A windscreen can be added and is still competitive for system weight.



Here is a comparable setup using a propane/butane gas burner setup

Hi Gear Blaze Titanium Gas Stove 49g
Primus Clip-On stove windscreen 60g
Primus Stove Foot Rest 22g
Alpkit MytiPot 1350ml pot + lid (doubles as frypan) + handle 172g
100 g Gas Cartridge 165g

Total - 468 g

At first glance this setup would appear to be heavier by around 55 grams but the pot is much larger at 1350ml (could even possibly cater for 1-2 people) and it has a separate fry pan.
To boil the same amount of water you would need around 195g of alcohol compared to 100g of propane/butane (Methylated spirit @0.026MJ/g compared with propane/butane@0.050MJ/g), but this difference is roughly equivalent to the weight of pot cozy and ziploc container. Initial purchase Cost is comparable in the UK @ around £85. Running cost is a different matter though, but in reality this is down to the type of cooking and type of food that it brought along. Boiling water only capability for a freeze dried mountain house is expensive.

Alcohol stoves aren't really considerably lighter except for the occasional single overnight stay where the liquid alcohol fuel weight can be dialed in specifically for that 1-2 day trip. Even then the weight difference of less than 100g still doesn't really outweigh the other major advantages of using a gas burner.



The MSR Titan Kettle is a great bit of kit (it is very expensive though in the UK). The Primus Tea Kettle is excellent as well but is about 1/3 the cost. For those on a budget the Tatonka Stand/Primus Tea Kettle/Trangia Burner is excellent value for money at around £32.