Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
Canister stoves don't work well below 20*F. When it gets that cold, the propane part of the mix boils off first and you're left with isobutane at or below the temp at which it becomes liquid.
Keep the canister warm (prewarm it in your armpit under your jacket while doing a vigorous keep warm dance--it will really wake you up!), use a windscreen most of the way around (do feel the canister frequently while you're using the windscreen so the canister doesn't overheat and blow up), put the canister on a piece of foam pad to insulate it from the ground. Actually, when it gets that cold you either need a white gas (liquid feed) stove or a remote canister stove like the MSR Windpro II or Kovea Spider that uses an upside-down canister and has a tube next the burner to vaporize the gas (which basically converts the canister to a liquid feed).
It's one thing going stoveless in warm weather; quite another to be doing without hot food and drinks in below-freezing weather!
Edited by OregonMouse (02/08/1408:40 PM)
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
Check out HJ's blog, "Adventures in stoving", I finally met him a few weeks ago at Henry Coe SP in CA. He has twice the stoves I have, most of the canister stoves. We've exchanged stoves a few times over the last few years. I've used my Pocket Rocket into the single digits a few times, need to dunk the canister in water a few times or into the pot of water you are heating. A good remote canister stove should work fine if you want to stick with expensive canisters. Wind Pro II, Omnifuel, the old MSR Rapidfires, but they have a stiff fuel line. I usually bring a white gas or kerosene stove in cold weather. The MSR Dragonfly white gas/kerosene)seems to have the best adjustment for simmering. Loud. Select a stove for your intended needs as has been stated, shape and size of burner means a lot. A broader head like a MSR Super Fly or Coleman Exponent F1 Power Boost have wide heads, good for dispersed flame If you have to go out in cold temps make some adjustments or get a different stove. I'm not an expert, I just have a lot of stoves. Tyson is being nice. I go bping year round by the way. Duane
Naw, geek is good, but I have to be a junior stove geek on any forum with UberStoveGeek Duane. Just sayin.'
I'm familiar with the Express burner. It's not great from the standpoint of cooking IMHO, because of the concentrated flame and being picky about providing an even low flame. If you're interested in cooking more than just boiling water you might look for a burner that spreads the flame. I won't make a specific recommendation, but there are a lot to choose among. Weightwise, you might shave off as much as an ounce or so, but I'd hold out for something you'll gain more than a weight benefit from.
FWIW, efficiency--e.g.,pints boiled per canister or grams used per pint boiled--doesn't seem to vary as much from burner design as it does from kitchen design, including a relatively wide pot and an effective windscreen. Canister-top stoves can be tricky to set up with a good windscreen.
Most of my trail cooking is just boiling water, and (especially with the ETA pot) the Primus is very, very good at that. 1 liter to a full rolling boil in just under 2:30.
I absolutely would not buy a whole new stove just to save one ounce. If I saw a real benefit to it, sure, but an ounce is not worth $40+ to me.
I have contemplated making an alcohol stove from a red bull can for backup and simmering, though.
Most of my trail cooking is just boiling water, and (especially with the ETA pot) the Primus is very, very good at that. 1 liter to a full rolling boil in just under 2:30.
I absolutely would not buy a whole new stove just to save one ounce. If I saw a real benefit to it, sure, but an ounce is not worth $40+ to me.
I have contemplated making an alcohol stove from a red bull can for backup and simmering, though.
Penny stoves/ alcohol stoves are not for simmering.
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The wind wont howl if the wind don't break.
Can you not make an enclosed one with fewer holes, for less heat?
they don't quite work like that. It takes a certain amount of heat to vaporize the alcohol in order for the jets to work. Play around with it, they are cheap and easy to make. There are people making alcohol stoves with simmer rings that kind of allow you to simmer. I've made dozens of these stoves and love yo mess around with them, but for simmering a valved stove works much better.
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The wind wont howl if the wind don't break.
Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
Ah but Mr. Chuckler, :), they make a few simmer rings for a few stoves now, but then a new system may be needed. Starlyte and modified Starlyte stoves I believe both, can use a simmer ring and the Trail Designs 12-10 stove can be used with a simmer ring, but would need a good wind screen or in the case of the 12-10, the Caldera Cone. Even Esbit type fuels can be throttled down to run an hour instead of 15 minutes, simmering well enough to bake, like a muffin. Check out Flat Cat Stoves. I was given a simmer ring (carbon felt) for the two second quality Starlyte stoves I got at Henry Coe SP a few weeks ago on a large group trip. Duane
Registered: 02/26/07
Posts: 1149
Loc: Washington State, King County
Quote:
"That must be one of the leaps you have to be able to make to be a thru-hiker. After a week or two I'm afraid I'd be getting a bit wild eyed. Maybe not though. I don't eat a lot as it is, so I might do better than I'd imagine."
Most thru-hikers do bring a stove, most typically some sort of alcohol stove.
OTOH, you might indeed do better than you would imagine without one. With apologies for the bad pun, what it "boils down to" is whatever feels right for you for a particular trip.
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