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Re: [pct-l] Unleaded ( go for low octane)



You cannot draw on Airplanes or Trucks to determine which fuel is most
efficient: Butane, Butane/Propane, Coleman Fuel, white gas or alcohol. packaging
and safety has a lot to do with it.

1-Safety
Spill your lone bottle of liquid fuel and you are SOL. This is why many [most]
people carry two containers and extra fuel. Canister fuels are somewhat less
prone to this. A valve on a canister might fail and stick open but this is
solveable by not dismounting the stove. Still, I carry an extra canister. A
thruhiker might not because this is excess weight one can do without.

2-Packaging
The real question is how much water can you boil and/or how long can you simmer
a pot with a single container of a given weight. In other words compare a 16
ounce [dry] fuel bottle with 10 ounces [dry] of liquid fuel with a 16 ounce
[dry] canister with 12 ounces [dry] of butane.

3-How you cook
Simmering isn't important if you only boil water. If you cook pasta or rice 20
miniutes how long you can simmer a pot of stuff is critical.

4-How about the stove. How much does it weigh. Does it have a built in fuel
reservoir.

I did this calculation a decade ago using a MSR [Coleman Fuel] vs. MSR [butane].
I faintly recall that the butane did better but not by much.


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