High Sierra Topix

I've got about 15 half full 4oz and 8oz iso/pro canisters sitting in my gear boxes. The 4oz ones I can use for single night trips, but I wouldn't want to bring them on anything longer. What do you guys do with your old canisters?

I use mine up before I accumulate that many. I only have a couple partially filled ones. I just bring them along on a weekend trip. My last one I used in Desolation and had very little left when I got home. I hooked my PR up to it and the stove only burned for less than a minute. That worked out good.

weight them and find out how much fuel they actually contain.

I keep my stove and partially used canisters, a pan, and food stashed in my 4 Runner. Never know when it might come in handy out in the boonies in Central and Eastern Oregon. If I collect a few too many I use some when car camping.

mike

trav867 wrote:I've got about 15 half full 4oz and 8oz iso/pro canisters sitting in my gear boxes. The 4oz ones I can use for single night trips, but I wouldn't want to bring them on anything longer. What do you guys do with your old canisters?

Typically I've used partial canisters for car camping (bring several), colder weather day hikes, and quick overnighters. I have a gram scale at home, so I know how much fuel is in the can before the can goes in the pack.

A year or so ago I bought a refiller off of eBay. I buy the cheap restaurant industry type butane canisters for $1.00 for 230g. With the single 230g canister, I can refill two 110g backpacking canisters or one 230g backpacking canister. Butane is no good for cold weather, but for fair weather trips it burns every bit as well as propane or isobutane. With my refiller, I can custom fill containers. If I know I'm going to need about 150g of fuel, I bring 150g of fuel not a full 230g. It's kid of nice that way.

HJ

I used up my last batch of half full canisters testing stoves and pots to finally get a clue about what is most efficient. Using a fine digital scale and a timer, I tested all sorts of things that before were only gut feel. Having 5 stoves and various pots means you can heat up quite a lot of water before you know what works best.

fishmonger wrote:Having 5 stoves and various pots means you can heat up quite a lot of water before you know what works best.

Definitely. What were you testing, and what worked best?

HJ

I use my various half used canisters for car camping !Works out great!!

justm wrote:I use my various half used canisters for car camping !Works out great!!

Yeah. Day hikes and car camping seem to be good uses for partially used canisters.

If you have a gram scale, you can weigh the canister before and after a trip which will tell you pretty exactly how much fuel you have left. If you've got a good amount left, you may be able to use it on a single overnight type trip -- and actually save some weight by not having to carry more fuel than you need.

I actually top my canisters off now. I bought a refiller on eBay and just refill my canisters with cheap butane bought from the dollar store. The cost is $1.00 for 8oz from the dollar store vs. $5.00 for 4oz from a Sporting Goods store. Of course butane is only good for "summer" use. Butane needs to be no lower than 40F to work well.

HJ

hikin_jim wrote:

fishmonger wrote:Having 5 stoves and various pots means you can heat up quite a lot of water before you know what works best.

Definitely. What were you testing, and what worked best?

HJ

where to start...

I was mostly testing for winter use and snow melt use when I need larger pots. I bought a Jetboil Helios with remote canister for that use, but was curious if that "fluxring" pot was really superior to a plain and much lighter titanium pot.

So I tested various stoves and pots. Result was that for a large pit the fluxring pot was most efficient, even when used on a non-jetboil pot. Efficient enough to make up its weight in a 4 day trip or sooner if you melt a lot of snow just in fuel savings.

I later also ran comparisons between burners - found the Jetboil burner was about equal to the SnowPeak remote canister stove I have, and both outperformed the ultra light Vargo by over 20%, again making up for their weight in a longer hike over the ultra-light gizmo.

some data posted over here
http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthread ... #Post11329" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Then I tested my Jetboil Sol (REI dividend...) and it came in more efficient than anything else, which makes it the clear winner for 3-season solo trips.

Then I still had fuel left and figured I should see how well my 1980s Belgian army rectangualr aluminum pot fares against the modern designs. I used that old pot on a dozen JMT hikes and in Europe. Turns out it isn't that great - about 25% less efficient than the titanium pot (Montbell 2 liter) and 30% less efficient than the Jetboil Helios. It also is heavier than both of them, even with my tinfoil lid. But it gets the job done - you just need more fuel.

And finally I compared the performance of the modern SnowPeak stove with my old Bleuet GAZ French stove from the early 80s. Again quite a significant difference in fuel use, as well as cook time.

I even have photos somewhere of all those test.

Oh - and I tested how the instant hash browns I found at the supermarket cook up in the Jetboil Helios pot - yummie, but sticky - see this thread with review of this test in the last post:

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6153&p=41939&hilit=hash#p41793" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;