I bought a Vargo Decagon titanium alcohol stove on a whim while browsing at REI. It looked like a cool design. Then I started seeing posts about how inefficient titanium stoves were compared to aluminum soda pop can designs. So I have been doing some testing. I live at 6,400 feet elev. and there is lots of snow at Lake Tahoe. I can bring 2 cups of cold tap water to a rolling boil at right around 5 min. 30 secs. every time. (Our tap water comes from the lake and it’s really cold.) It doesn’t seem to matter if I’m outdoors or in. Then I can refill my aluminum pot and get it hot enough to get bubbles on the bottom before the flame goes out. (If I were smart, I’d get a 32 oz. pot) An ounce of alcohol lasts about 14 minutes. The secret to getting it primed fast is to spill a little alcohol on the outside of the stove then it comes out of the jets in about 20 secs. Otherwise it takes about 45. The stove is sensitive to wind and I can blow it out so I too need a wind screen. And I can recover unused alcohol pretty easily with a paper funnel. I haven’t used the soda can design yet so I don’t know how to compare.

I also haven’t used it on a trek yet, but am anxious to. I think I’ll be happy with it.