A month ago I decided i wanted a Jetboil Stove because of fuel availability and because of the mug/pot that comes with it ($100 online)

But then a few days ago, i decided to go with a Pocket Rocket (I made a thread here asking how to build a pot) because of its $39 price.

But then this morning when I woke up, I realized I could save even more money, and just get an alcohol/can stove for a few bucks.

So I drove 40miles to Chattanooga to check out 'ROCK CREEK OUTFITTERS' that local hikers recommended. But when I got there, the place had a serious 'yuppie' tone to it. And along with overpriced items. It seems more like an upscale boutique, with a large selection of hiking etc gear.

But while I was looking for the alcohol/bottle/can stoves, I was told by an employee "We don't carry them" and when i asked 'why', he replied "Because we only sell things we use ourselves. And we can't make money selling those. We like these jetboil stoves ($122, which is $22 higher than the MSRP) and we don't believe Alcohol stoves to be a good cooking source".

Once he walked away, I asked another employee if they had the can stoves, and she said "We don't. We don't find them useful".

That seems odd. So i bought a national geographic map of the local Cohutta hiking area, and a Pocket Profile of the GA portion of the A.T. and decided to go 11 miles further to Sportmans Warehouse (which is like a little Bass Pro Shop, if you've never been to it)

Once there, I saw about 4 different stove options (Jetboil, pocket Rocket etc. and about 30 "Solite alcohol stoves"... The guy that helped me find the alcohol stoves told me "we sell about a box every day (30 units). It's the cheapest and lightest stove to use". I know you can buy a cheap home-made alcohol stove online for $8 but paying $25 to buy it right away in the store was worth it, to me.

After I grabbed my new alcohol stove, I noticed the store had a Sale on JetBoil Zip on sale for $59 (normally $89 online, and at the store I was just at for $110).... I almost got it. But then i realized instead of spending $59 plus fuel, i can just buy the alcohol stove for $25, plus a 5pieve aluminum cooking set for $9 and Heet fuel for $4. ($40 for everything, sincetead of $65 for the jetfoil and fuel.)

Since this is my first actual cooking 'stove' I ever bought, i was wondering "are there people that don't believe the the usefulness of alcohol stoves?" Or did Rock Creek Outfitters just say that because they can't make a huge profit compared to the other stoves?

Without starting a debate about alcohol vs other stoves, i was wondering if Alcohol stoves really are popular to use? Or did I just get brain washed into thinking they are great, because of the few posts I read about them?

(I should be taking it out to use this week)