Having used both liquid fuel and canister stoves for hundreds of meals, I prefer canisters up to 13,000 feet. With canisters, you don't get quite as many BTUs per ounce. However, when you factor in the spillage and priming factors for liquid, I think it's about equal. (I also think the extra ounce for a built in ignitor is worth it, because you tend to shut the stove off immediately knowing it's easy to relight, and you waste less fuel lighting it.)

I use the freezer bag food method and only "cook" with treated (Aqua Mira) water. I can easily get 16 to 20 person-meals out of one 8oz canister by cooking on low, making sure there's little heat loss up around the sides of the pot. Your mileage may vary. If you're planning on doing lots of real cooking and/or water purification, then liquid may be worth it.

One more canister tip: I agree with the comment about cold temperature reducing the efficiency of the stove. If you're expecting a cold night, keep your canister in the bottom of your sleeping bag, then stick it inside your jacket when you get up, until you're ready to cook.

I have used a canister stove at roughly 10,000 feet and although it works you do find that you are utilizing more fuel due to pressure loss. If you are planning on using this above 9,000 feet I would suggest a liquid fuel stove. It may be a bit heavier but you will save weight by utilizing less fuel and not having to carry out used canisters. I do own this stove though and for a low alt. stove you can't beat the price and weight. Hope this helps.

One of the reasons canister stoves don't work so well in high altitudes is because of the weather. In cooler weather the stove works slower because there is less vapor pressure (warming the canister in a shirt or sleeping bag before use can help). Wind can also become a factor above the timber line. At higher altitudes foods take longer to cook so keep that in mind when planning on how much fuel to take. So as long as the fuel doesn't get to cold or the winds are too high to keep it lit, the stove will work (water will actually boil faster).

I agree with the 3/4 windscreen concept, and doubled heavy-duty tin foil is a good flexible option. You don't want to enclose the whole whole stove. Even if you're not concerned about canister explosions, you can damage the valve seal in the canister with too much heat. And these stoves need all the oxygen they can get, especially at altitude, to burn efficiently.

Bryan is correct. You need ventilation around the fuel canister & it should never be enclosed for fear of overheating & a possibility of explosion. Case-in-point, the Jetboil & MSR Reactor systems.

On any canister stove it is always recommended and cautioned that a windscreen should NOT be used because the fuel is inside the windscreen and could heat up and explode. There are a couple stoves that have windscreens attached to the stove element and therefore not trapping heat with the canister (Primus has one) but typically you will never see a canister stove come with a windscreen, which would be the first clue that you shouldn't do it. A wind barrier blocking the wind from a foot away or so would be the best option.

No not at all. I usually just use a few layers of tinfoil mushed together which can then be folded quite small and stored in my pot or pack. Usually though I only use 3/4 windscreen which means that the foil vertically only goes up to just past the bottom of the pot and does not wrap around the entire canister/stove/pot which leaves me access to the handles. Where the foil is open on the one side is where you sit so your body becomes the last 1/4 of the windscreen. I will try to post a pic for you.

Most canister/stove setups are a universal fit, as the canisters and stoves must meet the Lindal self-sealing standard. Within this standard, however, are differences in manufacturing, which may be problematic in rare circumstances. Since there are only a few manufacturers of fuel canisters, staying within the size/type of the original Brunton canister (e.g. MSR, Primus, Coleman) would be fine since it's the same canister with just a different name.

This stove works equally well with any screw-on, Lindal valve type: standard fuel canister & at 10K BTU's, it boils water quickly. Good stove for the money.