Alcohol fuel...how much?

[Singto]

How much alcohol fuel per day do you carry while on the AT?
(boil a couple cups of water for dinner and HEATING a cup for morning coffee)

What is the price per ounce for alcohol at outfitters, hostels and the like?

Do hikers "split" bottles or cans they buy in retail stores?

What is the most common resupply method (bottles at retail stores or by the ounce) along the AT?

Alcohol storage (in the pack) bottle ideas?

Thank you

[kayak karl]

how much does your stove burn? never had trouble getting fuel by the ounce or just getting Heet. keep it in fuel bottle (http://www.ultralightdesigns.com/images/accessories/cobalt-Bottles-Big.jpg). never worried about price.

[MuddyWaters]

Most will buy heet, because it comes in small bottles.
Available almost anywhere.
Many outfitters and hostels do sell alcohol too.

I only use 0.5 oz /day, just to boil water for dinner. I actually use slightly less. A 4oz bottle lasts me 8+ days.

Most will plan 1oz to boil 2 cups with less egficient setups like cat can stoves. Boiling 2x per day, you would need 10oz for 5 days.

Lightest bottle is really a thin eco water bottle. An 8 oz weighs under 0.5 oz. But there is a big advantage to a bottle with a snout you can suck up unused fuel with.

[Dochartaigh]

For how much fuel per day, I would do a test with your stove. My alcohol stove (caldera cone with either Fosters pot or Toaks light titanium 650ml pot), in moderate weather (say 50º and above) will boil 2 cups of water on about 15-17-ish ml of alcohol (never measured exactly, I always use 20ml and after the water comes to a boil it burns for maybe a minute - more like two before it goes out).

Stoves can vary widely on their efficiency so yours may be similar or it may use 30ml+ (50% more) fuel to achieve the same (wind can play a big part if you don't have a good windscreen).

Lightest bottle for me is a simple water bottle, as lightweight as I can find (i.e. Fuji and other expensive brand bottles tend to be heavier).

I would also look into a canister stove. I'm mostly a weekender to ~5 day trip kinda guy (slowly moving towards longer trips), but there's lots of information out there about how canister stoves for longer trips, even when heavier themselves, still come out lighter since you get so many boils out of a canister of gas (bunch of math comes into play here depending on your trips' schedule if you're a real stickler for going as light as possible)

[BirdBrain]

My signature says it all. I typically carry a full bottle of HEET and replace as it gets close. My last leg of NH last year was 7 days. I had about a third of a bottle left at the end of that leg. There were a few high elevation mornings in the low 40's on that leg. A full bottle gives me a good safety factor for a 10 walk. I boil 2 cups in the morning and 2 at night.

[CarlZ993]

I used an alcohol stove (Zelph's Fancee Feast Stove) on my 2013 AT hike. I planned on using about 1 oz of fuel a day. I actually used a little less. I usually only cooked in the evening. On rare occasions, I cooked something for breakfast. I carried my fuel in a 12 oz empty Coke bottle. Very sturdy bottle. Never leaked. It was easy to buy fuel by the ounce along the way.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably go w/ a canister stove (Soto Windmaster) instead. Fairly fuel efficient w/o the weight of a JetBoil or MSR Reactor/Windboiler.

[Singto]

Great stuff everyone, thank you for the input and specific information. I'm experimenting with a cat can stove and the Alocs stove at the moment. Thanks again!