Liquid vs. canister stoves….

I use a canister stove year round, but have to warm my canister up before using it. That being said, my version of winter and yours may be completely different. If you are going to be out too much in the cold, you might look for a inverted remote canister stove. A inverted canister handles cold better than a regular upright stove.

I'm in Pa and most of our trips will be in Pa with some up-state NY trips as opportunity allows. I am looking at the MSR Dragonfly stove since it used white gas as well as unleaded and kero.

Steve, the Dragonfly is a nice stove, particularly if the trips with your boys will involved cooking pancakes, bacon and eggs, etc. However, I wouldn't be concerned about the ability to burn multiple fuels. Once in nearly 15 years did I ever find the need to burn something other than white gas in a liquid fuel stove (perfect storm of bad stove maintenance).

If you compare the actual stove system weights, MSR's white gas Simmerlite is equivalent to a hair lighter than their remote-canister version, the Windpro. How so? Stove canister weight is less for the spun aluminum cylinder vs. the steel cans used for the iso/pro. Could you make a canister work in winter? Well, yeah. But I've found that liquid fuel stoves are a lot less fuss when the mercury drops.

If you're talking the "much more light weight" upright canister stoves, you can pretty much write them off for winter use. Yes, there are tricks to making them work. But I don't want to have to mess with reliability, having the canisters on my person and in my sleeping bag, pots of water, or other such fun.

Check out the Simmerlite. Comparable weight, no fuss. Great for "real" winter (0*F, give or take whatever temps you might reach).

I guess I need to determine whether I should buy a 3-season canister sove that would save weight as well as a liquid stove.

Or just buy one for all seasons.

I will certianly check out the stoves mentioned above. Thanks for the great references.

I guess a Trangia 25 UL alcohol stove could be an alternative to a multifuel stove. For three, the weight of 900 grams for a stove, two large pots, a great frying pan and an excellent windscreen is quite reasonable. I prefer the safety (and convenience) of a Trangia when I go out with my son of similar age. Swedes have used them for ages. I also have an Optimus Nova multifuel stove to work inside the Trangia for superb efficiency, but I often leave it at home.
Willem