I use an MSR Pocket Rocket stove for most of my trips (for the record, GREAT stove!), and need to find a way to start planning how much fuel I'll be using on trips. Most of my trips right now are overnight or weekend trips (school and work suck), and the 4 oz size has lasted me a couple of trips thus far. But soon I'll be planning longer trips and am finding out that I have no idea just how much fuel my stove uses per meal! Does anybody have any anecdotal experience on how long a 4 oz or 8 oz isobutane-propane fuel canister will last, or can point me to a link that has this info? I know that how much fuel depends on a lot of differant things, so...

- I go either solo or with one or two other people
- two meals a day are cooked; I go with mainly with recipes that just require boiling water, but I do like some black beans and rice for dinner (cook time maybe 30 minutes)

Any thoughts or info is appreciated.

Well, the answer depends on a lot of things. I can usually get a 3-day weekend for two people out of a single small canister, and have a little left over. But weather, wind, even the meals I cook all affect that number.

One suggestion: if you have a scale that weighs in grams, weigh a new cartridge, then weigh it again after each trip. Write the weight on the outside with a Sharpie. You'll quickly figure out a pattern, and learn how much fuel you use for a particular trip.

The scale is useful for keeping track of how much various gear weighs, too.

Not only would getting a gram capable scale ($25 and up) be a great help, but having notes or records of what you cooked and for how many would be most useful.

If you like rice and beans, there are some precooked dishes in pouches which only require heating. That will cut down on the fuel used compared to 30 minutes simmering, but the weight of the fuel saved is probably less than the extra weight of the precooked beans and rice. Then too, you could precook them at home and dehydrate them and they will rehydrate well in boiling water and an insulated bag or "cozy".

See http://www.freezerbagcooking.com for more details.

kbenett has the best idea--keep track of the weights. That's because everyone's cooking style is a bit different.

A small size canister will last me 10 days on a solo trip. However, that's because I eat a cold breakfast and boil only 1 to 1 1/4 cups water at dinner. I use Freezer Bag Cooking , so no simmering in the pot. And unless it's unusually cold, I don't drink a hot beverage. The portion of food that satisfies me for dinner is probably less than half of what a hungry man would eat.

For four of us (two adults, two children), a large size canister lasted through a 3-night trip. That was boiling water for dinner (again, freezer bag cooking), for cocoa and for sterilizing dishes at night; for instant oatmeal, cocoa and sterilizing dishes at breakfast. In other words, 18 times of bringing 3 cups water to a full rolling boil, at sea level. There wasn't enough fuel left for another meal, so I will always bring an extra small canister.

You can experiment at home by preparing a day's worth of backpacking meals on your patio or deck, and recording the weight of fuel used. Remember, though, that if you're using cold mountain stream water, it takes a little more fuel to get it to a boil than with city tap water. If there's any doubt, take an extra canister.

I have had the small container of MSR brand fuel last for a seven day trip, just boiling water in the evening. One and a half cups to two cups of water was all per meal. I had enough for a planned eighth day, but went home early. The canister I finished on another weekend trip, with a little left still after one day. I have a five day trip to Yosemite here in another 10 days, but I am bringing a large canister as I will heat some water in the AM too. It'll be close, heating water for nine meals (five dinners, four breakfasts) and factor in the colder temps and water temps too.

Let me add that there is a use for those old canisters, the ones that don't have enough fuel for another backpacking trip. They will power a lantern for quite a long time. We have a Primus lantern that we use car camping and on winter backpacking trips, and a nearly-empty canister will keep the lantern going for an hour or more.

isnt therre a thing about that on zen stoves --or was that the complete walker IV ??

This link provided at zenstoves.net is the one you are probably thinking of:
Howard Johnson's Lightest Weight Backpacking Stove Calculator

Hope this helps!

-Myke-

Thanks, Ken, I hadn't thought of that idea. They could also be used up for cooking when car-camping or for one-night backpack trips. I might just get a lantern for car-camping!

One thing I have NEVER seen in any of the many fuel requiremnt calculations is hot water for washing. I personally wash face and hands with hot soapy water twice a day. What do you folks do?

REI has a calculation of total burn times for various stoves & fuel canisters, thats all you need.
How many minutes use per day X's days divide by canister capacity and allow a 10%
waste.
To keep things warm I will often pack a tea candle and a small empty can to use as a warmer &
pot support.

Two factors are very imporant- 1) wind and 2) temperature of water. I have been able to half my fuel requirements by using a home-made wind screen and pre-heating water by setting a platypus in the sun with a black background (usually my wind pants) for 2-3 hours.

I have a snow-peak stove. I get one week (solo) from the medium sized cannister and I do a lot of real cooking - 5-8 minute simmers after reaching boiling. This is based on cold water for breakfast and solar warmed water for dinner.

I take the amount of fuel for worst-case senario if I am above timber and no fires are allowed - this means all cold water and windy conditions.

If some of my trip is in timber where fires are allowed I skimp on fuel and build a cooking fire once in a while.

Wind will really kill the efficiency of any stove. Really do all you can to cook in a sheltered place.

I also find that solar warming the cannister itself helps the fuel efficiency.

Nice fuel calculator. Based on my last trip using an alcohol pop can stove. The calculation was spot on. I always carry a little extra though just for the conveinence of heating water to wash up. I think next time I'll use my trangia, it's a little heavier but I think the fuel consumption will be about the same.

No fires actually applies to small stoves and not just burning a campfire? That would blow chunks bigtime. And this is above treeline. What would there be to burn if your above treeline?

I should have worded that differently. In the Sierra there are "no campfire" limits based on elevation that is an approximation of what the authorities consider "enough" timber to support fire building. Timberline is really a transition zone. You can actually scrounge some burnable wood "above" timber. But it is illegal, as well as a bit unethical unless you are in a true emergency situation. What I was trying to say is that with your wilderness permit you also get a "fire" permit to have a campfire below the "timberline" that they set. If part of my trip goes below this "line" then I can be skimpy on fuel and use fires for a few meals. When I will be above this "line" every campsite, I take sufficient fuel to have my meals even when I could not pre-heat the water. Then, if I do preheat water, the extra fuel means I can have an extra hot drink at night!

You are much cleaner than myself! I never sterilize the pot or my cup because the pot gets boiled by boiling the water and the cup gets boiling water poured into it. My spoon is stirred in boiling water. I do wash my dishes well in cold water and wipe with my "kitchen kerchief". For me this works. I suppose with larger groups and kids involved, the exta precaution may be worth the extra fuel.

If you boil a pot of water to sterilize dishes, why cannot you still use it to cook with? Unless your dishes are really dirty with chunks of old food, the water should be sterile and clean anyway. The only thing I see would be the "yuck" factor. Speaking of yuck, once when I had to use water full of algae (it actually smelled like fish), I found that I could mask the smell if I used Miso soup as my hot drink. Fishy smelling water and seaweed work well together!

Another thing for me is that I am cheap. The very small cannisters may save a few ounces, but they cost so much more for the amount of fuel you get. I just buy the medium cannister and use it twice for weekend trips.

I have not done a real test, but I swear that different brands of cannisters have different total burn times. I think they have slightly different mixes of fuel types.

I wash my face and hands in cold (or solar heated) water using foaming makeup remover wipes. These wipes seem to work well in cold water and do not leave a feel of soap on your face. I bathe every day by jumping in cold lakes and streams - with no soap. I do not linger in the water! I have to do this immediatly when I am done hiking - if I even wait 15 minutes I loose motivation. When you are hot, sweaty and covered with trail dust, the cold water does not seem so bad!

The only time I have had the luxury of heated wash water was when I met a group going out early because one of their members broke an ankle and was helicoptered out from the accident site, not thier camp, so they were carrying out her stuff - they had big loads and gave me all of their extra fuel. Boy, did I have a wash-fest!

It is all a matter of what you are willing to carry and what "creature comforts" you deem worth the weight.

What are you calling a "small" cannister? As far as I know, there are three sizes, the tiny one that go with the original solo JetBoil, the medium cannisters (what I think most stores carry) and the large ones. I believe the medium ones are about 12.5 oz. fuel and can combined and have 7-8 oz. of fuel. The large one is about double size.

I don't "wash" my pot, cup or spoon either. I just scrape the pot as best I can with the spoon, boil water and drink my "flavored" tea. Then I heat a small amount of water to wash with. Hot water on a wash cloth feels super!

Jumping in a cold lake used to be invigotating for me. Now, at 69 it's just painfull! So, conditions permitting, I fill a platy and sit it the sun for a warm shower. A soda bottle cap with holes drilled in it makes a shower head.

Cheers

I've gotten 4 days and almost 5 from a small Snow Peak cannister in the Colorado Rockies at elevation with wind. Coolish at 45-70F, but not cold. I use a Coleman F1 Exponent stove that is a real fuel miser but do make two cups of tea in the morning as well as a full sized supper, sometimes with two different parts, at night. I find boiling just enough for a dried potato or rice meal and using a cozy really conserves. I measure the amount I boil for either myself and for a partner, then use the tablespoons of leftover hot water for dishes. A windscreen will extend the fuel cannister 20-30% on windy days and taking your cannister in the old sack helps with morning boils. Otherwise at close to freezing, I get frost on the cannister and it sputters.

We're tough here in the north, we use cold water on hands and face in the morning. Wakes you up. I have also found that 4oz of alcohol and my little alcohol stove is a good backup plan which will give you 4 boils in case you get carried away.