[pct-l] stove debate

[hiker at godlikebuthumble.com (Hiker)]

At 09:50 AM 7/12/03, Marissa Ferejohn wrote:
>1.  I already own it and and very familiar with its inner workings

You will need to be, because it will break and you will have to fix it.

>2.  It seems like I will be able to get ahold of white gas or unleaded 
>gasoline relatively easily in towns for resupply

Alcohol is also available in towns and you can also mail yourself alcohol 
(surface mail only, properly packaged with quantity restrictions 1pt for 
plastic bottle, 1qt for metal, and properly marked as ORM-D), but you 
cannot mail yourself white gas. Search for "Denatured alcohol"  and 
"gasoline" in the USPS document http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub52.pdf

>2. Alcohol stoves: my question is again, the burn time issues, as well as 
>performance at altitude and fuel efficiency.  If I have to carry 24 oz of 
>alcohol for 7 days, doesn't that cancel out the extra weight of my MSR, 
>for which I only need to carry 12 oz. for an equivalent time period?

The difference in quantity of fuel is not significant enough to make up for 
the weight difference of the stoves. The main benefit of a white gas stove 
is you can turn it off: an alcohol stove burns till the fuel is gone. Not 
much problem for a thru hiker who uses the stove every night and thus knows 
how much fuel to ad to get the job done... By the time you compare setup 
and prime, the "time to boil" for an alcohol stove is much less than a 
white gas stove.

>3.  Canister stoves: my question is, how the heck would I get ahold of the 
>extra canisters at resupplies?

Cannister stoves are not a good option for a thru hiker because of the 
"partial cannister" problem. You end up having to carry a spare most of the 
time that means unneeded extra weight.

>  It does not seem realistic to mail them and risk the Post Office folks 
> catching me (I asked one if it was legal, and she gave me a resounding NO)

The Post Office folks you spoke to were wrong. You can mail it if packaged 
and marked properly. Search for "compressed" in 
http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub52.pdf

>So, I think I need to be talked out of just using my Whisperlite, but so 
>far I have not seen any clear reason why I should be.  Can anyone give me 
>a reason to leave it at home?

Compared to an alcohol stove your Whisperlite has too many moving parts, is 
unreliable and weighs too much. Hows that for good reasons?