Alcohol stove is probably a good choice for lightweight and short hiking trips. For paddling - not sure. My impression has been (leaving aside fuel consumption), that they are less convenient in use than LPG stoves, and I haven't seen any evidence of the opposite. The availability of alcohol fuel on the highway or in populated places is better than MSR/Primus LPG canisters (and a little bit better than small propane tanks), so this is why I carry Mini-Trangia as a backup in short trips (and Sierra Zip - in long trips), both stoves without their bulky pots.
Windscreen in Mini-Trangia is inadequate, btw. Consider it just a pot-stand.
krudave wrote:
Very effective wood burning stoves [Mark 1], and pack down very small. All stainless, and easy to assemble and light. Far superior to the Sierra stove, in durability and heat output. And packs smaller. Burns more wood, of course.
I considered making a similar one before Darren started selling them (there were drawings pulbished], but then decided to buy Sierra. Carried as a backup, it is packed without its heavy and bulky pots, and with a fan put upside down into the stove it is about 3" high and 5" in diameter. The reasons not to proceed with a rectangular stove were:
1) Needs assembling and dissembling - not a hard work, but a dirty one.
2) Has no bottom - needs extra care around dry grass and on wooden tables and similar structures.
3) Has sharp edges and corners when dissembled - needs some extra wrapping or a hard case in a folding kayak.
"Light"? at 16 ounces? I don't remember, and my Sierra is tucked far away (darn renovations), but steel version of Sierra without pots weighs same 16 oz or less. Titanium version of SZ weighs 10 oz. Btw, small LPG stove like MSR Pocket Rocket weighs 6 oz (sans fuel cartridge, but this weight is important on flights only, and naturally, I don't fly with it). 1 lb LPG cartridge doesn't make a difference in a kayak (small MSR cartridge is less than 1 lb, I think).
Also (as I've found later), Sierra is very economical due to forced air flow (with AA battery), so collecting enough wood is easier than for more fuel-hungry stove. Though, it still needs collecting wood (and I don't enjoy this when I'm wet and hungry and/or it's getting dark), that's why this is a backup stove. I had a problem collecting wood in one place - there was just no wood around that camping and small hotel, except for fallen leaves. Eventually I've managed to collect enough fuel for supper and breakfast, but it took over 40 minutes of wandering around in the dark.