 Peter - fine if you're organizing an expedition but in Morocco last month, not a sniff of a screw on cartridge. That's the problem for the independent traveller. Same in Iran, everyone said screw on wasn't available, turns out it was and in a winter mix (one place only and very expensive) but only very recently and I've happily cooked with it at over 4000m and whilst it was well below zero. I'd much rather use gas over any other fuel, you even have, with stoves like the Jetboil, the option to hang the stove. Not of much benefit to mortals like us but hanging from ropes on the face of El capitan, gas makes a lot of sense. By future proof - I wasn't meaning in terms of the stove but rather your own adventures. A lot can change in what you yourself get up to in just a couple of years. I know this from experience and have a pile of 'outgrown' outdoors gear to prove it, not that I'm complaining like 
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 That's where kerosene/paraffin scores, Some say the priming is a PIA but I find it more of a Zen-like ritual
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Thanks for all the responses, really useful info. At the moment Im leaning towards the Primus Express Spider, but those Chinese stoves look tempting. Anyone know how long the delivery time is from Hong Kong? (For the Cyclone) Peter That list is a bit misleading. When I put 'safe' and 'easy to use' top I was still thinking of liquid / gas differences. I do have experience of gas stoves so I feel comfortable enough with the other stoves mentioned. But I wlii look into the Trangia further before I buy anything. Cheers. Rosswm Funnily enough that's exactly how I thought it would be... and how I like my camping experiences to be. But with no prior experience and solo backpacking I'd rather not risk the yin setting fire to the yang if you get me.
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My Cyclone only took a few days - I was convinced they'd sent it from somewhere nearer home.
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 By future proof - I wasn't meaning in terms of the stove but rather your own adventures. A lot can change in what you yourself get up to in just a couple of years. We got a family and stopped doing most of what we did...  But if I do something totally different in a coupel of years, what do I gain by second guessing that and buying now rather than in a couple of years? Pete.
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 But with a stove like the Cyclone or Primus Omnifuel you have the best of both worlds - run it on gas for convenience, with the option of liquid fuels when nothing else is available. I prefer remote cannister stoves for stability and with the Omnilite Ti there's not much of a weight difference between gas only or multifuel variants. (The omnifuel fits nicely in a Trangia too).
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But with a stove like the Cyclone or Primus Omnifuel you have the best of both worlds - run it on gas for convenience, with the option of liquid fuels when nothing else is available. As with any compromise it's not actually "best". if you run an Omnifuel (or MFS, like mine) on gas it uses a fairly primitive spreader to shape the jet, and it's noisier, less efficient and less controllable than a gas-only stove head. It's excellent that these do run on gas if needed as well as liquid fuels, but if you know you're using gas and do have a supply then a dedicated gas stove is cheaper, lighter, more reliable and when it comes to doing the actuial cooking, better. Pete.
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Those hand made silent caps I linked to fix that issue. Not cheap though. There is someone developing a range that will be mass-produced & cheaper.
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 Those Chinese stoves you refer to certainly look cheap but would wonder what sort of guarantee you get. Personally I'd stick with UK bought stuff.
If you wanted a liquid fuel stove but didn't want the hassle of priming then I can highly recommend the Soto Muka. Yup, its not the cheapest stove available but having used it now for a couple of months I can really say its a cracker! If you did also want to use gas then you could always carry a Pocket Rocket.
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And I have found that the roarer burner on the Himalaya/Omnifuel/etc have the fastest boil times (not that boil times are of much use) and the same fuel use as the gas only versions (yes, I am sad enough to compare them, using a calibrated precision scale to weigh the cannister........). So not less efficient and neither are they less controllable - that's down to the needle valve, not the burner type. And I like a stove to sound like a real stove!
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And I like a stove to sound like a real stove!
Me too - my go-to snow melter is a pre-shaker MSR GK
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So not less efficient and neither are they less controllable IME the Himalya MFS is clearly worse at simmering on gas than the Primus/Trangia gas converter. If all you want to do is have an RB2-11-a-like boiling water that's a moot point, but I like to do stuff like fondue... Did your sad experiments compare efficiency at low heat outputs as well as maximum, and did they find a lowest sustainable heat output? Pete.
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 > At a quick glace I see it only has 3 feet as opposed to the 4 on the Primus. A tripod will never wobble on an uneven surface. It may not be completely flat, but it will never wobble. A four-legged thing can wobble on an uneven surface. That's why milkmaids' stools have three legs...
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 im sure you guys all know this but theres a pretty nice article over at BPl about winter with gas stoves...worth a read, especially re MSR reactor
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