For a survival stove nothing competes with the MSR XGK
http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/expedition-stoves/xgk-ex/product
This stove will burn anything flammable, yes the heat output may not be that hot and the fumes may be toxic but any liquid that is flammable it will produce heat.
Being a guide/outdoor instructor in Alaska has afford me the opportunity to either use or see in use just about every outdoor stove there is. My #1 stove is the MSR Superfly with the Bibler hanging kit. I use MSR 1.5 liter ti pot with MSR IsoPro fuel. Stove, hanging kit, fuel cartridge, wind screen, lighters, pot handle will all fit inside the 1.5 pot. There is some objection to cartridge stoves use in the cold but very few places on earth are as cold as winter in Alaska and I used this stove year round guiding and personal trips, never failed to produce heat.
For anyone wanting a tip for use in the cold, before opening the valve on your cartridge stove, flick your bic under the fuel cart and let the flame run along the bottom of the fuel cart for about 10 seconds. Lite your stove, instant heat. Every once in a while flick the bic under the fuel cart and it will run hot until the fuel is gone.
Of course you can build a heater out of copper pipe but the above trick works just as efficient.
Some info pasted from my web site:
# Light-Weight Cook Kit: A MSR PocketRocket stove, MSR IsoPro fuel canister, pot gripper, lighter, homemade windscreen out of heavy-duty aluminum foil, spoon, homemade fuel cartridge heater; the whole cook kit, fits inside the MSR 2-Liter Titanium pot.
* While the above is arguably the lightest with full heat output, it requires the stove to used on the floor of your tent or the ground in nasty weather. This will take up space but more important, the chance of spilling your water soaking your gear and wasting fuel. The SuperFly stove used with Bibler Hanging System will hang from the apex of your tent giving more room and less chance of spilling. Use a mug /cup to dip from the pot as the water warms, immediately replacing it with snow, instead of trying to remove the pan and pour the water. This will keep a steady supply of water melting / heating / consuming to save fuel.
* The main drawback to cartridge stoves are their poor performance in below freezing temperatures. Heating of the fuel cartridge will help combat this. There are many ways but the most consistent is a fuel cartridge heater: take 2-feet of 1/4" diameter copper plumbers pipe and smash flat with a hammer. Place the middle of the smashed pipe directly above the burner of the stove and form the copper pipe down and along the sides of the fuel cartridge. Bend the ends up under the bottom of the fuel cartridge and trim to fit. Take closed-cell foam and duct tape, and make a removable sleeve to fit over the cartridge and fuel cartridge heater. (The lid section of a 40 Below one-quart neoprene water bottle cover works best) Lining the sleeve with aluminum foil will help keep the foam / neoprene from melting and discharging fumes. This procedure is very hazardous and all stove manufactures warrant against it.
# Cooking With Ease: When water boils or gets hot enough, turn off the stove. Combine the water (leave a small amount in the pan) and dehydrated food inside a cooking bag. Mix and then place the cooking bag back inside your pan with the lid on. Let the pan sit for 10-12 minutes on a foam sleeping pad or the hanging system, not on cold ground. Eating directly out of the bag is for super-light fanatics (or close friends) with less chance for spills or use your cup. A bagel will clean the cooking bag for re-use or use the bag for trash. This will save fuel, time and requires no clean up.
* Lay your pan on a foam pad and trace its outline then cut it out forming a round pad. Trim to fit the inside diameter of your pan so the pad just barely slides in and out of the pan. Punch a small hole in the center and thread a small cord making a handle then wrap aluminum foil around the whole pad. Place the round pad inside your pan when melting snow / boiling water to decrease boil times whilst saving fuel. This round pad can serve as the pan lid (leave the lid at home) and doubles for many other uses.
# Wintertime Feast: Pre-cook meat, package it in one Ziplock bag for each meal and freeze it solid before leaving. Bury in the snow at camp to keep frozen. Add de-hydrated meals such as Hamburger Helper or Hearty Stew mixes for a great tasting wintertime feast of course leave the packaging at home. Tastier and cheaper than store bought freeze-dried meals. To keep that tasty hot meal hot, make a removable sleeve for your bowl / cup out of pieces of closed-cell foam, holding the sleeve together with duct tape.
# Summertime Cooking: Leave the stove at home and purify water in the area with iodine treatment tabs. Add flavoring to rid the taste. Take food that doesn't require cooking; sandwiches, salami, cheese, pizza slices, fruit, veggies, bagels, etc. Try taking frozen food and let thaw during the day. Depending on the food and weather it can last up to several nights.
# Sweetening Taste: Instead of using refined white sugar, add powered Gator-Aid or its like to sweeten coffee, tea, oatmeal, cereal, etc. Adds a unique flavor plus has nutritional benefit compared to refined sugar.
# Melting Water in a Snow Camp: Dig a 2-foot deep hole with the circumference several inches smaller than a black plastic lawn bag. Place a wide mouth container in the center of the hole. Punch a hole in the center of the plastic bag and lay over the hole. Seal off the edges of the bag with large berms of snow. Place a small amount of snow at a time on the plastic bag and let the sun do its work. Increases the volume of water vs putting snow in a black plastic bag and laying on the snow. If traveling across snow / glacier, fill a heavy-duty black plastic bag with snow and drag it behind your sled while skiing. On the steeps, you can also drag a snow melt plastic bag up the climb. All these will save you time and fuel.
