Alcohol stoves and Altitude

interesting that at altitude alcohol in the backpacking stove doesn’t work quite as well, but alcohol in the backpacker works much, much better

i haven’t used mine real high yet, but I know someone who swears he had no problem up to 12K with his

i’ve elected to bring my snowpeak giga on my weeklong trip for a couple reasons, mostly unrelated to the altitude effects on the alcohol

one reason is related to altitude – since I’ve noticed most things are a bit harder to do, I decided to go with the giga to cut down on the fiddle factor

also, since temps and winds can be an issue, I decided to go with the more bullet proof stove – I know I can get suitable btus for my pot without having to wait for the stove to cool and add more alcohol if I have the giga instead (as long as I remembered to sleep with a canister)

> I am going to be at 10,000 ft and higher the whole trip. Just cooking dinners for four nights …
… should I bring my Snow Peak Giga instead?

Yep.

Cheers
Roger Caffin

thanks for the replies. after much thought I weighed my Mo Go and alcohol for 4 nights (8oz) and then weighed my Snow Peak Giga with a 110 cannister. The results? The Snow Peak set up came in an ounce lighter. I am going to Whitney on Friday and then down to Miter Basin and out Horshoe Meadows so all of my hiking is pretty high up on this trip. Thanks guys!!

Just got back from Horseshoe Meadow myself and spent 5 days at above 10k feet. I used the Thermojet set and did not have any problem with fueling or using it. Took about the same amount of time as at lower altitudes to boil water. I did find that I had evaporative loss of fuel from my Little Nipper bottle of about 2 oz. That suprised me and concerned me. Luckily I had filled it to the brim before I left, so the loss of fuel did not affect the trip. Good Luck — I ran into late afternoon T storms that lasted for hours and a hail storm that put 3″ of hail on the ground near New Army Pass on one of my days!!

Has anyone else run into this evaporative loss of fuel issue using alcohol??

Now that sounds like every Sierra trip that I have taken so far this year (T-Storms)!Thanks for the info.