A stranger at a rest stop made me rethink my stove setup

Last month I was making coffee at a campsite in Vermont when a guy in an old Subaru walked over and asked why I was using a liquid fuel stove. He said he switched to a simple canister stove after his liquid fuel bottle lost pressure at 6,000 feet and ruined a whole dinner. I've been loyal to my liquid fuel stove for over a decade because it felt more rugged, but he had a point about the hassle of priming and cleaning. Now I'm wondering if I've been overcomplicating things for zero real benefit. Has anyone else switched back to canisters after years of liquid fuel?

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simonp4715d ago

The pressure thing is a bit of a myth, actually. Liquid fuel stoves don't really lose pressure from altitude, they lose it from cold. Butane in canisters does the opposite, it struggles in the cold. So that guy had it backwards, but his point still stands if he was cooking in freezing temps with a canister. I ran a liquid fuel stove for years because I do a lot of winter camping, and switching to canisters meant carrying a separate winter blend fuel and still having it sputter below 20 degrees. But for summer and shoulder season trips, canisters are way simpler and I never miss the priming ritual. The real answer is having both, depending on the trip, not forcing yourself to pick one forever.