[pct-l] Fuel Usage - Vargo Triad

[JPL]

I don't have a huge amount of experience and I'm sure others will chime in, 
but on my hikes, I rarely used more than one tablet a day.  Granted I didn't 
do much water heating (i.e. "cooking"), but everything is a tradeoff.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Daniel Zellman
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 9:46 AM
To: PCT-L
Cc: Erin O'Brien
Subject: [pct-l] Fuel Usage - Vargo Triad

Greetings, all,

Based in part on recommendations from folks on this list, as well as some
other research, my partner and I are planing on using the Vargo Triad XE
Titanium Alcohol/Tablet
Stove<http://www.vargooutdoors.com/Titanium-Triad-XE-Alcohol-Fuel-Tab-Stove>
on
our 2013 thru-hike. Fuel tablets are pretty pricey -- $6.95 for a 12-pack
of Esbit, and it looks like we'd need approx 2-3 tablets per day to heat
sufficient water for two meals (e.g., oatmeal bkfst and pasta dinner),
coffee, and cocoa, which works out to almost $15/week for fuel.

So ... our thought was to carry some tablets as a backup, but to rely
primarily on liquid fuel (HEAT, kerosene, alcohol, etc.) since it's a lot
more economical and is also more widely available at trail towns and
such. According to the specs on the Vargo website, the Triad's capacity is
approx 1.25 oz of alcohol, providing approx 15 min burn time (depending of
course on altitude and other conditions), so it sounds like we'd be looking
using 2-3 oz per day of liquid fuel, or roughly a pint of liquid fuel per
week.

However, neither of us has any experience with alcohol stoves, we were
wondering if anyone who DOES have experience using the Vargo (or a similar)
stove might have any insight on this. Do the above estimates / calculations
ring true? Does alcohol burn hot enough to boil enough water for a
two-person meal in 15 min? Etc., etc....

Also, any thoughts on good carrying containers/methods would be appreciated
as well.

Many thanks!

-dz

-- 
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
    --Buddhist proverb
-----------------------------------
Daniel Zellman, LMT, CMLDT
TX lic. #: MT115984

Tel.: 512.293.9315
danielzellman at gmail.com
www.sunnatamassage.com
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