Heading out on the trail next week with a group. We'll have a MSR Whisperlite and a XGK. Both are very reliable stoves.
Alcohol stove. My son and I hiked the AT in Pennsylvania between Chistmas and New Years Day. Lows in the upper teens and my stove (from Sgt. Rock's Ion plans) worked well. It just needs to be primed a little more. In the Iditarod, the mushrers use very large alcohol stoves fueled with Heet.
Just another data point FWIW: My wife and I did a two-day backpack this last weekend in the CO high country, camping at about 11,200 feet in the Lost Creek Wilderness. For January, very mild weather, meaning highs in the 30's, low at night in the single digits. As I've said, I usually take my trusty Wisperlite on CO winter trips, but decided to try the JetBoil Sol Ti this weekend, given the relatively mild forecast and the fact that the Jetboil claims its new fuel regulator does a better job at handling cold temps.
Once again I was disappointed in the canister's performance. Keep in mind: we had to melt snow for our water source. If you warm the canister inside your jacket/wherever, you can get a few good minutes of performance out of it, enough to heat a couple/few cups for dinner or coffee/tea. But for melting snow? Fugedaboudid. Takes forever to get that job done as the canister cools quickly and heat output goes way, way down. We eeked out enough water to stay reasonably hydrated, but it took maybe a full hour to melt 3 quarts. Better things to do up there than mess around spending so much time making water.
Bottom line: if you need to melt copious amounts of snow for your water source, upright canister stoves require extreme patience and are not recommended. Inverted canister stoves, however, do work well, but tend to be less efficient weight-wise than the good old white gase setups like whiskerlights, er, whisperlites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMX0Hc-AUgOriginally Posted by Christine_Runs
Primus Omnifuel; works with white gas or canister ( inverted canister for cold temps ), built like a tank, pump is mostly metal
Issues; LOUD, bit heavy, requires practice to lite properly
Whisperlite is my favorite, i played around with alcohol stoves in the winter, try to melt snow not worth the weight in fuel. I got the esbit stand (the one that clicks together) can use trangia or insert the tray and use diy stove and works wonders.
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