Gas StovesRudolph’s comments on the potential drop in performance in cold weather is quite correct; the typical backpacking stove canister contain a mixture of propane, isobutane and butane (Primus ‘Power gas’= 25%/ 25%/50%) at temperatures below zero the butane evaporates more slowly (the cheap canisters available are generally 100% butane and hence useless).
You can take a few simple steps to mitigate against this; carry the canister deep inside your rucksack, not in an outside pocket; pop the canister inside your jacket as you prepare camp; overnight put the canister in the bottom of your sleeping bag; employ a windshield to keep warm air around to stove (make sure the canister doesn’t get more than hand warm or you may get a nasty surprise
). Doing this I haven’t had a problem down to well below zero.
I’ve two gas stoves: a MSR micro rocket and a Vango X-Lite Ti Stove, both are good stoves, the major difference is the flame pattern. The MSR has a very focused high power flame, great for boiling water up in the small (<1L) backpacking pots/ mugs. The Vango has a much wider flame spread (uses 50% more gas when used with a small pot) and is really good for the frying pan when car camping!
After a couple of meals nearly ended up on the floor I bought a MSR canister stand, think I paid £8 for it, it’s not so important with the 230g canisters but the small 100g canisters are very unstable. I've seen other people employing tent pegs or rocks to stop the stove tipping.
I reckon on using about 30g of gas/ day during the summer, boiling ~2L of water per day, in winter this will increase due to the temperature of the water (or snow) but it's mainly down to consuming more hot fluids.
To get the most out of the canisters I’ll weigh them after a trip (an empty 230g canister weighs ~150g and a 100g ~ 90g) so that I can use the dregs on short outings.
Meths StovesMain advantage of meths stoves is the low weight possible for 1 -3 day backpacking trips. I have an 'Evernew' Titanium burner and a simple aluminium foil windshield and I reckon on using around 60ml of meths/ day (2L) during the summer, with a titanium mug this makes a very lightweight set up for 2 – 3 day trips (<400g).
Meths stoves do suffer from the cold, they can be quite difficult to get going when the temperature is below zero, I'll resort to keeping the stove and a small bottle (50ml) of meths somewhere warm.
Getting the one pot cooking system/ recipes perfected OR using pre-packaged meals like 'Wayfarers' or Mountain House' does mean you only need one pot. While relatively expensive I'd always recommend a titanium pot something like the MSR Titan kettle (0.85L) or Evernew Pasta Pot (1L), as they're light, nonstick and will last a life time. At the budget end there's the Alpkit MytiiMug (0.75L) but personally I find these just a little small. Due to the geometry of the mug style pots they all generally work very effectively with a pot cosy saving a lot of gas or meths.
Also get a magnesium rod striker as while convenient the piezoelectric igniters, lighters and matches invariably fail. Lot's of good information on practically every type of stove, http://zenstoves.net/Favourite backpacking coffee - Kenco Millicano washed down with a a good malt