For cold conditions, use an upside down canister design - only need to be careful when igniting (warm it a bit in the jacket, start up the stove, turn the canister around). If you start it upside down, you get liquid coming out of the burner and that's kinda nasty when it ignites. The advantage of upside down is that it will come out properly mixed and not burn off the propane first and leave you with useless butane. The drawback is that the adjustment of the flame takes a lot longer - basically give it 20 seconds before it will actually respond to your adjustment.freestone wrote:Fishmonger, when temps go below 40 degrees do you warm the cannister somehow, and how about the effects of wind and altitude? I am thinking of going cannister again after giving it a try in the 90s. The problem I had was poor performance with a GAZ above 10,000 feet. It seemed like the burner had no pressure. Have you noticed any loss of performance because of altitude and wind with the more modern setups?
I have two stoves that can use upside down canisters and both work great in temps below zero.
Can't really say any of my stoves have any issues above 10,000 feet - stuff boils earlier up high, so that seems to actually reduce cook time. I't's been about 15 years since I last brought the GAZ up there, so I can't really say how it compares. There's that 'retro JMT' I have in mind for one future summer, when I plan to bring it along with gear from back in the day. After that I'll be able to compare it. Hope I'll still find the old style GAZ canisters then - those that get punctured by the stove and then have to remain connected until empty.