Do you guys ever carry one? Maybe on a certain kind of trip, like in winter where not having a stove would mean more than just going a little hungry, or on an extended trip, where you really need to eat every last ounce of what you brought?
I've been contemplating this since I had a remote canister stove fail on me about a year ago in full-on winter conditions in Colorado in March. I made it through the rest of a week's snow camping, but could have done without that complication!
That said, I'm trying to figure out the best one-size-fits-all option for a backup. My immediate intuition was esbit or some kind of solid fuel, but I don't like this because I often take trips where I'm flying somewhere and the solid fuel can't go on a plane. And solid fuel really wouldn't do much good for snow melting duties.
I also considered a backup canister stove, but in winter I like to use a liquid fuel stove, and I can't see taking all of the redundant stove equipment for a canister as well. Of course, if I am already using a compact canister stove for a non-winter trip, a second,small, pocket rocket type stove would seem like a good bet for a backup.
Another option that seems attractive would be a wood-burning Bushbuddy-type stove. I know they're slow and ponderous and finnicky, but from what I could tell it could still melt snow moderately well, and even if wet wood keeps me from building a fire in the short term, odds are on a longer trip it would probably be serviceable more often than not. A little heavy but also straightforward in operation. Never worry about having the right parts, maintenance, etc., just stick it in your pack and you know you have everything you need for your backup.
What do you guys think?
