Thanks to all the posts in this forum! Just signed up to say that I have resurrected my 50-year-old Svea 123. I bought it in 1972 for $10 or $12 US. I don't remember exactly how much but at the time that was a lot of money for me! For those who have not tried rebuilding their Svea yet it is really straightforward took me about an hour Including a thorough soaking of parts in carburetor cleaner. When I fired it up the first time and it started chugging away, my wife stuck her head out the back door and asked " is dinner almost ready"??
That’s awesome! Welcome to the forum. I’m mildly addicted to the Svea 123. I’ve accumulated about 6 or 7 of them over the past few years in various conditions and have brought all back to operating condition. Just used one about an hour ago to make a cup of tea! Enjoy your resurrected stove.
Congratulations! Now you and your descendants can enjoy it for another half-century. I also got my first Svea in the early ‘70s after reading “The Complete Walker” by Colin Fletcher. I must not have truly appreciated it back then because I foolishly replaced it with a Coleman Peak 1, followed by several MSRs. Now I’ve got three 123s and really enjoy restoring and using them.
We both were inspired by the same book, and if you were living in Northern Va back then, you probably got the Svea at Appalachian Outfitters in Vienna VA??
Actually I was living outside Seattle back then, bought my first Svea at REI. Before that I was using a Sterno stove… I remember shopping at Appalachian Outfitters when my career brought me to NOVA in the ‘80s. It was a nice little store. It’s hard to find “mountain shops” like that anymore, especially around here.
So great! I used to work at "AO" while in high school (from 1974-1979) Made lots of good friends and learned so much about paddling, climbing, backpacking ect... I'm restoring my stoves from that era. Awesome place and a different time. Its been great to experience the Classiccampstoves site I'm happy to be a member. Wish I had bought more stuff and squirreled away but that's ok. I sold a ton of SVEA 123, Optimus 8R's and MSR stuff and my gear still works!
