Trangia or MSR Wisperlite

[theshadowshop]

A family of 4 hiking for 3.5 days, 6 boils of 32 oz each.

One child will not be carrying anything but water
Another Child will have less than 10lbs
This leaves Mom and Dad to carry the rest of the weight.
We are going as light as possible (since mom/dad carry all weight)

Choice Trangia (inside rolling boil 10min) with clickstand or MSR Wisperlite international (inside boil less time but not by much?
How Much do we need to carry: Alcohol? or White Gas?

Weight is important, our total kitchen with the trangia and 20oz of fuel is 3lb. The weight on the white gas is 4lbs with 20oz fuel.

What is your opinion? Is there a good rule of thumb or site for more info?

Thanks

[Tinker]

A Trangia will need a lot more weight in fuel to boil the same amount of water (especially so if the amount is more than 16 oz). The extra weight of the Whisperlite stove might be worth it to save the fuel weight, plus there won't be as much waiting time (kids, you understand ;)).

[Mountain Pig]

Three of us just hiked in the Smokies and shared a whisperlite. We were out for seven days and used the stove everynight and about three times for breakfast. We had an 11 fl. oz bottle of fuel. We finished with a little left.

[Alligator]

I had a similar decision myself recently (plus I was the only parent, no one to split gear with). I went with the white gas, because as Tinker mentions, the faster the food comes out the better, particularly if the weather is inclement. It was only a three day trip with three people, we used a few ounces over 1/2 of a 22 oz of white gas using a Simmerlite stove. That's breakfast, dinner, and a hot drinks (tea, hot chocolate). How much gas you use depends on your cooking style and what exactly you are cooking. Whenever I share a stove, I try to aim for reducing priming by having pots/mugs ready to put on the stove as something finishes.

I'll add that you want the family to be happy so don't skimp on the food or leave things crunchy just to save a few ounces of fuel.

[Spokes]

Neither.

A Pocket Rocket (kids like the sound it makes) and two large canisters is all you need. Simple.

[The Snowman]

I would go with the wisperlite. you need to carry less fuel, it heats faster and handlers bigger pots better.

[theshadowshop]

Thanks, We are going with the Wisperlite. I could take the 11oz or the 20oz bottle. Im going to go with the 20oz and see how much I have left over unless you all think 11oz is good enough.

[Enic]

I can hike five+ days with three hot meals per day, for two people, with my dragonfly... a little less than half a 20oz bottle is usually left. I use the simmer feature and turn down the heat with a lot of my cooking though. With four, ecspecially if two are kids, I think I'd take the 20oz to play it safe. Nothing worse than trying to comvice a kid to eat crunchy noodles because you ran out of fuel...