Revisiting my stove options ... alcohol or gas or both

[Aushiker]

I was sorting through my kit today in early preparation for a 10 day bikepacking trip and I realised that I had managed to crush some what my Trail Designs 12-10 stove. The cost of replacement is seriously expensive (postage) so I have decided to look at my options. Interested to hear what we all use bikepacking.

My preliminary thoughts are:

If I stick with the alcohol stove are there other good options for a stove?  Would say the Evernew EB-254 be a serious contender putting aside its weight of 36 g (a gain of 20 grams)? Price wise it is around the same to me as the 12-10.

Looking at my fuel usage, stove, calder cone kit etc my alcohol system weight is coming in at around 900 to 1,000 grams for the 10 days.

Alternatively I can go with a gas canister system and assuming I can use two 110 g canisters over the ride I am looking at 523 grams plus the weight of the stove. Even if I was super conservative and went with three canisters I would be at sub 750 grams so still in front. It is not likely I can get new canisters on the ride and this is pretty normal for me hence it is one of the reasons I generally go alcohol as I can source that easily.

I would likely use 110g canisters due to the very limited packing options on the bike but if I can pack a 230 g canister I would be saving more weight. Will not know until I get to the packing stage.

Anyway if I go the gas canister route, what are the best in terms of pack size and lightest weight stoves today? Any suggestions?

I found a Fire Maple Hornet FMS-300T which comes in at 44g and looks like it packs down really small. Serious contender?  Any other options worth considering?

At the end of the day I may setup myself up to go either alcohol or gas depending on the trip so option to thoughts on both or either option.

Oh, no Trangia suggestions thanks

[Adam Alphabet]

A number of years ago I messed around with making some of my own alcohol stoves from this site.... That may be an option for you if you're keen on tinkering a bit.

http://zenstoves.net

[Aushiker]

A number of years ago I messed around with making some of my own alcohol stoves from this site.... That may be an option for you if you're keen on tinkering a bit.

http://zenstoves.net

Thanks for the suggestion. I will take a look. The only issue or issues with home made stoves are (1) me ; (2) there are questions about efficiency (probably not a big issue in the scheme of things) and (3) the big one for me is they often require the pot sitting on the stove which will not work with my caldera cone stove. That said I will definitely take a look at the options.

[offroute]

Aus, for isubutane that Fire Maple looks nice. The popular Snow Peak minis are a similar concept, but not as light and small. I used the GigaPower Manual with a ti cup and foil wind screen a bunch and like it. I prefer gas and have had no issues in temperatures below 30°F. I'm interested to know how the FM stacks up.

Thanks for the link, Adam.

[quixoticgeek]

I was sorting through my kit today in early preparation for a 10 day bikepacking trip and I realised that I had managed to crush some what my Trail Designs 12-10 stove. The cost of replacement is seriously expensive (postage) so I have decided to look at my options. Interested to hear what we all use bikepacking.

My preliminary thoughts are:

If I stick with the alcohol stove are there other good options for a stove?  Would say the Evernew EB-254 be a serious contender putting aside its weight of 36 g (a gain of 20 grams)? Price wise it is around the same to me as the 12-10.

The evernew stove is incredibly thirsty. I have one of these, and it's been quite a disappointment. I swapped for a Zelph starlite stove for when I use meths. It uses well under 50% of the fuel of the evernew for the same amount of boil.

Looking at my fuel usage, stove, calder cone kit etc my alcohol system weight is coming in at around 900 to 1,000 grams for the 10 days.

Alternatively I can go with a gas canister system and assuming I can use two 110 g canisters over the ride I am looking at 523 grams plus the weight of the stove. Even if I was super conservative and went with three canisters I would be at sub 750 grams so still in front. It is not likely I can get new canisters on the ride and this is pretty normal for me hence it is one of the reasons I generally go alcohol as I can source that easily.

I would likely use 110g canisters due to the very limited packing options on the bike but if I can pack a 230 g canister I would be saving more weight. Will not know until I get to the packing stage.

Anyway if I go the gas canister route, what are the best in terms of pack size and lightest weight stoves today? Any suggestions?

I found a Fire Maple Hornet FMS-300T which comes in at 44g and looks like it packs down really small. Serious contender?  Any other options worth considering?

The MSR micro rocket seems to be the winner these days. It's certainly on my list, just waiting for pay day.


Incidentally I really like the MSR fuel canisters, they have a nice gauge on the side. Stick it in some water, and based on where it floats, you can see how much fuel you've got left. Very very useful.

At the end of the day I may setup myself up to go either alcohol or gas depending on the trip so option to thoughts on both or either option.

Oh, no Trangia suggestions thanks

[Aushiker]

The evernew stove is incredibly thirsty. I have one of these, and it's been quite a disappointment. I swapped for a Zelph starlite stove for when I use meths. It uses well under 50% of the fuel of the evernew for the same amount of boil.

That is interesting. I ended up going with a Zeph Starlyte so glad you have reinforced my decision.

The MSR micro rocket seems to be the winner these days. It's certainly on my list, just waiting for pay day.

Incidentally I really like the MSR fuel canisters, they have a nice gauge on the side. Stick it in some water, and based on where it floats, you can see how much fuel you've got left. Very very useful.

Will have a look at the MSR. I haven't made a decision on a gas stove as yet. The floating canister idea is an interesting one. Hadn't heard of that before.

[vermont]

I love my Trang... Oh wait... never mind.  Seriously, though, they are the best engineered alky stove.
You are presenting two completely different cooking styles.  Choose the stove that matches your cooking.  Alky stoves are slower to boil but simmer... OK.  Canister stoves are super fast and simmer spectacularly.  Funny that most people I see simply boil water with a canister though...  If you are confused, then match your stove to your cooking style.  Boil in a bag, go with canister.  Like the slow route, go with alky.

[Aushiker]

You are presenting two completely different cooking styles.  Choose the stove that matches your cooking.  Alky stoves are slower to boil but simmer... OK.  Canister stoves are super fast and simmer spectacularly.  Funny that most people I see simply boil water with a canister though...  If you are confused, then match your stove to your cooking style.  Boil in a bag, go with canister.  Like the slow route, go with alky.

I am well aware that they are two different stove systems. As to cooking style, no sure I would agree with that argument. I can just as happily boil water with a gas stove as I can with a alcohol stove and have in fact done one or the other over the past 20 years.

Trangia ... mmmm.  I did start out with a Trangia system all those years ago but that went bye bye quick smart as I worked to reduce both my carried weight and the bulk of my kit. Today I just wouldn't go back to Trangia even on my touring bike which at is max is using six panniers for outback expeditions (got to carry water).

My here question is more about stove choices (not cooking styles), i.e.,a  replacement for my alcohol stove and to find out what are the gas canister stoves of choice as I haven't been following developments in gas canister stoves for a few years.

I have sorted a replacement alcohol stove (gone with Zelph's Starlyte) but I would still like to have a gas canister stove option so if you have suggestions for a good stove that is light and packs down well I am all eyes.

My short list is now a Kovea Spider or a Fire Maple FMS-117T as my pot of choice is tall and narrow so I like the lower profile of these stoves (packs well in my Salsa Anything Bag). Plus they can be used with a windscreen safely for more efficiency.