as I mentioned, it depends if you look at max weight or average. You're correct for any sane number of meals I believe, about the average.. There's good reasons to care about both - the average for obvious reasons, but the max to know what you're gonna carry on your heaviest days. By the time I'm at day 7 I care less about the fuel burn because I've eaten so much food out of my pack that I'm practially levitating down the trail (tie a string to me and float me in the macy's parade.... woot!)



I budget the same, although I wouldn't call it "generous" when starting with water that's usually a couple degrees above freezing even in august. I find that number matches my practical in field use with a penny stove.. Your starting water temp matters a heck of a lot

But in any case we digress - I still carry alky on almost all my trips - I'm paranoid - I don't even trust the stupid lindal valves on the canisters not to ruin my trip

my alky stove has a shutoff valve. I drop it's lid on it and it's off.

Boy, I almost don't want to get into this, but if weight is the issue, Esbit beats everything else. Using the BPL folding Esbit burner with oven liner windscreen and base, the rig weighs 0.9 oz. A regular Esbit tablet weighs 14 g or about 0.5 oz and will bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil under almost any realistic conditions and will do 4 cups most of the time. It takes 0.25 oz to boil 2 cups down to the single digits. Just blow the flame out when the water boils and save it for the next meal. Or use 0.25 oz tabs such as Coghlans.

So using the criteria stated in earlier posts:

Fuel for 12 meals @ 2 cups per meal with 33% reserve for that extra cup of tea = 4 oz.
Fuel container (small z-loc) = 0.1
Burner, windscreen, base = 0.9
Total first day = 5 oz.
Total last day = 1 oz.

If you stretch that to 26 meals, at 0.25 oz fuel per meal and a 33% reserve = 8.7
Fuel container = .1
Burner, windscreen, base = 0.9
Total first day = 9.7
Total last day = 1 oz.

Its really hard to beat that.

Esbit beats almost everything - if you can stand the smell picking up three rocks to set your pot on and building a twig fire underneath it beats Esbit. but isn't exactly LNT

Sure, Phat, but Esbit is LNT - if you don't count the smell. That's a trace, I guess.

well, that and when I get too close and ralf my cookies onto the forest floor... that's a trace too

But think of all the weight you save. That big dinner you don't have to haul around.

But, but, but, he HAS to have the big dinner. He sleeps in the woods in CANADA! He'll freeze to death if he doesn't have the big meal to keep him alive. Or, er, I think that's what MNS told us about food and staying warm?

Must be MNS - she's up in the cold without all he builtin reserves - me - I have evolutionary ties to the walrus..

Tom, Thanks for the leads to that info. Both those guys have really done some great work there.

That "Super Cat" design is really quite incredible and I've got to make one.

I still want to try one of those little "tea candles" under a pop can stove to see how it affects performance. If it doesn't blow-up it should make it burn hotter

Bill

tealite stoves are good for less than 2 cups of water. Just fill and burn. I think it's the easiest way to go. I tried that method for a 6 day trip and it worked just fine.

I built the tea light stove from Jason's website last spring. I thought it worked pretty good. I never could get my water to a rolling boil though.

A later post of his suggested a "wash tub" from Hobby Lobby, it goes in a dollhouse. This actually holds a bit more fuel than the tealight and is sturdier. Still couldn't get my water to a rolling boil but it did have some bubbles coming up. I did the set up he shows on his blog...with an integrated pot stand. It all fits nicely in my Heiny pot and is super light.

I'm using my JetBoil over the winter but the tea light or wash tub stove worked well enough that I'll probably use it again in warm weather.

Millette

I found a cheaper alternative to the "Doll House Washtub" stove.

In the kitchen section of Bed, Bath and Beyond I found small metal "ramekins" with a fluted edge that holds exactly 1oz alky.

They have bigger sizes also, but the 1oz looked good formy IMUSA mug.

The surprise? They cost 29 cents!!!

I put a "lid" of aluminum foil on the top and cut a 1" hole in the middle to further concentrate the flame.

Boiled 2 cups of water easily.

Shoot...I bought two of those wash tubs!

I'll have to try the idea of concentrating the flame that may be my problem with not getting a good boil.