Cooking with Gas (The Right Mixture)

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[Tony]

Hi Brett,

The best reading by far on fuel mixtures is Roger Caffin's FAQ site http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_Mixtures.htm
The long butane canisters suffer when it gets cold because Butane boils at -5C, it is best to use mixtures as iso butane boils at -12C and propane boils at -42C.

If you like to use the long car camping cylinders Franco has found that Benzomatic cylinders have a mix of 35% propane 65% butane they come in in the STD 230g size and 300g http://www.bernzomatic.com/PRODUCTS/FUE ... ult.aspxth they are about the same price as the Kovea canisters

MSR canister are only 20% butane 80% iso-butane and as they are the most expensive (they are a big ripoff) I will not use them. Kovea 230g are 30% propane 70% iso-butane (kovea make MSR stoves and canister) Kovea 450g canisters are 25% propane 75% iso butane.

In winter I use a Coleman extreme liquid feed stove which uses special canisters which are 40% propane 60% iso butane but they have a special fitting so only can be used with the extreme stove, this stove is considered the best cold weather gas stove around but sadly they are not made anymore.

Tony

[sthughes]

I've found the 80/20 Coleman canisters have about a 4 degree usable limit, even with a bit of encouraging. Isobutane/propane is better.
I like the 100g canisters simply because they are easier to keep warm and/or warm up. They easily fit in a pocket or in your sleeping bag overnight. Of course due to the size they are worse when not warmed up, plus they are expensive and not as good in the weight/capacity race.

[corvus]

Eureka!! I have discovered that the Primus Can stand fits comfortably on the 100g cans so you now have a stable base.
c

[photohiker]

Then there's Super Legs (at the bottom of the review)

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[sthughes]

Nah I meant above zero! It works, it's just that it is very slow and needs a bit of swishing about and encouragement to get much kick out of it. I imagine it will work at colder temps but you loose any sort of speed. I don't see it as a problem so long as you remember to keep the can a tad warm. The iso-butane mix ones are better.
(I've only had problems once (with both of the canisters I had)- that was at Bronte Park and it was +4 degrees, all other times I've had the good sense not to leave them sitting outside in the open all night.)

I used to use one of those flat stoves with the long cylinders when car camping. Great idea as it was stable and throws a good flame for some serious cooking but it did not work so well the last two times. Put it down to old age and buried it in a landfill. The new one did not work well either.

I've got two of those, never tried them in proper cold but I do find my old one (getting a tad rusty now) is better than my newish one. It put's out noticeably more heat and can be turned down to simmer better as well. My sister and parents also have newish ones which are not as good as the old one either, so it's not just a dodgey one. I checked the compliance plate things on them and turns out the new ones actually are rated to consume less gas - I guess this explains it!

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[corvus]

Brett,
You will see one of these in action this weekend.
http://www.brunton.com/images/catalog/F-STOVESTAND.jpg
c

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[corvus]

Hey Brett ,
Which one as there is no pick on this link.
c

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[Nuts]

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[Tony]

Hi Nuts,

That report mentions that the stove (system) ends up 'heavy' and bulky as is?
Then I found another test (on BPL?) where the tester found very little boiling time advantage with the heat exchanger?

Could you give me a link to the BPL test that you mentioned above as I have had different results especially when it is very cold. Check this report out that I posted on BW-T last September viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1119

Tony

[Nuts]

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[Tony]

Hi Nuts,

It was Trailspace Tony (not BPL):

Thanks for the link, as a stove tester with advanced testing equipment and techniques I found his testing methods based on time and full throttle leaves a lot to be desired. And I am unable to understand how he came to his conclusions with the data he posted. My experience with a Whisperlite at full throttle is that they are very inefficient and in my opinion the burner is poorly designed for efficiency, as Brett pointed out the flame is pushed out sideways so most of the heat goes up the side of the pot.

I have done extensive testing on both the JetBoil PCS and GCS pots and with STD pots of different sizes, below are some results that I posted on BPL, I have had up to 45% increase in efficiency with using a flux ring pot. The Flux ring pots are heavy and I do not use them for summer trips but I swear by my GCS pot for cold weather and snow trips, they speed up the heating times and at -18C trying to melt snow for a cuppa this is a great advantage. ( I have no testing data on this as I am unable to take my testing equipment with me or arrange a -20C testing chamber.) Due to my limited resources ( My stove testing is self funded) I have not testes any Primus pots yet.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... d_id=11467

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... 5849#85849

Tony

[Tony]

Here is a chart comparing the Trangia, Whistperlite and MSR Pocket Rocket and boil times with fuel usage, if you can slow down the Whisperlite it improves the efficiency, the same goes for the Pocket Rocket.



For summer,spring and Autumn I use a Kovea Ti canister stove with some cheap Aluminium billys and for winter/snow I use a Coleman Extreme which has been modified to use with the JetBoil GCS pot, sadly the Extreme is not being made anymore but it is considered the GOLD Standard for cold weather canister stoves.

Apparently Kovea make most of the world small canister stoves and canisters regardless of brand name.

Tony

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[Orion]

And finally a comparision between Primus labelled canister and a Kovea labelled one. Spot the difference?

Primus Power Gas "4 Season Mix" is a misnomer. It is made primarily from normal butane, not isobutane. So while it is just fine in warm conditions, in cold conditions it is one of the poorest choices for canister fuel.

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