Stove for winter on the cdt.

[Timinator]

Seriously considering a possible winter hike on at least part of the cdt and I'm wondering what kind of stove to bring. I'm in favor of wood stove (even though I don't have that much experience with it yet, I'm learning), I have a pretty good wood choper knife and a wood stove that weighs in about about 10 ounces all together. But I'm wondering if the effort to extract dry wood from things is worth the weight loss of using a wood stove. Anyone more experienced on the matter want to give me some advice?

[grayfox]

If you go with a wood stove, take along a pair of garden pruning shears to cut up small sticks for the stove. It is so easy to use them with cold hands. I have a pair made by Fiskars that are fairly light and durable.

The usual answer is to go with white gas for good fuel to btu ratio and ease of lighting. But alcohol, as many here will no doubt attest, works in winter.

It depends on how you cook of course, but if you are serious about staying out in the worst weather, I would go with white gas. I would also carry a few esbit tabs as backup. If you are in a place where fire is ok you can always set up a campfire if you need to. If you are with a friend, and you know everyone will tell you not to go alone in winter, you should each carry some way to heat a cup of water even if it is just an esbit tab--you know it's like Dave Canterbury says, "Two is one and one is none." Best to have two options in winter.

[Timinator]

I see, that is kind of unfortunate...I hate the inconvenience of having to buy gas and carry the weight. Oh well thanks for the advice I'll look into white gas then or perhaps alcohol.