Mine's served me well on a 13 month tour in south america. Alcohol can be kept in any plastic bottle (either the one you bought it in or an old coke bottle) and is available cheaply the world over (except UK perhaps!!) in hardware shops, camping shops or in pharmacies (80% alcohol is used worldwide for medical purposes).
Trangia owners are renowned for boring their friends with how good they are, so instead I'll tell you why I think multi-fuel stoves are so terrible.
IMHO pressurised multi-fuel stoves are horrid things. They spit out petrol, make a horrible noise, get clogged up, break, have too many moving parts, have parts that wear out, require tinkering, are hard to use, smell, burn your food and are expensive.
Do yourself a favour and stick with the trangia.
I have a number of Trangias, a Gelert , and a number of home made spirit stoves. I also have an Optimus 123 climber, a Svea 123, a Coleman peak1, a Peak 1 lantern, a Coleman multifuel, a Coleman triple burner, a Coleman twin mantle lantern, a MSR whisperlite and assorted Primus stoves and Tilley lamps. Oh and a Kelly Kettle! So I think I speak from experience and have no real axe to grind.
Your heartflet rant (above) was a little bit shotgun like, as shown by the first example , multi fuel stoves don't all "spit out petrol" as by their definition they don't all use petrol, but even the ones that do if they are spitting it out then they are not being used correctly .Tilley lamps have the same poor reputation for flaring when being lit , but only from people who don't light them properly. As for a "horrible noise" , this can be argued from two directions, the first is that those that do "roar" do admitedly make a noise and it can be loud. However it is a matter of perspective whether this noise is "horrible" I for one find the roar of the 123 comforting and noise that the MSR makes on full reheat awe inspiring. The Colemans are whisper stoves and there are various Optimus stoves that are also quiet , the Colemans make less noise than the sound of th bacon frying.
As for clogging, in 30 years the Colemans have never clogged, the 123s have a built in uncloging needle, and the MSR has one that you use by simply shaking, in contrast the spirit stoves often clog and need to have their 70+ holes cleaned , but there is no tool supplied ( or available ) for doing so.
None of the above stoves has broken, but I will not comment upon the peak 1 lantern apart frm the fact that it;s the work of Stan!
The 123's have the same number of moving parts as the Trangia, 1 !
Apart from the triple burner I have never had any parts waer out on any of the stoves., with the expection of the Trangia ( kettle developed a hole from meths leak)
Tinkering? I'm not sure what you mean , but again some my like tinkering.
Burn your food? The 123s Colemans, MSR and the Primus's , once warmed will simmer far far better than a Trangia , and you can tunr the heat up an down and back up again, which is difficult with a trangia.
Expensive? When you compare running costs I think they even out. Especially when you add up the the extra costs of findign Meths, versus the often free petrol/diesel that you get from a motorist donating a Ltr when they fill up.
Horses for courses , but certainly not cut and dried.
