Random thoughts about winter alcy stoves:

Yea I use alcy stoves in the winter. I melt snow with them. I don’t boil the snow so that saves fuel. I will use a chlorine dioxide pill every once in a while.

I bring about 3x the amount of fuel in winter as summer.

I prefer the white-box stove in the winter as that holds more fuel. In the winter it takes about 90 seconds to bloom though.

I set my stoves on aluminum foil covered CCF.

I think Mushers would like alcy because it’s easier to light than white-gas stoves. I see this problem with scouts. They have a hard time with their simmerlites. And the flare ups scare you every once in a while.

To light a soda stove in the winter requires a different approach. In the summer you can usually light the vapors above the stove. In the winter, there is no vapor. So I have to light my match and just drop it in the white-box stove (same for a pepsi stove). Upon contact, the alcy lights. When the fuel is all burned up, I just dump out the match. It’s interesting that the match doesn’t burn up.
When melting snow, start with a seed of water to get it going or you’ll burn your pan.

Again, like the summer, the alcy stove setup will be your lightest set up if computing average weight per day of your stove system. Granted it’s a little heavier on the first day.

I don’t even keep my alcy, stove, or seed water warm when lighting my stoves. They still light. However, a white-box and alcy will bloom faster if it was previously kept in your coat.

Practice at home first to get used to it.

Just my experience at 0F…
-Barry