I have to agree with the good Dr. While I have a couple of 123's, an 8r,an 80, and a Whisperlite, I still tend to use the coleman 400 the most. I guess I have never found a stove that will both simmer and sizzle like the 400. Great for cooking loads of fish or just warming up the water for coffee. They're tough, hard to blow out if you forget the windscreen, and darn dependable. Why did coleman ever stop making them?
I'll throw my 2 cents in. Svea 123, non 'R', made in Sweden, is the best for backpacking, meaning put a pack together, hike in somewhere, and then camp. Reliability Only a few parts, only one that moves Easy to fix Easy to restore Parts are available either through sellers or parts stoves Won't rust It's light weight Burns efficiently Runs on white gas, but, in a pinch will run on unleaded Noisy burner keeps the bears away (not guaranteed, but I haven't seen a bear while running mine), silent burner caps are available if you don't want to make one Upset your friends when their gassie doesn't work in the winter time If you don't like one then get two(my camping buddy uses two and puts a grill on the both of them to cook fish) Fits perfectly in a Sigg Tourist no pump required, but can be had for the price of the stove compact, will fit in many cook pots or other kits don't lose their value even a kid can work one has its own windscreen, no need to carry an extra one, but an extra one helps sam p.s. I'll take the 2 cents back.
Like Doc, My first "backpack stove" was a Coleman as well. It was not a featherweight. Mine was a 508. Compared to the 425 that I grew up with it was much more "packable". I carried it from the Sierra Nevada's to the Mojave. Anyone want to guess what my "base weight" was back then?? My pack is much lighter since then. Wish I could say the same about myself. Funny how things change. Many here have said that they would trade weight for reliability. The same can be said about strength but as with all tings there are limits and bound that once you cross diminish the returns. All things in life and on the trail are a balance in calculated compromise. If I could take what I really wanted to it would take a mule team and chuck wagon to haul it all. Till I get it my way I'll be forced to pack light, eat lean and freeze at night. AR
I thought the Doc was going to say "whisperlite by all means but not the international" Since he didnt I will It was meant to be the more versatile stove but didnt really work quite to plan. To be reliable you have to run the same coleman fuel as the straight whisperlite but with the international you get to pay for a multifuel capability that isnt really there. There are heaps of good stoves out there There whisperlite is just one of them.
This is all great information! Thanks again for your wealth of knowledge! Who would of thought, a site dedicated to "Classic Camp Stoves". Makes me want to start collecting and using...
since the 123s are unobtainable commercially, could one simply remove the cleaning needle from a 123R to turn it into an 123?
Now that W.L.I. has been mentioned, does the famous shaker jet stove come with a cleaning needle for the infamous "K" jet? Got mine used and it only had the shaker for the white gas get. Wondered if this meant that it was designed to plug and fail. It is multi-fuel. You just have to be ready to do a triple prime when using kerosene and then brace yourself for severe fouling. One thing that I love about my NOVA is it will drink nearly anything without needing to change the jet. AR
And that, JS, is exactly how it starts, 1st the one you need for the weekend, then the one that runs on a different fuel, then the one that's nice n shiny for use where people can see you. Finally you spend your weekends going from yard sale to thrift shop to closing down sale and the like wearing sunglasses because you've cooked your eyeballs surfing e(vil)Bay. Welcome aboard.
I do own a lot of stoves, as i love them, but if you ask me the one is allways in my backack it is a Trangia 28 (also called Trangia mini) If you just add an alluminium foil homemade wind screen it is perfect KISS stove, and with the windscreen it is also fuel efficient. Without windsceen, well, forget it, it is useless, slow, thirsty. Just for solo giong, or teabrewing for two.
Man and I thought I was the only weird one! "I am an addict and need help" - finding more stoves that is
First stove I bought was the same Gerry mini stove (Hank Roberts model) in high school for deer hunting. I unloaded the pack mule and had coffee going before my brother got his coleman cannister boiling! It would also have been the last stove I bought if fuel was still available. So, now I mainly use a 123 (no R). A shiny polished used one with new rubber fittings cost me less on Ebay than a Chinese made new 123R. There are Gerry (Hank Roberts) cannisters on Ebay, I always wondered why they couldn't be refilled somehow with something like this... http://www.amazon.com/Lighter-Filli...ef=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1305892262&sr=8-8-spell
Hey Darto51, well, the other alternative for you to use the gerry stove is: 1. Buy a suitable length of high pressure fuel hose with the inside diameter size fitting as the extended orifice protruding from the gerry stove (one that goes into the canister) 2. two pieces of hose clamps such as the oetiker one ear clamps 3. fashion 2 brass wire rings around the extended orifice of the gerry stove spaced the width of the clamps and solder it. this will ensure that the hose will not slip the orifice once you clamp it. 4. find a used lindal valve canister connector that has a control knob similar to the primus gravity or eta packlite and connect it to the other end of the hose. Make sure clamps are secure and you can use the modern canisters on your gerry stove. Afte doing that, do a leak check turning the gerry stove knob to close, connect a canister of gas and open the valve, smell if there is any butane, get soapy water and apply it on both hose end connections and watch if there are any bubbles getting big. If non of those, then you can perhaps try lighting it OUTDOORS. Hope this gives you an idea. Ron
Here is a site that features many generic low priced stoves: http://plus2city.com/plus2store/category.php?id=13
Hi jsclarkk, some of these have been tested by our members, quality is not bad but their main fuel is butane/propane or white gas. They don't seem to work on kerosene/paraffin. But they sure are a much cheaper alternative if you don't prefer to use kero/para. Best regards, Wim
I think that I will most likely use my Coleman 400 Peak 1 for this trip. What is the best fuel container? I am interested in buying the Svea 123 for future trips. Can you tell me what the difference between the Svea 123 and the Svea 123R? Which should I buy?
Basically, the 123 needs a lose pricker to clean the jet wheras the 123R has a build-in one. Some prefer the 123 sans R, others prefer the 123R. But that is about all that differs. Best regards, Wim
The argument being the non-R simmers better than the self cleaning R model. I couldn't comment, I only have the non-R that works beautifully. There is ongoing interest in the 'best' pot set for the 123, currently the front runners seem to be the Gaz Globetrotter (a number of the lads and myself have one, fine option) and Primus(?) ETA pot set. Either will fit the stove neatly inside, generally padded with a sock/bag etc. A rightfully iconic stove.
Hey, RonPH, The extended orifice measures .095 inches which is about 3/32 (less than 1/8 inch). Oetiker clamps that small are cheap and easy find as is the pliers that fit them, but I'm having no luck locating online high pressure hose that small. The OD on hose is about 1/2 inch (13mm). ID is 1/8" (3mm). Actually its the fittings on the other end (not the Gerry end) that worries me. Once I fit a hose to the jerry stove (your method), that hose is probably wrong size to fit on the Lindle valve assembly end of the hose without some sort of plan how to adapt. Mabye I can figure out a plan...
