The old backpacking stove versus my new alcohol stove on a 10-day trip in Montana

I used to swear by my little isobutane canister stove, you know, the kind you screw onto a tiny gas can. But on a trip through the Bob Marshall Wilderness last summer, I finally tried a homemade alcohol stove I read about online. The difference was night and day, honestly. With the canister, I was always worried about how much fuel I had left and those cans get heavy fast when you're hiking 15 miles a day. The alcohol stove weighs next to nothing, and I just carried a small plastic bottle of denatured alcohol that lasted the whole trip. Plus, I could see exactly how much fuel I had left by looking at the bottle, no guessing. Has anyone else switched to a different stove setup for longer hikes?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakota_rivera1mo ago

It's funny how once you start cutting weight in one area, you start looking at everything different, like realizing how much useless junk we carry around in our daily lives too. That whole "see exactly what you got left" thing applies to way more than just fuel, you know what I mean?

shane_ross1mo ago

Seems a little heavy for something that's basically just packing a lighter lunch bag. Cutting out some extra clothes or tossing old shoeboxes doesn't really change the big picture of your life. We've been told our whole lives that a cleaner room equals a clearer mind, and I'm not completely buying it. Most people just swap out one kind of clutter for another anyway, like trading old hobbies for new gear you'll never use. Sure, it feels good for a week, but does it actually fix anything?

leo_campbell1mo ago

Man I feel you on that one. It's wild how once you start paying attention to one thing, your eyes just open up to all the other clutter. I've been going through my closet and garage lately, and it's like I'm seeing everything for the first time. Stuff I kept "just in case" for years that I never touched once. It kind of makes you wonder what else we're holding onto that's just weighing us down, you know? Have you found yourself letting go of more than just physical stuff now?