Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bubble Butt instead of Fancy Feast

I'm decided on a stove for my upcoming adventure. This is "Bubble Butt", formerly a Seva 123. It was given to me by my friend Peter. About fifteen years ago it had become involved in a big fire that almost caused it to blow up! The normally concave bottom became convex from the built up pressure! I used a hammer and a smooth piece of wood to gradually hammer and reform the brass "bubble butt" back into a concave shape. Since then I have fired it up several times and it operates just fine.

This is my home made "Fancy Feast" cat food can alcohol stove. I drilled the holes and made the base for it. It works just fine at sea level but I discovered it required almost twice as much fuel to heat water at 6,000 feet in the Yolla Bolly. So, although Bubble Butt is a lot heavier, Bubble Butt is going to the 10,000 foot High Sierra with me.

I recently received an e-mail asking me what the average temperature in Fort Bragg is. I Googled around and found this!


  1. I had a Seva 123 since 1972 - it just refuses to die. A tad on the portly-side, but it is the model of simplicity and reliability. I keep auditioning replacements, but the 123 is the one I reach for when I need to cook on the trail. Pump it up; light it off and away you go. Nice that it talks while it's working – no guessing a flame out. Otherwise I go with my Esbit or an alcohol stove which are good for heating water – but lousy for cooking.


  2. My Svea is also about 1972 vintage. I don't use it much anymore, and now I'm wondering why not.

  3. I am guessing that those are your highs and lows; looks like that fog is really effective at keeping the temps down.