alcohol stoves at philmont?

[M B]

The tooth of time store at philmont states that "esbit and alcohol stoves are discouraged" and that they dont sell the fuel for those. So…….maybe. It doesnt say they are prohibited.

I think that in some cases what you can, or cannot bring resides with the ranger assigned to you.

However, not on topic, but in a large group that will need to carry only one or two decent stoves, and a couple fuel canisters, with ability to obtain more along way, I dont think alcohol offers any advantages.

[Doug Parker]

Thanks, I will continue to look into that. Probably won't go with alcohol, but it is nice to know it might be possible.

There are advantages and disadvantages to alcohol stoves.
The Vargo Triad Titanium Stove weighs only 1.06 ounces. Fuel is cheap, and you can plan more precisely how much fuel you will need, and take that on little extra. Because he fuel containers can be plastic, there is less weight for storage.

BTU compared to others is slightly less, but not much. These stoves have no moving parts, cannot be clogged and simply don't break.

Most do not regulate heat well, but if your only function is to boil water, this is a non-issue.

Just some thoughts.

[M B]

I like alcohol stoves. Simple, reliable, readily available fuel.

There is a chart somewhere here on BPL that shows the cross between weight carried curves for alcohol and conventional backpacking stoves, and its somewhere around 5 days or so I think, not sure I remember that well , that the conventional begins to be less weight due to the lower heating value per wt of alcohol.

Depends on assumed boils/day, etc, but basically the alcohol (ethanol) is little more than half the fuel value of conventional fuel. If you do 2 boils of 2cups water per day, at 1.5 oz total fuel usage(wt, not vol), after 5 days you need to carry 3.5 oz more alcohol fuel wt than conventional. At 10 days, you are looking at 7 oz more alcohol fuel, and you are clearly in the regime where conventional backpacking stove is superior in wt, as well as functionality.

For multiple persons that point would occur much sooner because the total use is magnified. So in a larger group alcohol really wouldnt be an efficient consideration at all. Throw in the fact that you dont have to carry all the conventional fuel, as it is available at resupply in the backcountry at philmont, and I think its pretty hard to make a weight efficiency case for a alcohol there.

Of course, other considerations like low temp operation can come into play in fuel choice.

Alcohol stoves are most popular for minimalist short trips, or on trails like the AT for solo use where resupply is only a few days apart, and fuel can be obtained at a gas station or convenience store.

[Author]

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