[pct-l] Canister stove users vs ALCOHOLICS

[Edward Anderson]

I HAVE BECOME AWARE THAT SOME OF MY HIKER-FRIENDS ARE ADDICTED TO ALCOHOL - - - CAN'T WE DESCRIBE THEM AS 'ALCOHOLICS' - - - ?   My referance, of course, is to those who cook with alcohol - and who are willing to risk burning down the forest ( and also risk tainting the reputation of other PCT'ers ). This, to save, possibly, a few ounces. 
 
Diane,  that sounds awfully complicated - those first 5 steps - - - !   I agree with #6. All I have to do with my Jetboil stove is turn on the valve and push a button.  Then I can adjust the heat. I can even simmer - and that saves fuel and gives you much greater options as to WHAT you can cook.  When I'm through cooking I simply turn off the fuel - I don't have to burn it off.  This saves fuel, is safer, saves time, and is much more efficient. Also, I like to SEE the flame - then I can adjust it to the amount of heat I need. 
 
Steel-Eye,  I'm sure glad you pointed out that there are so many volcanoes.  Gosh - I'm not very well prepared for an unexpected eruption nearby.  Maybe I should also be worried about the possibly of a meteorite impact nearby.  Seriously, I am much more concerned that the weather might change unexpectedly, and for the worse.  Once, many decades ago,  when I was young and foolishly unprepared this happened:  I  was in the wilderness of Sequoia N.P.  It was a grand and beautiful morning, clear sky, warm.  I hiked from my camp to a lake that was only a mile or so away. I was fishing. The fishing was not so good there so I went on to a lake basin that was two or three miles farther.  Sometime after noon there was a very sudden change.  Black clouds suddenly blew in from the west - the warm sunny day disappeared in minutes. Thunder. Lightning. It rained hard. It hailed big time. The wind blew very hard and the temperature dropped about 30
 degrees. I only had a T-shirt and a light-weight long sleeved shirt above that. Think hypothermia.  I quickly came up with a solution. I stuffed my shirt, between it and the T-shirt above my belt, with soft grass to a thickness of about 2".  Rather itchy - and not exactly a down vest, but it did keep me warm. I found shelter and stayed fairly dry under a boulder. The storm passed within about two hours and the sun returned.  This is typical of summer thunder storms in the Sierra - this one was just more intense.  And some have been a lot more intense than that one. 
MendoRider