[pct-l] RE: pct-l comparative stove weights

[ronyon at comcast.net (Ron Smith)]

I've been doing a lot of section hiking over the past several years that
involves flying to a local airport then by various means getting to the
trailhead. In most cases my options for purchasing fuel, which I
couldn't take on the plane, were limited to the stores en-route. About
half the time I had a canister stove, the other half an alcohol stove.
Here are my observations: 1) By far the most common cartridge that I
encountered was the Gaz brand, which is ubiquitous in ma and pa fishing
and hunting stores, and sporting department stores. For that reason, I
took an MSR SuperFly, which is compatible with Gaz in addition to
Primus, MSR and Snow Peak. I bought the SuperFly over the MSR Pocket
Rocket because although the SuperFly is a bit heavier I had heard that
the Pocket Rocket isn't compatible with Gaz cartridges. (I could be
wrong, I would suggest checking.) In any case, the message here it that
your chances of a successful canister-stove experience will be greater
if your stove works with Gaz cartridges in addition to the others. 2) I
found it easier to find stove-grade alcohol than gas cartridges. This is
probably because any store that sells painting supplies will have
denatured alcohol. For that reason, along with the fact that I prefer
alcohol stoves anyway, I now use an alcohol stove almost exclusively.
-Ron

> From: "Brian Bowlsby" <go4ahike@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: [pct-l] comparative stove weights 
> David,
> ...Most canister stoves will fit on just about any canister. MSR works
on
> Snow Peak fuel and vise versa... MSR fuel is probably the most common
> fuel you'll find for canister stoves. I have a Primus Micron stove and
> use the snow peak canisters!