[pct-l] Alcohol vs. Gas stoves

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@xxxxxxx)]

In a message dated 6/23/03 12:17:28 PM, Steven.Setzer@Colorado.EDU writes:

<< I'd appreciate any pros and cons from people who have used them. >>

pros of alcohol-- clean, no worry about spills, lightweight, safer, no 
maintenance or moving parts
  cons of alcohol -- can easily crush aluminum ones, no heat control or 
on/off switch

pros of gas easiest available, more efficiently used due to off on switch and 
heat control

 cons of gas much heavier, stove breakdowns common
   I go back and forth. If I want to cook  meals that require lots of 
simmering or need to melt snow for water, I take a gas stove
 If I go on a trip where cooking will be minimal (such as in a hot desert 
hike where a hot meal is not very appetizing in 90 + heat) and all I will do is 
heat water to a boil I go with alcohol
 Actually, I now use a wood burning stove on most trips (and will this 
summer) because I love not having to ration fuel at all. I can heat up as much water 
for whatever my heart desires such as a really warm shower. Of course there 
are situations where a wood burner won't work such as on snow. If I think I 
will be camping only occasionally at an altitude where fires are banned, I 
compromise and gather twigs at a lower elevation and take it with me. For practice, 
I went out and gathered twigs in the dead of winter here in the soggy N.W. I 
could easily get a fire going after while, and considered this practice to be 
the worst case scenario
 Only cons of wood stove are that is dirty and weighs 1 pound (but no fuel 
weight to consider). I notice that Jardine now uses small wood fires, but I 
think it is not as efficient or fast as a woodburning stove, but--- no weight at 
all doing it Rays Way. I do cook on campfires whenever I have one