Are soda can stoves reliable?
Thru-hikers everywhere carry them thousands of miles without trouble. They have no moving parts that might break or need cleaning, and no filters that can clog. As a result, they tend to have fewer problems than commercial stoves. I’ve never had a stove fail on me in the field, and I’ve carried the same stove as many as 2,000 miles at a time on a thru-hike. Roland Mueser surveyed hikers on the Appalachian Trail for his book, Long-Distance Hiking, and this was the only type of stove with a 0% failure rate. If the worst should happen, however, the stove is easily replaced with materials found at the local hardware store for a few bucks.
