Originally Posted By Glenn Roberts
There are problems with canisters, such as the need to take two when you’re not sure how much is left in one, that can cause you to to carry unnecessary weight.

However, I’m not convinced that the empty weight is really a problem. I haven’t done actual weight measurements, but I’m thinking the two alternatives, alcohol and white gas, aren’t actually any lighter. The weight of a white gas fuel bottle, empty, is probably pretty close to the weight of a single empty canister. The weight of a plastic alcohol bottle is less than either, but add in the extra amount of acohol needed to produce the same amount of heat and you may be at the weight of the empty cylinder.


Well, I have some experience with canister stoves but a fair amount of it was with the old Bluet stove. My recent experience with the new tiny stoves is somewhat more limited. The weight of the canister is troubling to me. I think the answer if you are wedded to cansiter stoves, or at least the convenience of them, is to take the smallest new, unused canister that will get you through a trip. Of course I am not out as long as many of you. If the cost troubles you, I just figure despite my poverty that the cost of a canister is really not horrible since the cost of a weekend of backpacking is largely gas to the trailhead and my stove fuel.
I have used almost exclusively liquid fuel stove for many decades now, but the weight and fiddle factor isu not to be ignored. The fiddle factor can be reduced with experience, but there is still the weight of the stove. Admittedly, I have not tried any of the much lighter stoves that seem to be named after insects. That might skew things a little.
I am going to try a Trangia clone and see how it goes. The stove is light but it requires more fuel for a given amount of cooking Somewhere on this forum someone suggested two fluid ounces of alcohol for one full meal and a hot drink in the morning. But...here is a really big but...I always have a hot drink in the morning and often cook breakfast. (I am after all out there to enjoy myself.) I often cook a soup lunch and even when I do not, I want a hot drink for my break. (I mourn the passing of Cup-a-Soup.)
So the conventional wisdom may not work for me. I will try the Trangia clone on an overnight or two to see how much fuel I need. If it proves a killer on fuel, then I have to go back to liquid fuel or canister. I suspect that for up the four nights (the longest I will probably ever be out) it really may be a toss up between a MSR (or an MSR copy) liquid fuel or a canister stove with exactly the right size new canister.


Edited by EMT Dave (12/17/17 06:34 PM)