Spock
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The problem with a slow burner is that the pot loses heat even as you heat it, and the rate of heat loss increases with the temperature of the pot. If you heat it too slowly it will reach a temperature at which heat is going out as fast as heat is going in.
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Thanks for that observation. I think a lot of people ignore the fact that under real winter usage, a small heat source will simply not work because its small amount of heat can radiate away before it warms anything. A huge powerful force like a 15,000 btu stove is best for winter because the heat radiated away from the pan is small compared to the incoming heat.

Also for melting snow you need a lot more energy than to boil 70 degree water. Try a cup of water with half ice. Now take it out in a cold wind and try it.

One winter we took a whisperlite and forgot the windscreen. It took 45 minutes to get half a liter of warm water from snow. Do not underestimate the amount of heat loss to cold wind. The next winter we started carrying an XGK but now I just carry a coleman Xtreme becasue the instant on and off with no priming means I can cook inside my tent with it, and I do. I can fire up my Bibler hanging stove in the tent and boil water to create a steam sauna in the bibler tent and the heat just pushes all of the moisture out of the toddtex (goretex) tent while I bask in the heat. You do have to be considerate of ventilation and carbon monoxide and flame in a tent. You do not want your air mattress or down gear to touch a red hot stove. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Jim YMMV <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />