>>510912Aside from the obvious differences in the cost of the stove and of course the pride of building something yourself, here are my thoughts on the pros and cons of each:
>>Alcohol stoves>Pros-mechanical simplicity - can't easily clog or suffer major malfunctions in the mechanism
-fuel is cheap and easy to obtain (advantage for thru-hikers who may be re-supplying at a gas station or who knows where)
-the equipment is lighter weight than a gas stove (less "dry weight")
-easy to gauge how much fuel you're using
-can use a little stove fuel as a fire starter
>Cons-relatively fragile (keep it inside a hard pot to protect it)
-slower to boil water (disadvantage in cold/wind where the environment is working against your already weak flame) - you absolutely need to use a windscreen, which is extra bulk/weight
-can't quickly refill the stove once it exhausts itself (if your water still has not boiled, for instance) - you need to wait for the stove to cool down before refilling it or risk a flame-up
-alcohol is less weight-efficient than gas (for trips longer than a few days, you'll generally carry more "wet weight" with this set up)
>>Canister stoves>Pros-fuel is very weight-efficient (advantage for long trips without a re-supply)
-gas stoves tend to burn very hot - they can heat up a pot of water very quickly and without need for a windscreen
-the "jet engine" sound of these things burning can be comforting reinforcement that they are working, compared to the sputtering yellow flame of an alcohol stove
