View Full Version : Fuel Consumption on the trail
willydmac
03-12-2006, 00:28
How long does 16 ounces of coleman fuel usually last the usual person on the trail? or how much fuel is used during the usual week?
Old Spice
03-12-2006, 00:46
It all depends on how often you use your stove and how into cooking you think you will be. The first time I went for an extended backpacking trip I took two 1 liter MSR bottles of white gas with me. I soon figured out that an 11oz MSR bottle would last a week or two if you only cooked once a day and didn't need to do anything all too fancy.
How long does 16 ounces of coleman fuel usually last the usual person on the trail? or how much fuel is used during the usual week?
MSR's website indicates that most of their current models will boil 16 liters of water with 11 ounces of white gas. How long will that last? Theoretically:
If you boil 2 cups at breakfast and 2 cups at dinner: 16 days
If you boil 3 cups per day: 21 days
If you boil 2 cups for day: 32 days
If you boil 1 cup per day: 64 days
The estimates above are based on 11 ounces of fuel. MSR does not currently make a 16 oz. fuel bottle.
i cook twice a day for over a week with my jetboil on a 3.5 oz can of fuel
i can do it 3 weeks on 7 oz can of fuel:cool: neo
http://www.jetboil.com/
TJ aka Teej
03-12-2006, 08:55
Willydmac-
Measure out 4oz of fuel, and practice cooking until it runs out. Potcozys and windscreens really help to canserve fuel, too.
As others have posted, fuel consumption depends on what type of cooking you are doing.
That being said, cooking typical thru-hiker type meals, and given the availablity of fuel along the way, most thru-hikers that use white gas find that the small MSR (11 ounce) bottle is enough, even for stretches like the 100 miles of Maine where resupply is limited.
That being said, cooking typical thru-hiker type meals, and given the availablity of fuel along the way, most thru-hikers that use white gas find that the small MSR (11 ounce) bottle is enough, even for stretches like the 100 miles of Maine where resupply is limited.
Yup. Peaks is right. 11 ozs lasted me 10-14 days, and longer when I was only cooking one meal. I wouldn't dream of carrying a larger fuel bottle for a solo hike. With the availability of cozies, I imagine fuel could be easily stretched further.
willydmac
03-12-2006, 22:50
Hey thanks for all the help i really appreciate it.
LIhikers
03-16-2006, 21:08
Let's say you do a lot of cooking and use that 16 ounces of coleman fuel in a week of hiking, that's 1/8th of a gallon. And let's say you hike for 15 miles a day for 7 days, that's 105 miles. At that rate your getting 840 miles per gallon. Pretty good mileage rating by anybodys standard :banana
bulldog49
03-17-2006, 09:36
Yup. Peaks is right. 11 ozs lasted me 10-14 days, and longer when I was only cooking one meal. I wouldn't dream of carrying a larger fuel bottle for a solo hike. With the availability of cozies, I imagine fuel could be easily stretched further.
Speaking of pot cozies, where can I get one?
Speaking of pot cozies, where can I get one?
www.antigravitygear.com (http://www.antigravitygear.com) has a good selection.
you can make your own from a blue foam pad and some duct tape.... custom fitted too... and cheap! :D
bulldog49
03-17-2006, 13:46
www.antigravitygear.com (http://www.antigravitygear.com) has a good selection.
Thanks lb.
ARambler
03-17-2006, 16:06
MSR's website indicates that most of their current models will boil 16 liters of water with 11 ounces of white gas. How long will that last? Theoretically:
If you boil 2 cups at breakfast and 2 cups at dinner: 16 days
If you boil 3 cups per day: 21 days
If you boil 2 cups for day: 32 days
If you boil 1 cup per day: 64 days
The estimates above are based on 11 ounces of fuel. MSR does not currently make a 16 oz. fuel bottle.
Also from MSR's web site:
"
MSR recommends 4 oz. (114ml) of liquid fuel per person per day for cooking or 8 oz. (237ml) of liquid fuel per person per day for melting snow and cooking. An extremely cold trip, like skiing in Antarctica, may require as much as 15oz. (444 ml) of liquid fuel per day. "
Don't you hate how one (marketing?) department publishes data that makes it look like 16 days would be no problem with an 11 oz bottle, but another (legal?) department recommends a full 12 oz for just 3 days.
The middle would be 9.5 days for 11 oz. This sounds amazingly close to me, for boiling 1 liter (with minimal simmering) once a day.
Let's just hope MSR does not hire Neo. Who needs to read 6 off-topic posts? (and we haven't even gotten to the hammock posts yet. Just goes to show, you can post the cool face 2600 times but not be helpful.)
Rambler
Also from MSR's web site:
"
MSR recommends 4 oz. (114ml) of liquid fuel per person per day for cooking or 8 oz. (237ml) of liquid fuel per person per day for melting snow and cooking. An extremely cold trip, like skiing in Antarctica, may require as much as 15oz. (444 ml) of liquid fuel per day. "
Don't you hate how one (marketing?) department publishes data that makes it look like 16 days would be no problem with an 11 oz bottle, but another (legal?) department recommends a full 12 oz for just 3 days.
Rambler
It all depends on how much cooking you plan to do. The typical thru-hiker doesn't do much cooking, and certainly is not melting snow. The usual thru-hiker just wants to boil a couple of cups of water once or twice a day, and throw something into it. When cooking like that, a little fuel can go a long way.
Don't you hate how one (marketing?) department publishes data that makes it look like 16 days would be no problem with an 11 oz bottle, but another (legal?) department recommends a full 12 oz for just 3 days.
Rambler
I'll agree that 16 days would be pushing it a bit much, even for thru-hikers. (Note that Roland's post said theoretically.) The reality is that along the AT, you are usually only 3 to 4 days between resupply points. Maine might be the exception. And, at the most, it would be 7 days. 11 ounces of white gas should be more than adequate for thru-hikers to cook their usual thru-hiker type meals.
If MSR made a smaller bottle, it would probably be sufficient for most of the AT.
You have to factor in meals that you get in restaurants. Every restaurant meal you eat makes your fuel supply last one more day or so.
Panzer
I'll agree that 16 days would be pushing it a bit much, even for thru-hikers. (Note that Roland's post said theoretically.) The reality is that along the AT, you are usually only 3 to 4 days between resupply points. Maine might be the exception. And, at the most, it would be 7 days. 11 ounces of white gas should be more than adequate for thru-hikers to cook their usual thru-hiker type meals.
If MSR made a smaller bottle, it would probably be sufficient for most of the AT.
i think one of the reasons the bottle is that size is not for the fuel capacity, but due to the fact that you need somewhere to keep the compressed air that runs it... i've always had problems with the little 11 oz bottle (have to keep pumping it), and prefer the 22 oz (when winter or car camping... the rest of the time i use an alkie). a smaller bottle might not have enough room left to pump air into to effectively run the stove. just a thought.
saimyoji
04-02-2006, 19:00
Damn there are a lot of deleted threads here. Could it be because people don't realize they're posting to the straight forward section? Well, I'll not deviate from the topic...we use a Coleman dual burner stove.
16 oz has lasted me (3 people:wife and baby) nearly a month (8-10 days?). We car camp and cook breakfast and dinner. Occaisionaly I'll fire it up for burgers for lunch. Mostly I'd say that it works really well. The only problem I ever had was a thick smell of fuel in my trunk, not sure what caused it as the burst discs were intact and they were not connected to the stove. Very stange. Could have been high temps in the trunk on the drive up, but I would have expected the burst disc to go before the main valve leaked.
Hope this helped.