Stove Options

Posted by Tom

Jenna alluded to the stove debate in the last post, so I will review the options that are available to us.

1). We could use a multi-fuel stove that can burn white gas/gasoline. This is what our friend Rob P. did last year in his Sobo try and he thought that there was adequate fuel available. The cons are these stoves are by far the heaviest (some nearing two pounds), and gasoline is a dirty fuel.

2). Most through hikers use a alcohol stove. These stoves have three benefits, they are light, they are uncomplicated (nothing to go wrong), and they are cheap (the cost of a catfood can). However, I am concerned about fuel availability. You can burn this fuel additive that is sold in stores called "Heet." Heet is essentially wood alcohol (methanol, not like the stuff you drink, ethanol). While Heet is available in some stores, it is not universally available. This would mean that we would have to either carry lots of it (which I am disinclined to due for weight issues), or mail it ahead to ourselves. You can legally mail fuel, although it must travel by ground which is both slow and not available for some of our resupplies (Stehekin, all mail is flown in).

3). Canister stoves are relatively cheap (the stoves, not the fuel), and super easy to use. On a tired day, we could roll into camp and quickly heat up water. They are somewhat idiotproof (thankfully), they have a high heat output and the stoves are adjustable, a.k.a. you can simmer. The downsides: you would have to rely on resupplies because the fuel would largely be unavailable in town and the fuel would likely be the most expensive option.

4). Lastly there is the woodstove. Not like the big heavy cast iron thing that some people use to heat their homes, but small, relatively lightweight (under 1 lb) aluminum/titanium cookstoves. Their are many disadvantages to a woodstove. They might not be totally legal in Wilderness Areas (as collecting the fuel is prohibited, not the woodstove). There are concerns about finding fuel above the tree line or in deserts. There is the problem of inclement weather.

But woodstoves are also appitizing for many other reasons. Fuel is virtually everywhere (if you are not above tree line or in a desert). The fuel is free, or the cost of a Bic lighter. The hippy in me loves this, it is a carbon NEGATIVE fuel source. The residual carbon in the ash, if buried, would be sequestered into the soil. That is cool.

Lastly, I like the aesthetic. Campfires, even if it is a dinky woodstove fed by twigs, is a romantic notion. It seems right that in an excursion into wilderness, that a woodfire heat my food.

Right now I am leaning toward woodstove, Jenna toward canister. Either way, we would buck the usual trend of thru-hikers to use alcohol stoves. We both like to be trend-setters.