Gear

I plan to walk to West Highland Way and was going to take a mini trangia. I'm normally pretty careless with using meths (because I often use it to light a fire) and so I don't really notice how much I use.

What would be a realistic amount of meths for possibly 7 days? (3 meals a day with the odd cuppy, no fires)

What kind of cooking are you intending doing? If you're using dehydrated meals you only need enough fuel to bring water to the boil and then place the meal in a cozy until it rehydrates. What size is your cup, how much water will you need for a cuppa?

I've never used a Mini Trangia so it depends how efficient it is but.....

You should be able to boil e.g. 300ml for a cuppa on 20ml of meths , a dehydrated meal shouldn't need much more. You'll probably find that over 7 days unless the stove is efficient and you measure the meths out carefully you'd be just as well with a gas stove.

You'll definitely need a lid on the pan/pot and a proper windshield, the supplied pot stand thing won't be enough.

That would be my advice as someone who uses meths virtually all the time.

Must admit....I was thinking...for 7 days gas is better (for a variety of reasons).

Based on the above figures

presuming 3xcuppas plus 3xmeals per day (and I would use more for more cuppas, buts thats me) minimum use will be 120ml per day.  7 days 840 ml - or as dam as near it 840g plus the weight of the container.

I guess allowing for a touch more for extra brews etc - you'll be looking at 140ml per day, so you will soon be up to 1000 ml meths - or more. Thats a Kg.

I can get 3 days out of a 220g gas cylinder

And a 225g gas cannister weighs 380g, so two of those for 6 days plus a 100g one (185g) to cover the seventh day gives you 945g.....

I'd use gas, as it's far more convenient, but the weight trade-off isn't as simple as it may appear.

This is good reading.

Plus 840ml of meths is overkill. I can boil 300ml of water with 10ml of meths using my Cone.

So 60ml per day plus a bit spare; 500ml.

Having said that I'd still use gas. Meths is for playing with at home

I normally use a swedish army trangia but its a bit bulky so I'm planning on getting the mini. I was thinking that a litre should be more than enough with some left over for playing with  

So why do a lot of you guys recommend gas? I assumed that meths would be the lighter & more compact option. Is it just down to convenience?

Meths comes into it's own if;

a. you're on a short duration trip

b. your burner/pot is extremely light

c. you meter your fuel exactly

d. you use an efficient windshield

e. you know to within 5ml how much meths you need to boil a given amount of water

f. you  use dehydrated meals and use pot/pouch cozy

g. you simply prefer meths stoves

Cheers guys. I've gone from being totally convinced that meths was the best option to now considering taking a gas stove.  lol.

Come on then. Let's hear the arguments for both options. I'm not too fussed about speed/convenience. I'm more concerned with weight/size. Also, I don't want to spend a fortune  Cheers

Ok, here's what I have as a lightweight gas set-up.

C-3 Mini Stove

Alpkit Mitymug

Windshield Foil

You can carry the stove and a 100g size gas cartridge in the mug, I cut the foil in two parts, one length is the height of the gas cartridge, the other the height or slightly less than the mug, tape the 2 lenghts together with duct tape and when in use keep the tape join to the bottom away from the flame. To store the windshield simply fold it and wrap around the mug.

I've personally bought from all the above sellers. You can if I remember correctly get 2 100g sized cartridges into the mug and store the burner separately.

The stove weighs about 90g, I cut the fold up parts of the pot stand off as they aren't needed for a Mitymug. The Mitymug weighs 123g (well mine does), 100g sized cartridges weigh about 198g when full. 

Mac, that sounds like a good setup. On average, how long (roughly speaking, I know there are a lot of factors) do you find a 100g cartridge would last you? 2 days?

It'll take about 10-15g max of gas to boil 500ml (using a windshield), there's 100g of gas in a small cartridge. How long it'll last will depend on how you cook, what you cook and how often you cook. Performance will drop off a bit when the cartridge is less than half full but it'll effect speed more than fuel consumption.