The rule of thumb seems to be that for trips of a week or so, a well managed cartridge stove is as light as any alcohol rig.
Ha! I should have read your post before I responded to Am_Fear_Liath_Mor. Yes, that's my understanding too. About a week is the dividing line. For long distance "through hikers," they often plan on a resupply once a week, and they do the entire AT, CDT, or PCT with an alcohol stove.
I suspect a lot of us have both cartridge stoves and some variety of alcohol as well, vacillating between them depending upon the trip, along with a white gas/kerosene rig for really cold excursions.
Yep. Guilty as charged. I use white gas sometimes too just cause it's cheap. I go out on night hikes a lot where we do a pot luck. If I'm heating water for twenty five people, I might be heating over a gallon (4 liters) of water. It's nice just to use white gas and not worry about the cost.
For utter simplicity and rock solid dependability, it is hard to beat a Trangia when you absolutely, positively need to brew up a nice cup of tea with no fuss or bother.
A Trangia is nice burner. They're pretty efficient but do OK on the speed aspect too. I think they're a nice balance. A little heavy compared to aluminum can stoves, but solid, and you can actually cook on them if you use the simmer ring.
The Trangia set up is known for using more alcohol in windy conditions. While it's known for working well in wind, it uses fuel fairly quickly under such conditions. The Caldera Cone is known for being consistently efficient even in wind. Of course, if you're not counting grams and have plenty of fuel, you may
want that faster boil time.
There are lot of good stove options out there. The stove you choose will depend a lot of your circumstances, your style, and your preferences.
HJ
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