Used this little stove since about 1971, and now on my second one (the first was loaned out and never returned!) I've used it on month long trips when it was my only stove, as well as a week at minus 30 degrees. It does work fine in very cold weather, but you need to keep it warm until it gets itself warm, ie, on a pad. I had a pump for a while, but found it not worth it. You can prime it easily by filling the little base with fuel (carry a dropper), or less seldom by heating the bottom with a match, candle, etc. Or, if you are in no rush, the old warm it with hands until the fuel comes out to fill the primer. Opening the filler to equalize the pressure makes priming it much easier by the latter methods. Its lousy in the wind, but is a stove I feel very comfortable using in my tent, which I usually do. The cook set that you could get once, with an aluminum base, wind shield, and pots, works fine. Stability, without the cook kit, is an issue, but you learn to be careful. In summary, it is a wonderful piece of equipment that I really really trust in spite of all its little "tricks."

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I also have Coleman Peak stoves, and MSR Whisperlite, and while they work, they do break down, leak fuel, etc, and just lack the simplicity and reliability of the SVEA. I would never trust my trip to anything but the SVEA.

This has become the classic piece of equipment in my pack. I've had a 123 since '74, I'm pretty generous with my equipment in terms of lending it out to others. So a true testimony to this little stove is that it is the only piece of equipment that I have lent out quite often and have gotten back in working condition. I don't do any maintenance other than poking a wire in the jet. I did have some fun trying to replace the wick after some friends took it to Lake Michigan (or should I say into Lake Michigan) Oh, and a little Brasso makes you even more attached to it. I still have trouble simmering but I have found that using denatured alchohol in a visine bottle works well and doesn't soot up as bad.

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Never needed it. It still works after 25 years.

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MSR Whisperlite. I bought it when it first came out. I've had to replace the fuel feed tube twice. When it works, it works well.