I intend to use it mainly for boiling water but also the occasional 2 or 3 course breakfast or dinner...nothing that requires the stove being on for very long though. I am still planning my menu and food and this is the first trip I have planned so this has been a bit challanging.
Im hiking in hot summer weather.....no cold or freezing conditions. It just seems that propane/butane canisters would hold less fuel and not last as long (thus having to carry more or refil more frequently) than a liquid fuel stove. I dont know..
What would you take?
What I would take depends on the length of the trip. I usually take alcohol stove(s) - they are light, I can carry two - and about 8 oz of fuel for three-four day trips.
If I were hiking the AT or similar long trail and resupply points were not likely to carry canisters, again, I'd take the alcohol stoves, which run on HEET you can get at any gas station, as well as denatured alcohol you can get at the hardware store.
If I were going abroad, I'd get something like the Whisperlite International which runs on all kinds of things including auto fuel.
If I am wanting something my non alcohol stove using fellow hikers could borrow, I take the Pocket Rocket and a large canister. I don't like canisters - you can have a partially used canister and not be certain how much fuel you have left. You can't refill them, have to carry empties to the next opportunity to dispose/recycle them, and unless you somehow rig a windscreen without enclosing the canister they are useless in the wind. If I used the canister stove more I would get one of the remote canister setups and add a windscreen. Canister stoves are very easy and mostly fuel efficient - one can make the smaller canister last for a number of days with care.
White gas is fairly straightforward, and you can easily see how much you have left and refill - I just don't like the increase in maintenance and fiddling around with all the parts, or the weight. I prefer the alcohol stoves.
People whine about the fiddle factor of alcohol stoves, but I'm not even sure what they mean - I had to laugh at someone trying to set up a Whisperlite while he was commenting on how he couldn't use an alcohol stove, there he was connecting and reconnecting all these parts and fighting with the burner legs. I was already heating water. They're slower to boil and do have a learning curve to them, but they don't sound like a jet taking off and they pack smaller and lighter... they're not for everybody because a lot of people like quick and easy, turn a knob, light it, boiling water three minutes later... but eh, whatever. I don't go out there to be in a hurry.
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