Genuine question - why not a petrol stove.?? I appreciate gas is super convenient, it's what I normally use, but for melting snow petrol is much faster
There a pain to travel with, airlines won't take them.
For reference (you can scale down the people and days)
https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/expedition+alpine/camping_gas_calculation...
I'd suggest using 500 gram canisters if you can and to take a minimum of 3500 grams (so x7 of the 500 gram.)
It would also probably be a good idea to have a spare stove.
Above all ,I would second the use of petrol/white spirit burners. I've never had problems getting mine on a plane (have always cleaned it. Then wrapped it up well. Then put inside a pot.
Yeah they will, I've had no problem with the stove or bottle in hand luggage - the bottle just looks like a drinky bottle.
Efficiency and speed are not the same thing. A modern gas stove and heat exchanger pan system is more efficient therefore less fuel need be carried. I know many people are convinced that liquid fuel stoves are better for snow melting but, at least in my not inconsiderable experience, it is simply not true. Especially if you are starting from dry cold snow it is easier to manage the melting process on a gas stove than a roaring MSR XGK. Another important factor is that a regular propane/butane gas mix has more energy/g of fuel than white gas or kerosene.
From the figures on MSR's website an XGK will boil 1.5l of water/oz of white gas. The Reactor will boil 2.8l per oz/gas and even a Pocket Rocket will boil 2.0l per oz/gas. I've had no problems using the tiny MSR Pocket Rocket to snow melt and provide all hot water for food and drinks for three people for a week in Antarctica when our main stove, a crappy Jetboil, broke.
Interesting points! My Spider system is incredibly quick and efficient so I'm not surprised by your calculations. I suppose the only downside to a gas stove is they are slightly harder to service when they do eventually block up, you have to take lots of empty canisters out with you, it's less flexible if you can't find canisters, and less likely to work properly at -50. Still, many of those situations are extremely unlikely in most cases.
This week's Friday Night Video whisks us back to Val-David, Quebec, in the Autumn of 1958. Two daring young climbers embark on the ascent of a route that seemed unattainable, resembling a roof suspended in the air, defying all the conventions of the time....