what stove for two people

[blantonator]

I'm looking for a stove and pot for two people on two to three day hikes. I've used canister stoves and hate not knowing how much gas I have, but they work easily and can simmer. I like granularity of an alcohol stoves, but am nervous that it will have problems cooking for two, or heating something up like soup or chili.

For two people, on weekend hikes, what route should I go?

Also, I got a pinnacle dualist for xmas, it's nice, but seems like a bit of overkill. What are your thoughts on this cookset? If I wasn't given it, I was going to just pickup a Ti pot.

Thanks,

[flemdawg1]

Canisters are pretty much the best way to go for 2 people. Alcohol stoves have problems with fuel capacity with the amounts of water needed for 2 folks. To get around your canister level annoyance you could either carry a spare or get some gauge stickers.
http://www.opticsplanet.net/brunton-...auge-buta.html

[warraghiyagey]

Same stove as for one person, just a little bigger pot, any outfitter has a nice choice, titanium are more expensive but light and durable. . . .

[blantonator]

right but if an alcohol stoves takes 16 minutes to boil 4 cups of water, and will only burn for 15 minutes, that may not be an ideal solution right?

[Nean]

I like the 2 person Jetboil.

[Mrs Baggins]

Our Whisperlight works well for the 2 of us. We use a 1.3 liter pot. When it's just me I use my Pocket Rocket and a 0.9 pot.

[tagg]

I use a MSR SuperFly with a Snow Peak Trek titanium pot (1.4 liters) for two of us. I can boil enough water for two meals in just a few minutes, and both are lightweight. I don't like guessing about canisters either, but if you're only going out for a weekend, one of the 8oz canisters is a gracious plenty. Since they only cost about $5, you could just bring a new one for every weekend trip and not have to worry.

[toegem]

blantonator, I second tagg why worry an 8 oz. canister of fuel should get you 70 mins. wide open and that should be more than enough fuel for a 2 or 3 day trip.

[warraghiyagey]

right but if an alcohol stoves takes 16 minutes to boil 4 cups of water, and will only burn for 15 minutes, that may not be an ideal solution right?

Wrong. . . . . . Then you just put the lid on and let it finish cooking with it's own heat. . . done it many times. . . .

[DAJA]

I'll second the Jetboil dual cook system... Reliable and easy... An 8 oz canister will easily last you for a couple of weekend trips, even at two boils a day..

[Spirit Walker]

We use one of Tinman's alcohol stoves with a 1.9 l pot. Dinner consists of a Liptons dinner with a package of tuna/salmon/spam. Midhike it'll be 1 1/2 packages of pasta/rice. It doesn't take long to heat the water to boiling.

We used to use a Whisperlight, but the weight savings of the alcohol stove, plus the fact that you can fly with it more easily, made us switch.

[BrianLe]

Depending on the particular dynamics of your hikes, you could consider a tri-ti stove that will burn alcohol or esbit tablets or ... wood. A pretty efficient and fairly lightweight system that avoids the issues that cannisters have.

Not a cheap system, however, if you're not heavily into backpacking.

There are alcohol-only systems that will simmer; at least the Brasslites will via a simmer ring.

[warraghiyagey]

[warraghiyagey]

Relatively inexpensive - 35$ for the stove. . . 7ish$ for the fuel. . . will last 2 weeks cooking twice a day. . . .

[russb]

the fancee feest alcohol stove is good enough to boil water for two people. it is very efficient, and quite fast for an alcohol stove. works great in sub-zero temps too.

[warraghiyagey]

the fancee feest alcohol stove is good enough to boil water for two people..

Also good for heating up your cat's dinner. . . .

[Feral Bill]

If you are going to be using it a lot, I'd recommend a white gas stove, particularly the SVEA. You can then cook for two nicely, including simmering, in all weather. The fuel is much cheaper than canisters, and for weekends, why sweat a few ounces.

[bigcranky]

Some couples carry two alcohol stoves and two small pots. A good alky stove can boil 2 cups of water in 6-8 minutes. With two of them:

-you can make two meals at once, and each of you can eat something different, if you like.

-each of you has a stove (and, presumably, food) in case you get separated during the day. (This has happened to me.)

-you can make a shared meal in one, and a shared hot drink in the other.

Me? I carry a canister stove when I hike with my wife. Easy and fast.

[garlic08]

We use one of Tinman's alcohol stoves with a 1.9 l pot. Dinner consists of a Liptons dinner with a package of tuna/salmon/spam. Midhike it'll be 1 1/2 packages of pasta/rice. It doesn't take long to heat the water to boiling.

We used to use a Whisperlight, but the weight savings of the alcohol stove, plus the fact that you can fly with it more easily, made us switch.

My wife and I will second this exactly. I made a pepsi can stove with extra holes (40 pin holes, I think) for more power and we had no problems cooking for two with it. I figured out how to simmer by adding water to the fuel, and even cooked rice a couple of times. In good weather, we could cook for two with a scant one ounce of fuel. The only better system I've ever found is not cooking at all.

[300winmag]

Stove> Brunton Flex.
Light, folds, and has a WIDE burner ring for evenly heating the 1.5 liter pot that two people need. (Made for Brunton by Primus, this is the Primus Crux but much improved.)

Pot> Any 1.5 L pot (1 L. is a bit too small)

or the JetBoil 1.5 L pot W/ lightening upgrades:
1.steel handles removed
2. handle attatchment panel cut away W/ Dremel tool, except for riveted area
3. center circle cut out of bottom Flux ring protector leaving the corrugated Flux Ring covered (unless you want to use this cover for one of your plates & the plastic lid for the other plate. Now THAT'S saving weight.)

I have done this to my JB 1.5 L pot and added a skeletonized aluminum pot gripper. Works great for me as a snow melting pot due to its greater heat transfer efficiency. I always use an MSR wind screen for maximum fuel efficiency.

The JB pot is the heart of the JB's fuel efficiency and buying just the pot and using it with a good windscreen is kind of cherry picking JB's system for the best features. You'll notice the Brunton Flex wide burner ring roughly matches JB's wide burner. Again, cherry picking W/O the JB burner's weight.

Eric