Weight difference - MSR Stove & Cat can stove

[Lnj]

I googled the step by step on how to make a cat can stove, which looks simple enough, as I am interested in going as light as possible on as many thing in my gear as I can, in order to allow more creature comforts and achieve a much lighter pack weight. I have the MSR stove which is tiny and light and easy, so is the weight difference between that and the cat can stove worth even doing? I started at a 42 pound pack weight. Not base, that's loaded with food and water and everything except what I was wearing on my body and my keys and wallet. That said, there are tons of ways to make big weight changes and I am going to do many of them immediately, but if I can make something that will make a real difference in my pack weight on something that isn't really a big comfort item to me, then I will. Who knows what the weight difference is in these 2 stoves or is it all very subjective?

[CarlZ993]

My home-made Fancy Feast stove weighs 0.2 oz (not including a needed windscreen). If you're talking about the MSR PocketRocket, mine weighs about 4.2 oz w/ the case.

Both will work. The PocketRocket will boil faster. Also, the horizontal flame pattern of the Fancy Feast stove work better with wider pots. Narrower pots will let the flames go up the side of the pot & take longer to boil water.

My $0.02: For weight savings, concentrate of items that you don't absolutely need to take, then the big items (tent, sleeping bag/quilt, pack, sleeping pad, etc), and then the smaller items (stoves, pots, etc). Weigh everything & put it in a spreadsheet or use Geargrams.com (free website for gearheads).

Good luck in your quest for a lighter pack.

[orthofingers]

Have you weighed your MSR stove vs the cat stove. You don't mention if the MSR is a canister type stove (ala pocket rocket). Unfortunately, it's not as straight forward as weighing both and going with the lightest. There have been threads on here where people have made spread sheets of the total weight carried (stove, fuel, fuel container, windscreen etc.) vs number of days on the trail with the number of hot meals per day, carrying empty canisters on multi day trips etc., etc., etc.
i could have this wrong but I think the bottom line was that the longer you're on the trail, the less of a weight advantage it is to use a light alcohol stove vs a canister. If it's winter and you need to melt snow, then I believe a white gas stove was the hands down winner.

Alcohol stoves have a bit of a "fiddle factor" but some people enjoy that. It's hard to beat the quickness and convenience of a canister. I will use either because sometimes I like to fiddle a bit and sometimes I'm too lazy.

I'm not going to go into the weight thing but your pack would be too heavy for me. I'll bet you could achieve some significant weight savings with either stove system.

[Lnj]

I have the MSR pocket rocket already and the S2S 4L cook pot. I got the big one on purpose, because I always hike with my husband and we share one meal usually, that requires a bigger pot. Last time we made a soup for dinner that, made according to instructions, filled the 4L almost to the top. I have a little cup for my single servings. With that said, I was trying to figure if it makes sense to build a cat can stove and take that in lieu of my MSR PR. I already know I can (and will) get a lighter big pot when I can, as the UL Titanium one I found that was comparable in size was insanely expensive. Found a cat can stove online, with stand and windscreen that all together weighs in at 1.6oz. Plus the alcohol is probably lighter than the canister, so it may be well worth it. Right now, we aren't out for more than 4 or 5 days at a time, and we will never be out for more than 10 days at a time, but we do like to winter hike more so than summer. I'm thinking its worth the build.

[Lnj]

My home-made Fancy Feast stove weighs 0.2 oz (not including a needed windscreen). If you're talking about the MSR PocketRocket, mine weighs about 4.2 oz w/ the case.

Both will work. The PocketRocket will boil faster. Also, the horizontal flame pattern of the Fancy Feast stove work better with wider pots. Narrower pots will let the flames go up the side of the pot & take longer to boil water.

My $0.02: For weight savings, concentrate of items that you don't absolutely need to take, then the big items (tent, sleeping bag/quilt, pack, sleeping pad, etc), and then the smaller items (stoves, pots, etc). Weigh everything & put it in a spreadsheet or use Geargrams.com (free website for gearheads).

Good luck in your quest for a lighter pack.

I already have an ultralight tent. A down versus synthetic bag is on my list already and I am unwilling to part with my pads. Comfort of sleep is paramount. So I'm looking at what I don't need to bring at all, what I can bring, but in a different way, and what I can supplement with UL gear.

[Hosh]

My $0.02: For weight savings, concentrate of items that you don't absolutely need to take, ....

Like your wallet

Try this: http://www.hikelight.com/articles.html

[Gambit McCrae]

4L pot holy cow! Are you sure Tipi didnt give you that??? You could cook bear valley soup for an entire shelter in a 4L pot haha, just need something big enough to boil 2-3 cups of water. I think on a serious note it would be very benificial for you to post an a-z pack list, maybe with pictures and folks can help suggest things to leave out or minimalize

[Lnj]

But don't you have to have some form of ID on you and possibly money for unexpecteds? And Lord knows I wouldn't want to leave my everything locked up in my car. If someone took it, they would have my entire life. Maybe just leave it all home then, except license and maybe a card or two?

[Lnj]

4L pot holy cow! Are you sure Tipi didnt give you that??? You could cook bear valley soup for an entire shelter in a 4L pot haha, just need something big enough to boil 2-3 cups of water. I think on a serious note it would be very benificial for you to post an a-z pack list, maybe with pictures and folks can help suggest things to leave out or minimalize

LOL! I know. It's big. But if it's for 2 people to eat out of??? Maybe I can still take it down a bit. Certainly, I can go lighter. That's a good idea. I had started one a long time ago on lighterpacks.com but I changed so much and couldn't find weights of everything so I abandoned it.

[la.lindsey]

LOL! I know. It's big. But if it's for 2 people to eat out of??? Maybe I can still take it down a bit. Certainly, I can go lighter. That's a good idea. I had started one a long time ago on lighterpacks.com but I changed so much and couldn't find weights of everything so I abandoned it.

I eat out of a 550ml pot. I have rarely wished it were larger, and I can eat a lot (a section hiker dubbed worthy of thru-hiker hunger by many dudes).

I also carry only an ID, one card, and my insurance card with me (plus a little cash). It all fits in the secured zipper pouch of my beloved fanny pack.

The fanny pack also carries my phone (maps and journal and camera) and snacks for the next few hours. A wallet just sits there. As I moved to cutting weight from my pack, I tried to make sure that everything could do more than one thing or, if it did only one thing, it was a REALLY important thing.

Holding stuff is not a really important thing, you know? (Which is why I got rid of the case my pocket rocket came in, for when I use that instead of an alcohol stove.)


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[Hosh]

But don't you have to have some form of ID on you and possibly money for unexpecteds? And Lord knows I wouldn't want to leave my everything locked up in my car. If someone took it, they would have my entire life. Maybe just leave it all home then, except license and maybe a card or two?

Well, I leave everything at home except what I'll need, driver's license, credit card, debit card, and some paper money. Others have mentioned weighting everything, a great idea, you have to concentrate on ounces, 1/2 ounces, 1/4 ounces to get your base weight down. Everything should be used, with the exception of FAK, Survival kit, and maybe rain gear.

Backpackinglight.com has more rigorous discussions on getting down to UL or Lightweight base weights.

[MuddyWaters]

it all depends on the stove and the windscreen and the pot, and how much fuel you use AND carry.
Typically, the alcohol will only be less wt for less than 5 days or so at a time.
If you plan to boil more than once per day, ie breakfast, forget it.
Thats typical. My alcohol setup is lighter out to much longer periods.

But, it all depends on the stove, pot , windscreen, fuel container, and amount of fuel carried, and daily usage.
An alcohol stove MUST have a windscreen. No ifs, ands, or maybes.

The biggest draw for alcohol , even when not lightest , on AT is that fuel is available anywhere, at gas stations, etc, in the form of HEET.

Typical cat can stove will use 3-4x the weight of fuel that a cannister will ....per boil. About .75-1 oz vs 0.25-.3 oz.There are much more efficient alcohol stoves that only use 0.4-0.5 oz per boil.

A couple oz for a stove, is not your lowest hanging fruit.

[egilbe]

My hiking wallet is a ziplock Baggie with my drivers license, insurance card, debit or credit card and some $20 bills. I carry one car key. My gf and I eat out of a 1.4 liter titanium pot that fits my caldera cone. We each carry our own pads and food, she carries the two person quilt, I carry the stove and tarp/bugnet. Neither of our packs, with food and water, top 30 pounds. Even for our planned 10 day trip from Katahdin south this Summer, we don't expect our packs to exceed 35 pounds.

[Venchka]

I own an aluminum 1 liter pot and lid. It cost me ~$10 with a wind screen for a SVEA 123 stove on a clearance table. The pot and lid are lighter than some of the 1 liter titanium pots for sale today.
Two people can easily eat from a 1 liter pot. If not, make two batches.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[fiddlehead]

You should probably go out on two different trips and try each one separately and see what YOU think.
Can you put up with the slow time on the cat stove?
(the cartridge stoves are extremely fast and convenient, but weigh more)
How important is it to save the weight to you?
These things are usually a trade-off.
Up to you.
I've tried both.
I like the pocket rocket when I'm trying to do big miles.
If I'm just out with my son, and in no hurry, I'll build fires when I can or use the lightweight cat stove.

[left52side]

I myself have found that I have cut A big chunk of weight off my entire cook kit by going to lighter options such as alcohol stove.
I would strongly recommend checking out some other options of alchy stoves and there effectiveness of max boil time and fuel efficiency.
The reason I say this is because although be it A great stove and one of the first I used when switching to alcy stoves it is not the most fuel efficient.
Zelph makes great ultralight stoves at an affordable price. check out his page at woodgaz stoves or just google zelph stoves and his page will pop up.
If money is tight there are several youtube videos on other options of stoves that work great in cold weather and are simple to use and fuel efficient.
I found one of my favorites are the fancee feast stove with fiberglass wick that zelph uses.
It is great on fuel efficiency and will boil two cups of water using 1/2 of fuel where the supercat uses about an ounce.
that cuts fuel weight in half right out of the gate.
I have found that simple is best for me,and the canisters with compressed gas in my pack as well as the bulk and weight was an easy switch.
Just shoot me A pm if you need any more info or have any questions.
I am A collector of alchy stoves and ultralight cook kits and all that likes

[Venchka]

It boils down to......pun intended.
Minimum expected ambient temperature.
Number of liters of water boiled between resupply.
Do you prefer eating to watching grass grow or waiting on an inferior, BTU deficient fuel to get around to heating your water?
Drink alcohol, don't burn it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

[Hosh]

I own an aluminum 1 liter pot and lid. It cost me ~$10 with a wind screen for a SVEA 123 stove on a clearance table. The pot and lid are lighter than some of the 1 liter titanium pots for sale today.
Two people can easily eat from a 1 liter pot. If not, make two batches.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

Open Country makes some economical aluminum pots. Ok, as long as you don't cook with acidic ingredients, otherwise hard anodized aluminum is much better.

[Connie]

The stove selection deprnds on your food prep and your camping style and where you are.

If you leave your stove unattended, while setting up your shelter, or whatever, I don't have advice because an unattended flame is unacceptable. There is also the added consideration of the forest or park rules: the stove may be required to have an ON/OFF switch, or fuel requirements.

If I am camping more than hiking, I like to spend time over food prep. If hiking more than camping, I want food now so I prefer no-cook food, rather than rush food preparation.

Only my JetBoil is faster than my Zelph Starlyte w/optimized cookware and optimized windscreen.

My SOTO OD-1R is fast, but the cookpot windscreen is not optimum, although it is fully around the cookpot, the windscreen cannot be lower then the bottem of the cookpot.

Never put a windscreen around a canister stove.

[life scout]

My wife and I go hiking together. When we go we take a canister stove. I take the cat can alcohol stove on solo or overnight trips.

When cooking with a huge pot the cat can stove won't have the btu's to get a lot of water hot. Not enough fuel.

I take a pot that will hold 4-6 cups. Big enough for 3 people really. The canister stove make more weight sense the more cooking you do. The amount of alcohol fuel will pass the weight saving after 6 or 7 cooked meals.