[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by bergman

Here's a bit from my experience. I have used and owned all of these, and still have them. If I could only pick one stove, it would be my MSR Whisperlite International, which I have owned and used for over 20 years in Canada & across Europe, and have run on both white gas & gasoline.


3 Basic Stove Types:
1. Liquid petroleum (white gas, gasoline, ets.)
2. Compressed gas stoves (propane & butane cartridges, etc.)
3. Alcohol Fuel Stoves (methanol)

Liquid Petrol (Ie. Whisperlite)
-most expensive to buy ($100 or more)
-cheap to operate (especially on gasoline)
-perform well in the cold (can pressurize cold fuel bottles manually)
-medium difficulty to operate (priming is necessary)
-field maintainable
-over longer greater than 4-5 days these are the lightest stove/fuel combos to carry

Compressed Gas Stove (Ie. Pocket Rocket)
-middle cost to to buy (~$30-$50 for name brand)
-most expensive to operate (catridges cost $7-12 per bottle in Canada)
-do not perform well in cold (cartridge pressure is reduced and cannot be changed)
-simplest to operate
-not field maintainable (carry a 2nd ignition source! I have rescued a few people with the lighter in my pocket because their igniter quit)
-heaviest stove/fuel combo to carry but at around 4-5 day trips these are about the same weight as alcohol & white gas stoves.

Alcohol Stove (Ie. Trangia, Vargo Triad or home-made "Fancy Feast" Stove)
-middle cost to buy (~$50), but can be made for free (literally) from cat food or tuna tin
-cheapest to operate (stove can be made for free, a gallon of methanol (paint thinner) costs 8 buck at Canadian Tire
-some can perform well in cold (especially with wicks - homemade version is the "SuperCat")
-can be tricky to operate
-nothing to maintain in the field, extremely simple design
-lightest overnight-trip combination, but since the fuel-energy density is less than white gas or gasoline for more than 3 days a liquid fuel stove/fuel combo works out to be lighter to carry

Figure out what you want it for, and buy what works for you. If you want simple convenience get a canister stove. If you are an ultralight packer buy and learn how to operate an MSR. If you like building things yourself try a Fancy Feast stove, because they are super light for overnights and kind of fun (it's basically a homemade fondue burner).

So there you go.

^^

This fella knows what he's talking about. Good summary.