You're absolutely right in sentence one, but seem to be misstating the concept at hand.

According to your statement, killing is a function of time and temp. Well, since water boils at a lower temp at altitude, then by default you have to boil LONGER to kill the bugs. So, yeah, you use more fuel. Go look at any cookbook, the recipes are all adjusted with a longer cooking time at altitude. Though I found articles that say boiling doesn't change much http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/canister_stove_faq.html


I'm not saying he did everything right. In fact, he should have turned around back to that fallen sign and cross-trail, or he should have spent the first night getting things set up for a 18 mile walk, fully topped off with water and food, on the following moring. At least, that's how I would have played it.

But he didn't. Still, he's now survived this situation, partially through equipment, and partially through luck. So in some ways, he's more of an "expert" at survival than most of us arm-chair quarterbacks. Therefore, he did something right. Just like DR said in post 1.

Edit: I just reread the article, and we don't know what type of stove he had. That being said, i stand by my original statement.