Stove for Patagonian trip

I used a a soto micro regulator canister stove with a windscreen. I found fuel canisters to be the easiest to find by far, but unfortunately you are correct about the recycling problem. There are places that take full, empty, and partially used canisters to share and to recycle (for example Erratic Rock in Puerto Natales). You will want a stove that can simmer because what you WON'T find is a lot of dehydrated type meals. We were there for a month and did a fair amount of grocery shopping…and most of the hot food needed to be cooked and simmered.

Depending on where you go, the established trekking spots have good cooking shelters for wind protection, and in the off-the-beaten track places my vestibule worked perfectly. I rarely if ever actually cooked in the open.

Be very, very careful about open fires there…the winds really are nothing to joke about and last December/January the famous Torres del Paine circuit shut down because of a major forest fire started by a single match.

The place is amazing tho…

Have a great trip!!

I don't own one but from seeing them in action on very windy days I'd go with the lightest JetBoil made. Their built-in windscreen & heat exchanger pot is great. I use the large JB pot (but not stove) for melting snow on winter trips B/C the pot-bottom heat exchanger works so well.

And, as mentioned, when not windy you will save a lot of fuel due to its high efficiency.

Well, I'm sorry it took me so long to answer. When I was about to do it, it was just when the forum was blocked to non-paying members. But people took the time to answer my questions so I should have done it later… So first, thanks so much for your answers.

Just recently, I was asked what I finally decided. I haven't actually left to Patagonia yet. I'm leaving on Jan 16th to Buenos Aires and a week later to Patagonia. And the stove is one of the very few things left on my list. I'm getting closer though. Some people on a French forum suggested I should go with alcohol and wood but I just know myself and I won't deal with wood. Gathering the wood at the end of the day, I know it won't happen… I've thought about the Jetboil and even more the REactor (the new smaller one) because it's way better with wind than the Jetboil, but because they're really specialized systems, if anything breaks during this 6 month trip, I'll be stuck and will have to get stove + pot.
So my plan is to go with a canister stove, a light one (I still have to decide which one though) and a wind screen that doesn't cover the canister so it doesn't get too hot. And I might take also an alcohol stove and I'll see what works best in the conditions there and get rid of one of them once I know.

Anne-Sophie,

My Uncle just returned from a two week trip in Patagonia where the MSR Rocket was a group of three's only stove.

Your trip being six months sounds fantastic! How unfortunate you are unable to work in a lightweight (multifuel) burner like the Bushbuddy into your gear. With it being so light, might you not feel fine to incorporate it in as a redundancy, allowing you to use available fuels as available and when legal to do so?

Enjoy your trip!

I would suggest a remote canister stove, because:
* they are much more stable than a canister-top stove,
* the windshield does not need to be as tall and is therefore easier to pack,
* the flame control is outside the windshield,
* the canister is separate from the stove and will not get hot,
* you can use any shape of screw canister

If you are not expecting freezing temperatures you don't even need one with a vapourizer tube, eg Fire Maple FMS-117T which I think is around 100g

Oops, I did not realized people answered… I thought I would be warned by an email. I'm so much in my to-do list (leaving in 5 days) that I forgot to check the forum.

Thanks William and Stuart.

I'm gonna be cycling (unicycling) so gathering wood will be annoying and would have to be done only at the final stop.

"If you are not expecting freezing temperatures you don't even need one with a vapourizer tube, eg Fire Maple FMS-117T which I think is around 100g"
Great point, I had not thought of the fact I don't need the vapourizer because I don't expect cold temperature. I had read about that stove but thought I needed the vapourizer.
But by leaving in 5 days, it's going to be hard to get a hold of this particular stove though.

Very easy to get fuel throughout Patagonia, there are recycling programs in the bigger cities, and you will be able to simmer. Like I said, I love my soto microregulator, it simmers very well, super light, and fits into a pot with the canister. Very compact and easy to use.

The pocket rocket is cheap and wonderful as well…never used one but they look just fine.

Good luck!!

Does anyone know where in Argentina to get the small size (100g) canister that packs inside a Jetboil. They are not available in Bariloche. Thanks.