I switched over to canister stoves from liquid fuel stoves after only two backpacking trips. Here's why. My liquid fuel stove was unearthly loud. It sounded like you were sitting at the airport cooking your food on a jet's engine. Also the priming time was annoying, and inconsistent, resulting in much flame and soot. The real clincher was one night after hiking in the cool Michigan Autumn rain all day, I was shivering and soaked as the sun was setting. Instead of trying to set up my stove with my shaking hands, my buddy with the canister stove screwed on the can, lit the flame and heated up water for all our meals. My food was ready before my stove would have finished priming and heating up. I was sold, I have been buying canisters ever since.

Canister stoves are a nice tool for a quick brew-up. MSR canisters and all canisters struggle in the cold. The canister preforms adequately if you boil a little water, about 4 oz at the most, then place that in a bowl, and the canister in the bowl also. Continue to boil water and the little bit that you made earlier helps keep the stoove warm for better gas pressure.