First off, the stove weight is 11.5 oz. This is certainly up there in the top choices. A "true" multi-fuel stove that's made for severe environments. You're comps would be things like the MSR XGK-EX, and the Primus Omnifuel, both also being sturdy, reliable, efficient stoves that are made for the same conditions, but both weighing in about 1/4 lb more. Another secondary choice would be the MSR Dragonfly. The Denali more or less falls into a class that lots of people refer to as a snow melter/water boiler (hot and fast), more than a gourmet burner (precise simmer control). The latter being more suited to a choice between the Omnifuel or the Dragonfly. As for solo vs two or more; it's well suited to group cooking situations and bigger pots, but not so large and heavy as to make it awkward overkill for you alone with say a 2.5L pot for cooking and water. These stoves all burn very hot. If you're on snow, you'll definitely want to use a burner sheet of some kind to dissipate the heat and keep the stove from ending up in a pit. Hope that helped.

If you have to burn unleaded fuel, try to find the non-oxygenated variety. This is the one without ethanol. Even in areas that supply this blend of fuel during the winter months, non-oxygenated fuel is still available. E85 is not an option. Too much alcohol in the mix. The #35 jet will be the same as for white gas.

I would never try altering/modifying an inexpensive fuel bottle just to make it work with an appliance from a different manufacturer. The risks are simply not worth the potential consequences!

I was on a trip where an MSR bottle caught on fire because of a leak. Fortunately the stove was in a spot where nothing else caught on fire. We had a real fireball there for a little bit. It melted the pump and bottle. I would not recommend jerry-rigging a fuel bottle just to save a few bucks. It's just not worth trying to save a few bucks on something that could cost your life.

Thanks Jeff, I have a few MSR stoves and lots of MSR\primus\sigg bottles, thought I could reuse em. Do you think plumbing thread tape would solve the problem and allow me to use my own bottles?

I always recommend using the same brand fuel bottles. MSR bottles will work but the threads between the two are slightly different, possibly becoming a fire hazard due to escaping fumes & loss of pressure. Go with the Coleman bottle just to be safe.

To the best of my measurements, the Denali is 7" in diameter.

There is no separate control for precise simmering. It has only one fuel control valve located on the pump, similar to the MSR XGK EX.