Canister Supply

[the_iceman]

Okay -

A lot has been written about canisters and content but there is still no concise table as to where to buy them. Here is what I culled from the article turned 3 page forum plus from other posts. If anyone can add places you can buy them for sure that would be great!

Yes: Walasi-Yi, NOC, Hot Springs, Erwin (I think Uncle Johnny has them),
Damascus, Pearisburg, (definitely the Wal-Mart and maybe the hardware store.
Daleville (near Troutville), Waynesboro, Harpers Ferry, Front Royal,
Port Clinton definitely Cabela's in Hamburg or Appalachian Outfitters in P.C.),
Pawling, Kent, Cornwall Bridge, Great Barrington, Williamstown, Manchester Center, Hanover,
Pinkham Notch, Gorham, Caratunk, Monson

Maybe: I'm pretty sure now that Delaware Water Gap DOES NOT have canisters.

No: Cloud9. Duncannon, Boiling Springs, Unionville, Salisbury

[Rebel, with a Cause!]

Hi Iceman, I will be taking canisters and starting from Springer on April 5th. I plan to leave my food drops and canisters along the way from the Smokies to Neels Gap. After That I will find them :)

Heres the short list:

Neels gap, Franklin ( Eagle Outfitters ), NOC, Fontana Village, Happy Hiker in Gatlinburg, Hot Springs, Erwin ( Uncle Johnnys ), Damascus

After Dasmascus, I may switch to my alcohol stove for convinence.

Drop me a PM and let me know if you will be at the Hiker Hostel, starting date, etc.

Look forward to meeting you on the trail

[the_iceman]

We start the same Day!!! - See you out there. I am staying at the Lodge the 4th. If I get there early I may slack pack down the approach. I am then going to start from FS42 on the 5th.

I am sticking with the jetboil. I am going to carry a small canister as backup and work to get 10 days out of the big ones.

A lot of thru-hikers carried them last year and all the ones I PM'd or emailed had no problems getting supply. At my age I do not have the patience to screw with alcohol anymore.

[joel137]

The outfitter in Port Clinton was closed last summer, I doubt that they have re-opened?

[Earl Grey]

I have wondered this too since im taking a Jetboil. The people that have done it before was it easy to get isobutane fuel cansiters?

[the_iceman]

Blackmath -

No one I talked could not find them when needed. One guy ran out once but he knew he was pushing it. I think we would all feel a little better if you knew for sure where you can buy them. I think more places will have them this year as they grow in popularity.

There are pretty much 2 canister sizes. The Jetboil which is small and the MSR which fits but is bigger. If I read everything right people carry the big one and get around 10 days out of them being conservative. Do not run it wide open it is more efficient if you run it around 2/3rds it seems.

My estimate is you can get 3 days out of the small ones, maybe 4. I was going to carry a small as backup until I get things right. This is a new stove for me.

[Jack Tarlin]

You can get a lot more than 3-4 days out of a small cannister. Make sure you have a goot pot lid, and then turn your stove OFF 3-5 minutes before you think your dinner will be done. Leave the lid on tight. Your dinner will continue to finish cooking. Doing this every day will add several days to every can of fuel. Most folks get the better part of a week out of small cannisters, and as much as 10 days to 2 weeks from the larger ones, especially if you only cook at dinner-time. (The "turn-off-the-flame" thing to save fuel can be done at breakfast time, too).

[Rebel, with a Cause!]

The Jetboil uses a 100 gram canister. Backpackinglight.com did a very complete review of this stove as well as others. They achieved the following results:

Replicating Jetboil’s test conditions for their claims, they found the stove had an efficiency of 10.6 liters boiled per 100 g of fuel at full flame, and 11.8 liters per 100 g of fuel when they throttled it down to a a “medium” flame, hoping to improve efficiency further. This was at 72 Deg Ambient temp.

So you get an average of about 11 liters of water boiled off a 100 gram canister, which equals about 5 days of fuel boiling 2 liters a day.

Like Jack said, I just get my water to a boil then shut it off, then let the hot water cook my food. For rice, I will simmer ( low setting ) for maybe 3 or 4 minutes after boiling is achieved. Doing this simmer method will shorten your total burn time to maybe 9 to 9.5 liters per canister.

As for myself, I will be using the new Coleman F1 Ultralight Canister stove. 2.7 Oz combined with a 5 Oz pot and lid using a 7 Oz Snow Peak 110 gram canister. Total weight of Kitchen is 15 Oz INCLUDING Fuel ( VS the Jetboil at 15.2 Oz NOT Including fuel ). I get about 8 liters of boiling time using this system ( boiling time equals 3 min 10 secs per liter of water ). If I use a Large Canister , I get about 15 to 16 liters of water boiled equaling a total weight of 19 Oz total, still less than the Jetboil with a small canister.

The Jetboil is more efficient but at the cost of more weight. This efficiency is not realized until you boil at least 15 liters of water which requires carrying 2 canisters of fuel ( 100 grams each ) which once again offsets the weights toward the F1 with a larger canister.

Enough fiqures for now and I hope this helps, We will talk more on the trail and looking forward to the meet up. It will be interesting to compare our 2 setups as we hike. And up until Damascus, dont worry about getting enough canisters, you are covered there. After that we shall see :)

[BigCat]

especially if you only cook at dinner-time.

That's a good point Jack and one I've been wondering about. I only plan on cooking at supper so when I hear people making estimates I always wonder how many times they plan on cooking per day.

[the_iceman]

Hey guys, I probably started it but let's not digress. I want this to be a "where to buy" thread. There is a complete article with all the dicussion already just not concise list of suppliers. :cool:

[sparky2000]

As far as the outfitter in Fort Clinton, PA - no problem as a great big outfitter is about 1.5 mi. east (the book says 3 mi. but that ain't right).

[Omni]

I don't know how close it is to any trail towns but around here all of the Wal-Marts have started to carry them in the camping section.

Omni