Hi John,

I checked out that linked site in your post and found he used a Vargo stove base, just as I used to do (with a cut-down MSR windscreen).

BUT... using my 3-cup sized CC Sidewinder & ESBIT I find I absolutely can use 1/3 less fuel than with the Vargo stove base & windscreen setup. I've tested this many times on actual trips and that is my average fuel savings. I am still amazed at the Sidewinder's fuel savings. (However, I have one of, if not THE smallest Sidewinder stoves (for 3 cup pot) so that may account for better efficiency as well.)

Plus ESBIT or FireLite fuel tabs burn a bit hotter than the best alky. Less weight and hotter fire, and with the CC stoves, more concentrated heat.

I rest my case.

A couple months ago I calculated the weight-efficiency of my Esbit system (the usual 3-legged ti Esbit stove, foil windscreen, Ti or Heine cookpot) versus what seemed to be the most weight-efficient canister stove, Snow Peak LiteMax.
I boil about the same amount of water per day as you described.
I calculated for different trip lengths, different size canisters, and different levels of optimism for each setup.
I've never actually owned or used the LiteMax, so I was going purely on accounts I found on various online sources for liters of water that can be boiled per canister with this stove.

I do not have the energy or time to polish my calculations into a form suitable to post here, but my conclusion was that the Esbit would always beat the canister for weight.

At one point in my calculations it looked like the canister would be more efficient than Esbit at certain intervals. However, I then accounted for the fact that even when using a full canister, one is left with the weight of the canister itself. So, if the calculations are based on the weight at the start of the trip, it appears the canister is more efficient sometimes. But if looking at the weight carried each day, the extra weight of the canister on the last few days eats up its seeming advantage.

Keep in mind that this was something I did just for my own understanding, so I make no claims to absolute authority. Others will have to make their own calculations for their own particular setups.
And keep in mind that this is for the kind of cooking that requires only boiling water.

HOWEVER, if the trip entails boiling pretty close to exactly the amount of water that can be boiled by a full canister (a medium- or large- sized canister), the canister stove can come pretty darn close. So depending on the type of cooking I want to do, and the conditions and style of the trip, I concluded that for me the canister could sometimes be worth the weight difference.

Before I did all this, I went to my local MEC store with my digital scale and weighed all the full canisters I could find. You can look at www.mec.ca to see which canisters I mean.

MSR 227g fuel: whole full canister weighed 380g. (Canister alone = 153g)
MSR 115 = 246g (Can = 131g)

Primus 225 = 381g (Can = 156g)
Primus 450 = 668g (Can = 218g)

Snow Peak 220 = 377g (Can = 157g)

Optimus Energy 220 = 372g (Can = 152g)

Jetboil 230 = 382g (Can = 152g)
Jetboil 100 = 201g (Can = 101g)

Perhaps individual canister weights can vary by batch and sometimes my scale seems to read differently by a gram or two depending on what kind of surface it sits on, but this gives the general idea.

Thanks for the info, Eric. I had the Tri-Ti Sidewinder in mind when I chose my Evernew 600 pot (ECA251). I may go that way, but for short trips it may be overkill.

“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 canister 3x more efficient than alcy. I made a spreadsheet for this. Here’s a snapshot:



and if we use Kirchner’s ‘boiling’ method the weights will be even lower however, alcy still wins again at 10 days.
And if we assume canister is 2x more efficient than alcy, alcy will always be lighter for infinite days.
However, esbit will always be the lightest. I just don’t like dealing with the esbit pot grime and its cost.

Good math problem :)

-Barry
-The mountains were made for Tevas