Stoves, Fuel, and Cookgear

I own two MSR stoves: a Whisperlite (first picture), and a Dragonfly. They are reliable, relatively economical of fuel and finance, and hardy. My Whisperlite was already a seasoned tool when I moved to Alaska in 1996, and is still going strong.  If I had to guess, I would say that it is probably about 20 years old !
I took my two stoves and my three plungers (why do I own three pressure plungers?) and I went outside to test run them. Long story short is that one of my plungers is not functioning properly, which is probably why I owned three right up until this afternoon when I threw the defective one away. The moral of the story is this: if I hadn't taken the initiative during the packing phase to test my stoves I very easily could have packed the defective plunger as a back-up and ended up screwing myself royally on this trip.
The Dragonfly is a little bigger than the Whisperlite and has a nice dual fuel control that allows you to simmer or really get after it. It is also capable of burning just about any fuel source, unlike the Whisperlite that only burns white gas. If you never lived near an airstip and always wondered what it would be like then this stove is for you. It sounds like a jetplane screaming when you are getting after it. It burns a little more fuel than the Whisperlite, too, but I don't care. The Dragonfly is my go-to stove and the Whisperlite is my backup. Thats right, I'm hauling two stoves on this trip;you've got to have a backup plan! Without a stove the trip is over.
MSR has loose guidelines on fuel usage, suggesting that it takes approximately 4 oz. of gas per person per day to boil water. OK, but what if you are melting snow for water? MSR suggests 8 oz. per person per day. They then go so far as to say that if you are camping somewhere extremely cold (they actually quoted that hotbed of backpacking activity--Antarctica), that you could need double that amount: 16 oz. per person per day. Thats 320 ounces of gas for two people for a ten day trip in extremely cold Antarctica. Wow, I guess you can count me out on the Antarctica trip.....2 gallons of fuel for 2 people for 10 days....
I am hauling one gallon of white gas in a can, and the two MSR fuel jugs pictured: about 170 oz. for two people for a 10 night trip. I'm not sure if the sub-arctic regions of the Alaska Range are extremely cold like Antarctica, but I can tell you I'm not hauling 2 gallons. I will be hauling this:

• 2 functioning stoves
• 2 functioning plungers
• 2 full MSR stove bottles (about 40 oz. of fuel)
• 1 gallon of fuel with a spout
• 1 small utility towel
• 1 MSR stove Repair Kit (stashed inside my spare stove set-up)
• 1 windscreen and 1 stoveplate (your stove can disappear into the snow without a base)
• 1 cookset consisting of a 2 quart pot and lid, a 1.5 quart pot, and a lidlifter
• 2 lighters

The spout I carry is made by Coleman-it fills bottles to about 85% capacity and shuts off automatically. It also will not start pouring fuel until its plunger is depressed. Very handy. A funnel will suffice as well. Treat your fuel like gold in the backcountry; where we are going there is absolutely no chance of scoring additional fuel. Carry the rag for cleanup and drips; do your very best to keep the environment as pure as it was when you skiied in--avoid spillage.The rag will also be the item you place small parts of the stove on in case you need to disassemble a stove for field repairs ( I carry stove schematics with me).
 Another factor to remember is the temperature of the fuel: if its negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit outdoors, then your fuel is negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit ; skin coming into contact with a liquid at that temperature will cause immediate injury.
When you pack your stoves into their carrying case, attach a new lighter on a lanyard to each case. Its no fun looking for lighters when you just want to get down to business. And don't scrounge some old Bic lighter from the junk drawer in the kitchen: buy new lighters and dedicate them to the trip.
I put my entire stove kit into the empty green bag from my Mountainsmith Organizer, labeled it, and nestled it home. Those 4 bags parked next to all my lunches and breakfasts in the Action Packer tell me I'm making some nice progress in my packing! Later additions will include my insulated tea mug, my lexan bowl, and lexan spoons.