I've just reread the article and the stove appears to be a jetboil and not an MSR Reactor stove. The Jetboil has a slightly smaller water boiling capacity.



Photo courtesy of Ross Mason.

So his capacity to boil water would have taken slightly longer but still would have been able to boil the water with the about the same time and efficiency as the Reactor Stove.

I don't think access to a clean or sterilized water resource was the issue though as others have stated who know the area.

Again after rereading the article there does seem to lots of excuses such as minor equipment failures etc for not being able to walk out rather than taking the option of sitting down and staying put and expecting SAR to come and get him in a rescue.

Staying put or self extraction can be a tough decision, many folks have died just staying put due to one reason or another, others have survived because they have been proactive. I think it would be fair to say that this guy survived simply because there really wasn't anything that was going to kill him such as really poor weather i.e hyperthermia or hypothermia, dehydration, predatory wild animals, starvation or ill health etc. This hiker, it seems, was initially almost lost due to a navigation error who then pressed on to make his almost lost situation into a completely lost scenario, found his bearings again but then it seems decided to become the 'wilderness survivor' because he knew his trekking time was up and probably knew that a SAR operation had swung into action.

Either way, I suspect he would have eventually made it out, SAR operation or not as 18 miles back to your hire car in reasonable weather is not exactly Scott of the Antarctic territory.