Canister vs. White Gas

Fuel canisters for canister gas stoves are heavy for the amount of fuel they contain — the three empty canisters, the gallon white gas can, and the three fuel bottles all weigh close to the same amount

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Weight

Canister: Many stoves are in the 4 oz / 120 g range, and some ultralight models are even lighter. However, fuel canisters, except the aluminum Coleman Max, are quite heavy by comparison with their contents. Although canister gas provides really light heat for short trips, on longer trips with more canisters, the weight of the canisters soon mounts up and makes the stoves heavy overall. For example the small Peak 1 canister for 3.5 oz (100g) of fuel weighs (3.1 oz) 88g empty. That's nearly as much as the fuel it contained! Larger canisters are not as inefficient.

White Gas: Although the stoves themselves are heavier than most canister stoves, the difference is not so large if you factor-in the following: 1. You can tell how much fuel is in the tank and can save weight by carrying no more fuel than you need. You don't have the weight of the extra canister you must take when you aren't sure how full the other canister is!
2. A fuel bottle carrying 14.5 oz (420 g) fuel weighs only 4.8 oz (140g). Compare that with the canister figures!

Resistance to Blow Out

Canister: Varies, most can be turned very low without going out, but because of this low flame they are inherently more sensitive to wind. But then in a wind you don't need such a low flame because heat losses are higher.

White Gas: Varies, most can be turned very low without going out, but then, as with canister gas stoves, they are more sensitive to wind. Peak 1 is quite hot still on its low setting, especially if pumped up, and therefore quite wind resistant. MSR's superb windshield/heat retainer puts their stoves in a different league.

Estimating Fuel Consumption

Canister: Difficult — you need to weigh canisters to determine how much remains.

White Gas: Easy — simply turn off the stove and look in the tank to see how much remains.

Stability

Canister: For tank-top models, stability is not great, and is worse with small canisters. Remote burner models (burner beside canister) are more stable. Hanging models are very stable.

White Gas: Coleman tank-top models have good stabilizing legs, remote burner (burner beside tank, not on top) models such as Primus Himalayan and MSR are close to the ground and stable.