Billy can/svea 123 stove

L

Loosearrow

Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
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I was reading over at the Woodsmonkey forum the other day and I read about the stainless coffee cannister for the kitchen used as a billy can. I thought I would check at Target to see if they still carried them. As I looked at the can I thought that, if lucky, my svea 123 stove might just fit. I like the stove and it only comes with a cup for a top. The stove was snug going in. The fit was perfect, although the stove got stuck in it till I figured out that if I just lightly squeezed the lip of the cannister, just enough room allowed the cup and stove to slip out. Makes for a nice cook kit for about 6.00. Thought I would share the info. I will later attach a bail to the cannister. Since the bottom of the cannister is rounded, you have to be careful how you set it on the stove. You could suspend the pot from a stick. Regards
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Very cool. What section of Target did you get this can at? Was it in their food area or kitchen utensils area?
 
Grapevine said:
Very cool. What section of Target did you get this can at? Was it in their food area or kitchen utensils area?
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Kitchen utensil area. They have one for sugar and flower as well. I thought my coleman 1 burner white gas stove might fit in the larger one, but it didn't. I should be able to polish the coffee lettering off of it. I was pretty excited when it worked as well as it did. A little tippy though. You could extend the wire pot stand on the stove (three L folded arms) with some copper or brass tube sleeves to make them longer when you turn them toward the center. I bought two cannisters since I have two svea stoves. Can't pass one up if you can get it for ten dollars at a flea market. It looks like one of the stoves was flipped upside down and fuel was poured in the deep bowl base and lit to pressurize. I usually just put fuel around the groove below the burner in the upright position. Flipping it over might be a good idea if you needed to heat it up longer. I don't know if they have soder around the lip but it didn't seem to slow the previous owner down any.
 
This is a cool invention!

I've been using 123 for 20 years.
Love to see yours wearing nice patina and polished well :)
 
fujita yuji said:
This is a cool invention!

I've been using 123 for 20 years.
Love to see yours wearing nice patina and polished well :)
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It is a great piece of kit. Few parts, one hundred year old invention still going strong. Just down to earth great stuff. Classic.
 
Nice set up! I picked up one of the Maxpedition 12x5 bottle holders and it fits the Svea stove (at the very bottom) with a Nalgene bottle and nested cup on top; works for a nice little set up as well!

ROCk6
 
Thanks for the great find! I picked one up today at Target, going to figure out a good way to put the bail on. I love nesting pots, this one fits perfectly, can boil much more water with the SVEA. Good stuff!
 
I would order a new part, but I can pick up a used working one on ebay for 20 bucks
 
nc527 said:
My svea has a stuck valve, rendering it useless.
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Since it is usless as you say, I wonder if you can air it out, put a torch to the valve area then try and turn the valve with the key. It may be laquered up. The heat may loosen things up by expansion. Not much to loose.
 
sodak said:
Thanks for the great find! I picked one up today at Target, going to figure out a good way to put the bail on. I love nesting pots, this one fits perfectly, can boil much more water with the SVEA. Good stuff!
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So glad the information was helpful to you. I was thinking about the same thing. I imagined two very small holes just below the lip on each side. Fashion a wire bail out of some braided picture hanger wire with a fish hook at each end with the barb cut off. That way, you can coil it up in the bottom of the can. An easy on and off affair. The lid could be folded upside down to cover the top of the pot for quick heating. Wouldn't want too much pressure to build up while cooking. If you saw the other cannisters, You could fit them together for more pots or larger group. I wonder if you could line the pots with foil and bake bread in them or dig a hole, put your deboned rabbit, veggies etc in it, pop the lid on and bury it in the coals, pile dirt on top and forget it I have a number of dutch ovens I use. Just a thought.
 
Loosearrow, I love the Svea123 as well. Looked at some new stoves and over all i think the svea is better and about the same weight as the fancy new ones. Every time i see one for sale i buy it. Beat me if i know why i need so many. As i never had one fail one ever. Im off to target to look for the coffee can that would make a perfect set up.
Thread jack if you dont mind.... I would like to see the pics of your garden and what do you grow please.

Sasha
 
sasha said:
Loosearrow, I love the Svea123 as well. Looked at some new stoves and over all i think the svea is better and about the same weight as the fancy new ones. Every time i see one for sale i buy it. Beat me if i know why i need so many. As i never had one fail one ever. Im off to target to look for the coffee can that would make a perfect set up.
Thread jack if you dont mind.... I would like to see the pics of your garden and what do you grow please.

Sasha
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In the garden I have onions, okra, many squash plants, many heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, numerous peppers. I had lots of spinach, radishes, etc earlier. I have planted many marigolds throughout the garden within the plants to repel bugs. In the fall , I decided to harvest the marigold plants, pulled them all up and tied them in the cucumber trellis. The seeds fell to the ground and I had lots of volunteer plants this year that I replanted with the vegies. Saved me a ton of money. They are supposed to repel bugs. Seems to be working on the squash bugs this year. Usually the plants just up and die overnite. They haven't done that this year. To ensure that I continue to get squash, I wait a few weeks and plant more so I always have a crop producing. I use raised beds mounded up to keep the garden out of the water and the beds warm up faster. I have kept spinach growning all year in beds with plastic over it. Last fall I planted spinach in the fall, thought it was gone but it lives slowly thru the winter. First warm spell here in Kansas I was the first harvesting while others were waiting to plant in the mud. My system works for me and I have been gardening for many years now. Thanks for the question. We probably should have a thread on survival gardening. Money will be tight in the future and I can see people turning lawn into food plots for people. Forget the wildlife and feed your family first. Family survival is number one. We are already being gouged on our food and it will only get worse. I will go out and take some pictures. Thank you for your interest. Regards
 
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Thats great LooseArrow... My parents want to buy a house and a garden is one of the first things i want to work on. Im reading as much as i can.. There are lots of snails over here so i making plans to build a place to keep snails for Escagot.... I love the idea about keeping Marigold plants for the bugs.. If you got any more advice i would love to hear it.

Sasha
 
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