I've come to the same conclusion, Conway. I usually use a twig and stick fire, and have relied on my trusty canteen and esbit stoves for backup for years. Liquid and gas stoves have always scared me a little bit, and seemed too much hassle when it comes to storing fuel. We do, however, have a Coleman two burner propane stove and single burner canister stove for emergencies, and have had for years, but I can count on one hand the number of times I've used the canister stove and the Coleman is still in the original packaging. We unpacked it to make sure we had all the parts and I think DH test fired it when we first brought it home too, but that's it. I use our Scout group stoves all the time but haven't given my own a second thought.

After years in the gear closet, I took the canister stove out this fall and had a huge, almost dangerous, fail with it. Never again. From now on, unless it's a twig or esbit stove, it gets regular testing and practice. I'm trying alcohol stoves for the first time right now, and they'll probably go into the rotation too as permanent back-up fin the packor the twig/esbit stove.