Classic stoves

I keep my 2 SVEAs for sentimental reasons. I carry them every now and then, but I mostly use them for backyard cooking just for the pure joy of doing it.

Where and when do you intend to use the stove?  I used a SVEA 123 for years, good all around performer for melting snow and boiling a pot of water for rehydrating.  I just got tired of dealing with white gas and pretty much only use a canister stove for 3 season hiking.

Stove choice also depends on what you are cooking.

I don't know what your bad experience was, but you can have an equally bad experience with a Svea.

I bought my Svea 123 from REI in 1975 for $11.25. Best purchase I ever made. Used it for years from over 100*F+ to -20*F. It's always just roared to life and done its job, including with unleaded gasoline. It's a phenomenal design. Undoubtedly it could be "updated" by being made in titanium! I've always liked the Svea 123 better than the Optimus Hiker/8r/99.

If you intend to stay with liquid fuel, both stoves are solid.   You might also want to look at what MSR offers (XGK, whisperlight).

For canister stoves there are several that have remote, inverted canisters which are reported to work much better in winter than base mounted canister stoves.  I've never used one so can't say much else.

The only drawback is that they are hard to turn down to a simmer. I have seen fuel spills turn into a picnic table conflagration. Light the stove prior to cocktail hour.

The ONLY stove I've ever experienced "conflagration" with was the aptly named Coleman Fyrestorm. Though termed "multifuel" during its short lifetime on the market, it's a great little canister stove (though too heavy), but entirely unmanageable and unpredictable on white gas.

Just FYI: The new Primus OmniLite I bought in the spring this year, though called "too heavy for me" by most here (12 oz, titanium legs - we BPers prefer "light" over just about anything) simmers like a stovetop. I love the thing. I've cooked a few dozen meals on it and never had a problem with heat.

OTOH, on those stoves where "too much heat" or "too little distribution of heat" is a problem, I carry a bunsen burner lab fire blocker thingamajig like this in my cook kit:

You can get them at lab supply places online. I forget where I got the ones I use. They're cheap, fairly light (come in many sizes), and you can simmer forever with one, though I suspect it's not the most efficient way to get the job done. It's what I do, however.

Addendum to Add: I have a half dozen MSR stoves, but I rarely use them anymore, since I got used to the "European style" "flip the bottle" way of turning off the heat. I haven't been spit on by a fuel bottle in so long I can't remember the last time. There's no comparable way to relieve the pressure inside a fuel bottle with an MSR pump that I know of. No sputtering flame when you turn off the valve (you don't turn off the valve) and no need to release the pressure for travel. I'm spoiled by Primus/Optimus!

I see now that you can get them on Amazon (set of 7 for $30) and eBay under the unrememberable name "wire Gauze Square Bunsen Burner Ceramic Net Mesh Support". I got mine for less at some (now forgotten) lab supply place. I bought 3 each of small (for alcohol stoves), medium & large. They weren't expensive.