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Butane Stoves
At first you may doubt that backpacking stoves running on canisters of propane and butane mixtures are a better idea. The run time of a single tank is about two hours, and often less. If you're used to alcohol stoves and slow cooking times this may sound unreasonable.
But there really are advantages. The stove burner, valve and pot rest of a canister stove may only weigh two ounces, and the tank itself can be as small as four ounces. The short burn time is misleading, because the BTU output of a typical butane stove is higher than alcohol and even higher than gas. Two hours of cooking time on a butane stove equals a lot of meals.
There's little fuel waste with a butane stove. The boiling point of butane is about four degrees Fahrenheit; and propane, which often forms part of the mixture, boils at forty below zero. Even in frigid conditions you don't waste any fuel preheating the stove, as you would for a gas fired stove. There should be no spillage of fuel when you remove the valve from the tank -- the tank pressure seals itself.
Gasoline stoves can be tricky to light. Heating the burner and pressurizing the fuel tank takes labor, fuel and time. Canister stoves are already primed. All you do is open the valve and light the gas. As long as the temperature is above zero, it's trouble free. Below that, you may have to warm the tank first.
Because of a long history of having to fix things for a living I remain cautious about the multi-fuel backpacking stoves that claim to run on anything from butane canisters to bottled diesel fuel. Heavier fuels inevitably cause more problems. Stick to the light fuels if you don't want trouble -- white gas and propane/butane fuels burn clean. If you decide on a multi-fuel stove with hose connections to the fuel source, take very good care of that hose. A leaky hose puts you out of business.
Though several models of butane canister stoves incorporate piezoelectric starters, be sure to carry a second source of fire in case that doesn't work. Battery powered ignitions are reliable, but the starter systems on most backpacking stoves are mechanical devices and less dependable. You may need a match.
At first you may doubt that backpacking stoves running on canisters of propane and butane mixtures are a better idea. The run time of a single tank is about two hours, and often less. If you're used to alcohol stoves and slow cooking times this may sound unreasonable.
But there really are advantages. The stove burner, valve and pot rest of a canister stove may only weigh two ounces, and the tank itself can be as small as four ounces. The short burn time is misleading, because the BTU output of a typical butane stove is higher than alcohol and even higher than gas. Two hours of cooking time on a butane stove equals a lot of meals.
There's little fuel waste with a butane stove. The boiling point of butane is about four degrees Fahrenheit; and propane, which often forms part of the mixture, boils at forty below zero. Even in frigid conditions you don't waste any fuel preheating the stove, as you would for a gas fired stove. There should be no spillage of fuel when you remove the valve from the tank -- the tank pressure seals itself.
Gasoline stoves can be tricky to light. Heating the burner and pressurizing the fuel tank takes labor, fuel and time. Canister stoves are already primed. All you do is open the valve and light the gas. As long as the temperature is above zero, it's trouble free. Below that, you may have to warm the tank first.
Because of a long history of having to fix things for a living I remain cautious about the multi-fuel backpacking stoves that claim to run on anything from butane canisters to bottled diesel fuel. Heavier fuels inevitably cause more problems. Stick to the light fuels if you don't want trouble -- white gas and propane/butane fuels burn clean. If you decide on a multi-fuel stove with hose connections to the fuel source, take very good care of that hose. A leaky hose puts you out of business.
Though several models of butane canister stoves incorporate piezoelectric starters, be sure to carry a second source of fire in case that doesn't work. Battery powered ignitions are reliable, but the starter systems on most backpacking stoves are mechanical devices and less dependable. You may need a match.
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Copyright: All original material on this site is the sole property of the author and cannot legally be copied or used in any form without his permission. That would be me.
Data Collection of Non-Personally Identifying Information:
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.