canister fuel level in the field

I remember loking at fuel canisters at the local REI.a few years ago. one brand had two markings on the out side. the idea was that the user floated the canister in still water and compaired the water level to the two markings. this would give the user a faily good indication of the remaining fuel.(along with the markings there were also instructions to accomplis this. I know that a person could make their own markings..but that would require that person to plan ahead and have both an empty and filled cans in order to figure out, where to place the markings. I always wished I had bought one canister of this brand so that I could just transfer the needed information to my already purchased canisters. now slowly gearing up for a section hike and would love to be able to read the current fuel level in any of my canisters

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Those are the MSR canisters. I can take a picture of one and send it to you if you can send pictures through the private messages function here (I've never tried it).

Thank you JW I was pretty sure it was at an rei that I saw it...I'm currently way too far to check...will be close to one in April..with a measuring tape and note pad in hand, I'll get the measurments. unless if I run accross one sooner ... chances are good that I already have one, floating aroung in my bb gear box.

If you have a full canister and an empty canister put them each in a pan of water and not where the water line is.

the "empty" canstier is my stumbling block.......when I empty one, I'm fairly prompt at getting it holed and into the recyclebin. and to add confusion, I have a few canisters that are "partials"....I'm currently in the plpanning stage of a lenghly hike for this summer. the tenitive plan is, during this hike I'd like to depleat one or two "partials" before reaching for (yet another) fresh canister. -if the "partials" look good enough, then there'll be no need to pack a full one. of course all this could be done by weight- but that dosen't lend it'self to monitoring fuel usage while on the trail...and I could be wrong, but an empty would still be required to start either caculation/evaluation
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Starting from the presumption that they're about the same across brands, one could add their own MSR float marks to non-MSR canisters.



Only reliable way I know to gauge the contents of partials is subtract an empty canister weight from the total when full. If I'm sufficiently bored I write the weight of new canisters on the side. And yeah, everybody ends up with a bunch of partials. I'll bet Texas hikers are happy to have those right now.

p.s. How did Korea corner the canister market?

For what it is worth, I have a note saying a full 250 ml is 12.7 oz and empty is 5 oz and it says on the canister that contents is 7.75 oz. Weight your partials and you can determine what is left.

I actually don't have a bunch of partials, because I use them up by heating my coffee water at home with them when they get low, precisely so that I don't end up with a bunch of partials.

"with a measuring tape and note pad in hand, I'll get the measurments."

As you can see from Rick's picture, the drawings aren't measurements on the can, but a graphic representation of full/partial/empty cans floating in water. So you should get the info you're looking for from Rick's pic.

Thanks all....judging the "fill" while at home was/is my primary goal. and by weight, now appears the easyest. when on the trail, I'll just plod along untill necessity kicks in. Thanks again

If at home is your primary location to assess the fuel level then it should be very easy. I weigh an empty and a full canister. There should be a half pound difference as that is the amount of fuel in the medium size. Put the used canister on the scale and see exactly what you have left in an instant.

You don't need an empty canister. The net weight is shown on the canister so empty = total weight of full - net weight.

XD I never even got mine out of storage.

Looking at my 8 ounce (or near) fuel canisters:
I went through a rather lengthy exercise a couple of days ago and found that different manufacturers vary a little on the can weight. Five ounces was near average for my collection. I found one completely empty (Coleman brand)at 5.2 ounces so I am using that as the tare weight. So when I subtract the tare wt. from the gross wt. I get a conservative net wt.(the fuel).
I mostly use an older MSR pocket rocket and figure on (nearly) boiling 16 ounces of cold water twice a day and so one ounce of fuel per day seems to be more than enough.

My biggest problem seems to be having a lot of partials. If you use several partials in the field you carry that extra canister weight of course. I know there are ways to refill them, but it sounds like too much of a hassle to me.

Dealing with partially full, but mostly empty, canisters is a universal problem with canister stoves. I've usually dealt with it by biting the bullet and taking two mostly empty canisters on short two-night trips where carrying an extra 6 oz. is less of a problem than on long hikes. It isn't a gram counter's kind of solution, but it does use up some of my near empties.

My wife has been known to use the last dregs of gas to make a cup of tea at home...just to empty the canister.

We have found that our Kovea remote canister stove with a tight windscreen is seriously more efficient than any of our previous canister stoves and can do far, far more with small amounts of fuel. If there is just a tinsey bit left then that is easily used for car camps that are needed to get all the way to some backpacking. Then when empty we punch a hole in the can and toss it in the recycle bin.

It’s a bit of an equation at times but well worth it. I’ll carry a full plus a partial at times. But as pointed out the steel canisters do weigh an appreciable amount.

I do not trust the can comes with exactly the amount stated. Skeptical that way.