Wind is fairly easy to mitigate with a screen.

Not sure what you mean by "they use pellets". Alcohol stoves use liquid fuel. The big problem with them is the lack of control. You pour what you think you need and light it and once it's gone, it's gone. You can't safely add fuel along the way. You can snuff out the fire to save fuel if you put in too much but that can be unsafe too and you need to bring a suitable tool to do so. Also, while you can get or make simmer rings to control the flame a bit, you generally don't have the option to change the flame size while you're cooking unless you like touching hot metal.

They're useful and light but I wouldn't use it for anything other than boiling water, where it generally takes the same amount of time so you can eyeball the fuel right and you don't need to control the flame size. It's not a frying pan kind of fuel source.

If you want lighter with control, a twig stove might be a better option. The downside there is they're tougher in the rain and you can't use them during a fire ban.

+1 on the Trangia. 

We have both the small and big one, both with the billy pots. Also have one of the Primus lpg canister burners for them.

We love it. For us the only two downsides are totally manageable. The alcohol burner in dead of winter sometimes lake the ooomph, and the pots can be small for campfire cooking or groups. But with the lpg stove burner we use it through the winter (must warm canister if its super cold though) and the billy, or big pots, are great for fire cooking which we do a ton of.

 Like all stoves Trangias have pro and cons, but all the people I know that own them love them.







 

They are hexamine tablets, not alcohol, and have a few major drawbacks; unlike conventional stoves, they have no positive shutoff, so can't be used during a fire ban. they have no flame control ,so can't simmer at all. the bottom can get very hot, so must be used on non-flammable surfaces, And worst of all they STINK! I don't mean they smell a little, I mean they throat-closing, eye-watering, run for the hills STINK! Imagine leaving rotting fish out in the sun for a week, then trying to burn it- that's the smell

another  stove option,, i use a " vital  stove"
           small sticks for fuel, and has a battery pack that runs a small fan inside the stove for burn rate control.
  light weight. compact,  some reviews on line. i bought my unit from home hardware.
 i hope that helps

Last edited by swedish pimple (8/01/2017 10:32 am)