[pct-l] stove comparison chart

[dsaufley at sprynet.com (dsaufley@sprynet.com)]

I love ours and will continue to use it, but one of the cons on alcohol stoves is that they've been responsible for a number of fires in the past couple of years, primarily due to windy conditions, and from usage in insufficiently cleared areas. Thought I read on the post a short while back that at least one forest district had banned the use of anything that doesn't have an "off" switch.  Policies on the use of them are unclear in many areas.  They seem to be a new phenomenon among the long distance ultralight thru-hiker crowd, and they're not that pervasive in regular backpacking world (hope the distinction is understandable).  

Seems there was a thread last year about having a single point of reference for all of the varying cook stove fire policies through the USFS, BLM, Nat'l Parks, and private sections of the PCT.  Thought we (collectively) talked about gathering that information and getting it onto the PCTA's website for their FAQs section.  Anyone else out there remember this? Have the info?

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
From: Jay Willis <jwillis@viclink.com>
Sent: Sep 23, 2005 8:00 PM
To: Deems <losthiker@sisqtel.net>
Cc: pct <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] stove comparison chart

Deems, these are excellent! I've just brushed over them, but these sites
are just what I was hoping for.

I've come up with a cursory list of pros and cons of the stove types
that I could think of:

Alcohol
pros: easy-to-build, inexpensive, light weight, availibility
cons: less heat output than other fuel types

Canister
pros: easy to operate, quick to setup
cons: canister loses pressure with altitude, explosive situation if
windscreen placed too close to canister, canister needs to be kept warm
during cold weather

Esbit
pros: can?t spill, or leak in your pack
cons: leaves soot on pot

White gas
pros: high heat output; preferred method for melting snow
cons: noisy, heavy, cost, susceptible to clogging

Wood (Zip, Trailstoves)
pros: don?t need to carry fuel, reducing pack weight
cons: leaves soot on pot

I'd appreciate any comments/additions/corrections to my list.

Thanks,
Jay

Deems wrote:
> 
> Here's some good websites for the various stove types and fuel types. There
> might be more, but these together might answer your questions. It's still up
> to you to choose the stove system suitable to your needs and adventure.
> 
> Stove types and efficiency comparisons:
> http://www.thru-hiker.com/articles.asp?subcat=2&cid=57
> Stove fuel calculator:
> http://www.kzpg.com/Backpacking/Stove/Stoves.htm
> Lightwt stove types:
> http://www.kzpg.com/Backpacking/Stove/Stove_notes.htm
> Stove types and efficiency comparisons:
> http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_Efficiency.htm
> kettle shape vs fuel efficiency comparison:
> http://www.backpacking.net/stoves-pots-comparison.html
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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