Canisters seem like such extra baggage to me. That's just me, I guess.
Well, no, actually not. The fuel to container ratio is really bad on canister stoves.
Consider: What does a 100 g Jetboil canister weigh? 100 g.
Wait. Do you mean to tell me that the container weighs as much as the fuel? In other words half of the weight I'm carrying is "dead" weight, i.e. just the wrapper on what I really want?
Yes, that's correct. That's why alcohol is almost always lighter in the end even on longer trips. With alcohol the fuel to container weight ratio is something like 20:1 whereas with the most commonly used canister sizes, it can be as bad as 1:1.
Liquid fueled stoves that use aluminum fuel bottles do better on the fuel to weight ratio, particularly on longer trips where one might bring an entire liter of fuel.
HJ
