Hi there, I've got a fun challenge.
What is the lightest fuel powered (alcohol, butane, esbit, etc.) stove setup for 10 days assuming 1/2 liter is boiled twice a day.
Assume 3 seasons, and 7 to 10k elevation.

I know people love wood powered caldera solutions, but I'm not quite brave enough for that yet. I know I know, I'll give it a shot on a shorter trip sometime.

Thanks!

14 days, but. Have you read this?

http://thru-hiker.com/articles/stoveweight_vs_time_14days.php

Caldera Keg-F Cone, Pot, Lid, Snuffer - 3 ounces
10 fluid ounces of 100% Ethanol - 8 ounces
10 fluid ounce Fuel Bottle - 0.5 ounces
Total: 11.5 ounces

As the water reaches a boil, you must snuff and recover excess fuel immediately in order to assure 10 fluid ounces will get the job done.


Edited: Replaced aspirating fuel bottle with a basic 10 fluid ounce PET water bottle.
Recover fuel by dumping it into the snuffer, and then pouring it into the fuel bottle.

Edited by greg23 on 05/06/2012 14:09:05 MDT.

My Caldera Keg F system weighs 7.3 Oz.with a mini bic in it. Unlike Greg, I'm not into snuff :), so I allocate 20 Ml. a boil 2 times a day with about 10% extra per resupply. My bottle is a 20 Oz Mt Dew bottle @ .9 Oz. So for a 10 day trip that would be about 440 Ml and a total system weight of 23.1 ounces with fuel. Not the lightest, I'm sure, but I'm pleased as punch about it.

Cheers

What about other wood burners like the Backcountry Boiler and the Bush Buddy? Qi Wiz (member here) also has a folding wood burning stove. It's not really folding, but it can be disassembled and stored flat.

I'd go canister. More margin for error.

My Trail Designs Caldera Cone titanium Sidewinder with the "Gram Cracker" ESBIT tab holder & light aluminum base sheet is very light at 1.6 oz. (46 gm.). It's made to fit my 3 cup aluminum pot W/lid.

One ESBIT tab weighs 1/2 oz. I usually use only one tab per meal with this VERY efficient stove. I'm amazed that it is so much more efficient than my best efforts at making a good ESBIT stove with a tight windscreen.

The woodburning setup with the Inferno woodburning insert and ti base sheet is 3.0 oz. But you only need to carry cotton/petroleum jelly tinder balls because your fuel is found wood twigs. W/ "No open fires" regs the ESBIT setup is acceptable everywhere I have asked. (i.e. US Forest Service & BLM)

BTW> After 4 days even canister fuel is lighter than the necessary amount of alcohol,even with a Caldera Cone.

Edited by Danepacker on 05/06/2012 14:37:46 MDT.

Does anyone have any comments on this article?
http://lightweightoutdoors.com/?p=2193

Edited by tonito on 05/06/2012 14:39:12 MDT.

I will have to get out the scale to provide accurate weights but for a complete stove/cookset my Trail Designs semi custom ti caldera GVP set up is very light, very simple and reasonably durable.

2 ounce canister stove
Large fuel canister with 8 ounces of fuel weighs 12 ounces
Total 14 ounces

No mess, no fuss, and plenty of fuel for extras such as hot soup lunch or evening coco.

"BTW> After 4 days even canister fuel is lighter than the necessary amount of alcohol,even with a Caldera Cone."

A small canister weighs 7 ounces. My Snow Peak GigaPower weighs 3.1 ounces, without the case. That's 10.1 ounces. Leaving 1.1 ounces for a 3 cup pot.

What are you using and what does it weigh?

A stripped jetboil sol ti (burner and pot) plus 100g jetboil all-season fuel canister weighs 413g, and as the canisters actually contain a bit more fuel than advertised (199g full vs. 89g empty), the setup should easily be enough for 10 days, assuming average fuel consumption of 5g per .5L of water boiled. Add a 7g CF lid (I think ruta locura makes one that would fit), stock cozy plus a ti windscreen (another 30-32g) and the more efficient setup should get you 12 days.

Considering the convenience of the canister system, the sol ti is not a bad way to go if you are packing in an area where you have to carry your fuel. But looking at the solutions others have posted, it's not the absolute lightest (I expected that, but it was a fun exercise nonetheless).

"A small canister weighs 7 ounces. My Snow Peak GigaPower weighs 3.1 ounces, without the case. That's 10.1 ounces. Leaving 1.1 ounces for a 3 cup pot."

Small canister = 7 oz
Evernew 25 oz pot, foil lid = 3.1 oz
Primus Micron Ti = 2.4 oz
Total = 12.5 oz

The Micron gets excellent fuel economy, too. It's one of the best out there in this regard.

Edited to add pot.

Edited by ouzel on 05/08/2012 16:36:46 MDT.

Tom,
Do you use a pot?
How about a windscreen?

What is the weight of what it takes to boil those 2 cups of water?

g.

Edited by greg23 on 05/06/2012 16:46:24 MDT.

"Primus Micron Ti = 2.4 oz"

That's a new one, I haven't heard about that

The Monatauk gnat weighs 1.6 ounces

But, generic steel stoves, like MSR Pocket Rocket, weigh 3 ounces.

If all you're doing is saving 0.6 or 1.4 ounces it hardly matters

I shift back and forth on this stove decision for each trip.

Wood is OK, but I operate in too many places where wood fires are prohibited or else they are impractical due to lack of good wood.

A white gas (Coleman fuel) stove is obviously the heavy choice, but it is really handy if you have snow to melt or if you have lots of mouths to feed. Fuel cost is lower. The flame is clean. I have a Simmerlite.

A butane blend canister stove such as a Gnat is good for 1-3 eaters, and the burner part weighs only 1.65 oz. The flame is clean. I wish there were some way of beating the empty weight of a canister.

An alcohol stove is good for a solo hiker. The flame is clean, but kind of slow. I'm generally concerned about alcohol spillage, so my alcohol storage bottles are beefier than what many hikers use. I generally split my alcohol between two bottles, just in case of spillage. I always have to think about whether to use my high-efficiency stove plus a pot stand, or whether to use my low-efficiency stove with no pot stand required. It's a weight thing.

An Esbit stove is good for a solo hiker. The flame appears clean, but I get some soot on the cook pot and some residue on the burner platform (Ti wing stove is 0.5 oz). Spillage is never an issue, and it is simple to tell how much fuel is remaining. There is seldom much excess heat, so it is necessary to use a windscreen (mine weighs 0.2 oz).

--B.G.--

"If all you're doing is saving 0.6 or 1.4 ounces it hardly matters"

Heresy!

On BPL, every gram counts for something.

--B.G.--

Greg - I have the old Primus Micron, i.e. the one made of stainless steel, 3.5 oz. Otherwise, it is the same stove.

One an 8 day trip last year at elevations averaging 10,500' plus, 2 of us used slightly less than a 4 oz canister to heat, not boil, 48 oz of water/day for 7 full days plus one breakfast. That works out to about 5 grams of fuel/16 oz, if my math is correct. We used an Evernew 25 oz titanium pot without a windscreen, but made sure to heat our water in very protected places for near optimal conditions. Two other critical factors are prewarming the morning water by taking it to bed at night and not heating it to full boil, which is completely unnecessary, IMO, for most uses and incurs the energy penalty of latent heat of evaporation. We used our water only for drinks and somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 degrees was more than sufficient. This tracks with my previous experience, but is the only concrete example I can recall from my rapidly deteriorating memory bank. ;) I have found the Micron to be a great stove, and don't worry about its CO production because I don't cook in a tent. I have included a link to Will Rietveld's excellent review of the Micron for more typical fuel usage, as well as other characteristics of the stove.

Edited CO2 to CO.


http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/primus_micron_canister_stove_review.html

Edited by ouzel on 05/06/2012 17:41:17 MDT.

"If all you're doing is saving 0.6 or 1.4 ounces it hardly matters"

To you.

Then there is the question of fuel economy.

"We used our water only for drinks and somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 degrees was more than sufficient."

Tom, supposedly the kill temperature for Giardia cysts is about 175 F, so that is a good temperature to shoot for.

--B.G.--