] while KleenStrip denatured alcohol [called ''meths'' in UK] is over $21 Bucks-and-change for the same sized tin can. Cheeper to run the Svea 123 than the Trangia.
I took one to Iraq (GW1) no facilities, pre-internet, etc...The little SVEA happens to run well with aircraft fuel, which as a pilot I had plenty of... It was perfect to boil some water for a hot cup of coffee/cocoa and to heat up my MRE rations. Really held up well. I still have it and fires up without any problems. I added (back then) the pressure kit and that was a game changer. It cost me around $60 USD and that was money well spent. Thank you for your review.
En mycket kortfattad och bra beskrivning. Tack...från Sverige ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
There are only two stoves that I use and find worth owning. The Svea 123 and the Coleman 533. The Svea for light day backpacking fishing shore lunches and coffee and the 533 for car camping. I also use a 6" Lodge cast iron pan for the Svea and an 8" for the 533. Perfect for just me and my dog. On another note, I pack a 4 oz. can of Zippo lighter fluid which refills not only my Zippo's but also works great as a preheat squirt for the Svea. You can squirt the fuel into the dish without removing the wind screen and light it. And yes, remove the key from the base of the fuel assembly and attach it to the windscreen. Works so much better. Mahalo!
Aloha. Zippo lighter fluid and Coleman gas are both naptha. I use Coleman fuel in my Zippos. I like your squirter idea. I have not figured out how to reload the Zippo cans yet. They are intended to be disposable.
Excellent review. No extra faff or nonsense just straight to the point. Been wondering about getting a Svea or Coleman Sportster. You made my mind up. The Svea is a bit dearer but I like the simplicity. Thanks for making my mind up.
Great presentation, I've watched several of these videos on this stove and you are the first person to mention not using an additional wind screen and explained why. Great information to know! Thanks! ATB Sam Adler
Yep .. a Windscreen around the Stove, especially when using a large base pot is not a good option.
However, one can be used up on the windward side of the stove as a 'break'. Still plenty open space to the rear into which the heat can safely escape.
That was a nice overview .. thanks.
A great little stove and a Classic. I have it's Cousin .. the Optimus 8R Hunter .. same Burner Mechanism. Bought new 45+ years ago, still in regular use, as reliable as can be and has never needed a 'pump'.
One thing if I may please ..
I saw something on You Tube a while back regarding the built-in Jet Pricker. Apparently a Swedish Military Instructor .. they use the 123. Don't use the Jet Pricker when the Stove has been running for a while and is really hot. The Pricker Needle apparently can become 'welded' in the Jet, necessitating the Stove having to be sent away for repair and an intense Instructor / Conscript Interaction.
Take care ..
Looks great, I am considering getting one so I've watched a few videos on them. Subscribed ☺
If you move the key chain and fasten it to the windscreen instead of the valve, you will find it much easier to remove and place the windscreen while running.
I use a wee piece of 1/4 copper plumbing pipe as a straw to lift fuel out of the tank to prime.
Started with the fire paste, gave up on carrying extra weight.
It was a great review.
Cheers.
You, sir, are an excellent presenter!
Bought mine 40 years ago, never let me down. Made some longer pan supports to hold a mess tin. Also needs a bit of pre heat paste in cold weather.
Gracias , muy buena presentación ..
Great video, explanation and operational breakdown. 👍
Lovely stove. I had to have more than one... Having just one just did not feel right. Make that 10. All made in Sweden.
@Black Dawg Never had such a condition as you describe. 123R may fail to shut off, if the needle is not correctly adjusted (Remove the jet and needle, turn valve all the way to right, put back in the needle, and count 4 tooth skips as you turn the valve to the left, then turn all the way to the right, reinstall jet and the bell).
When the tank is near empty, the pressure is probably highest inside, so the gas escapes through the tiniest imperfect seal the valve makes. If the tank is too full, very little air space exists, and does not generate enough pressure inside, so the flame output may become insufficient. Fill only to the lowest lip of the filler opening or less. And before each priming, open and close the filler cap, in order to equalize the pressure inside the tank. As the fuel is consumed, air space increases, causing negative pressure.
Thanks for the lesson!
Thanks for the guide my friend.
You can also prime it by covering the tank with both palms of the hand for about a minute or so (depending on outside temps), the heat from your hands warm the tank, increasing the pressure inside the tank. Keep your hands there until you see fuel ooz out & fil the tiny trench, then light the fuel. It’s more simple that it is to type these directions.
In winter you can put it under your clothes to get body heat.
The bottom is concave hold a liter
I'm also in the Pump Free Zone. I use a Evernew Appalachian ( Alcohol burner) set. It's light weigh ( Titanium ) at 5.7 ounces with no moving parts. It also can be a wood burning stove in a emergency.
I've gpt a Primus version of this stove that dates from (at least) 1955. The housing is quite different. It has a hinged lid, a drop-down front, the pot supports are 3 fixed vertical sheet metal sections, and there's no built-in cooking pot. Mine runs on white gas (naptha) and like yours, has no pump. The tank is smaller in diameter but deeper - overall height is about the same The filler cap is quite small, and the over-pressure valve not as prominent. I still use the stove today, and I was able to buy a few spare jets and "prickers" from Optimus/Primus/Svea in the early 1990's by writing to their Swedish office. I learned about Optimus and Primus stuff early on - my dad set up a wholesale business supplying outfitters, bush camps and the like all over the Canadian northwest after the war, and Optimus/Primus appliances were all very popular - and there was quite a variety of them. Probably the most popular "small" stove was the little 8R, but the work camps used the big Primus kerosene stoves quite a lot. Probably the most unusual item in their catalogue was a very large tripod mounted floodlight, with a big reflector housing about 18" in diameter. I've often wished I'd managed to glom onto that particular item before my dad retired and sold his company - I've never seen another like it, although I've had many other Optimus and Primus lamps and stoves. Thanks for this demo. If I ever get a decent camera, I'll do a video showing my "unrestored" Primus.
Flying Beaver I just saw one of those lamps from Colemans Surplus but it was about $500 I think
The weight issue. When that model came, was other gears heavy. Glass bottles for fluids and metal container to keep things dry. Now all gears are very light. No important matter how much stove weight is total weight. Gas stoves bottle weight is 60 % of its weight.
Thank u
Great video. I do wonder if the handle for the cup is designed to go in the top instead of the bottom.
Mason Dawson, thanks. The handle only works from the bottom. It’s convenient enough and beats carrying a pot lifter.
Thanks for the reply. I really like the concept of the self-pressurizing stoves. I easily become disinterested if there isn't a hint of danger. I'm just getting back in this sort of stuff after about 20 years. It's crazy what is available now for the cost. I would say, "Fine by me.", but apparently something happened while I was away. Keep up the good work!
The handle works but is less stable. I've had one of these (while Svea was a seperate company competing with Optimus and Primus) since about 1970. I wonder if anyone has experienced the pressure valve releasing. My guess is, if the Svea engineers had thought of it, it would release slowly with only a small fire. I've had Sigg fuel bottles catch fire and it's not dramatic, but of course they're not pressure vessels under normal use. I'm guessing the psi under operation isn't dangerous, but I'd like to hear from people who've experienced it.
I could hear your stove kinda pulsing as it was heating up.
Mine does the same thing.
Is that the way they always run?
I swear I've seen some on RUclips that do not pulse.
Anyone care to chime in.
detroit hiker yep normal for it to pulse until up to temp
It’s normal , mine happens cheers
My Optimus R8 and British Army Mk2 stoves both pulse and are both great stoves!
Well. You never mentioned what fuel to use. I think that would be important.
Kelly Riverwalker Thomas Well Kelly, that’s a great point. I’m using “white gasoline”. Mine is Coleman brand purchased per gallon. I supply my Troop’s MSRs with the same fuel.
The handle goes in the top of the slot
Not should , it will release.......
I have had one where its opened, it does not go off like a pressure cooker, it just opens a tiny amount and lets the pressure off, in opening the valve the stove turns off anyway.
Do these ever blow up?
That is the Chinese made copy made for optimus in China. Not made in Sweden. The tank will say made in Sweden if it's a original. The new China made copy is just marked Sweden.
I have two Sveas, one made in Sweden and the other in China. Both work great. Thanks for the video -- great explanation of how it works. Happy hiking!
Is this the sweedish one or Taiwan one , want to buy one and not sure if the Taiwan model is just as good as Swedish
I don’t know. I am pretty sure it is a Taiwanese origin. Right now it’s out in my garage and in a storage container. If I get a chance to look in the next few weeks I will and I will let you know. I can’t say that it’s better than the Swedish one. That’s probably unlikely. However, since I don’t have the Swedish one I have no way of comparing. I was more interested in the novelty of a liquid fueled stove that did not require a pump and yet was pressurized. I know there are some alcohol stoves that behave similarly as there are also some paraffin stoves. But this one was unique and I was intrigued.
also side note don't boil yellow snow
Hello, I have a save stove. I cleaned the nozzle. There was a problem with a valve that cannot be closed
Thanks Dad! You forgot to mention why it is a SVEA 123R instead of just SVEA. It's because the SVEA 123R has an internal needle that cleans out the burner nozzle when it starts to get plugged. With the SVEA they used to include a pricker, a small piece of metal that looks like the handle for the cup, it's got a sharp needle type thing on the end of it that can easily prick your finer. You had to clean the nozzle manually by yourself when it plugged by sticking the pricker into the plugged nozzle of the stove.
You failed to mention if a mini SVEA pump will work to pressurize it without having to burn fuel on the outside of the stove in the little cup indentation in the middle portion of the stove just to warm it up and pressurize the tank and thus the entire stove system. The answer is YES. With the mini pressurizing pump all you do is pump it up and start the stove up just exactly like we do in the real MODERN world where we use MODERN technology in our backpacking stoves.
You didn't say anything about a SVEA 123R rebuild kit that would give you all sorts of seals and wicking and other parts needed internally to make that stove hum.
it appears to me that you just bought an overpriced piece of Chinese reproduction of the SVEA 123R not one of the real stoves made in Sweden. You paid a lot of money for a backpacking stove implementing about 1910 technology. There are better white gas stoves out there that weigh a lot less and don't sound like jet engines when you fire them up. Please do a little research for the next video or before leading your impressionable scouts of troop 25 from Pelham, NH astray.
Hope this helps you. Ha Ha Ha.
Entertaining. Not sure I would buy one though looks too precarious. Modern stoves are saver I would think.
I've used Svea 123s, Trangias, MSR gas stoves, coke can alcohol stoves, Kelly kettles, butane and propane stoves, and esbit stoves over the past 60 years.
I'm back to Svea/Optimus and Trangia types after all is said and done. Effective, cheap to operate, compact, and as safe as or safer than "modern" stoves. Not much at all to go wrong, ready to use in a few seconds.
Safer? Not necessarily.
Can you use unleaded petrol or paraffin in these
No. This stove is not designed for ''Paraffin,'' which we call kerosene in the US. Coleman fuel or White Gas [really naptha] is the preferred fuel. Automotive gas [''petrol''] would work for a while but the many additives in it are toxic and also gum up the works. UK users can use ''Panel Wipe" and Aspen 4 as Coleman branded gas is expensive there.
HootOwl513 thank you 👍
@@HootOwl513I'm from the UK and use Aspen 4 naptha in mine.
@@pauleades9037 Lately Coleman fuel is $14 USD for a US Gallon [3.8L] while KleenStrip denatured alcohol [called ''meths'' in UK] is over $21 Bucks-and-change for the same sized tin can. Cheeper to run the Svea 123 than the Trangia.
@@HootOwl513 I use meths in the warming pan to get it started as it's cleaner than gas.
상향식 저소음연소캡잇써요
Unek partes
Expensive for what it is
Not if it's been used for 45+ years.