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mitch
12-19-2016, 14:40
Last dec. my water froze and my canister stove would not light, it did spark. No oatmeal I can deal with , but no coffee was tough. So this week I'll keep my canister in my bag but I hate to put water in there. I don't think melting ice in a ti jetboil is recommeneded , Maybe a different stove to melt ice?

Mr. Bumpy
12-19-2016, 15:06
Try the MSR Reactor. The large one. It is heavier than jet boil but more versitile and very fuel efficient. I use one cooking and primary water treatment in the winter.

Feral Bill
12-19-2016, 15:19
Get a white gas stove. I prefer the Svea. There are others. Canister stoves do not generally like the cold, unless you get one that feeds the fuel as a liquid.

Dogwood
12-19-2016, 15:26
Umm, get off coffee?

Sarcasm the elf
12-19-2016, 15:57
I've melted snow/ice in my jetboil plenty of times. One of the reasons I like it is that it works much better in the l cold than some other canister stove designs.

That said, if you do a lot of winter camping, then white gas is the way
to go.

Dogwood
12-19-2016, 16:14
Umm, learn how to start/light a fire/ warm up/warm food without a stove. You said you got a spark. Go from there.

Regularly use canister stoves in temps down to about 18* F. Regularly below that I switch out to a different fuel and stove. This is an excellent site for helping to make canister stoves work for you in freezing temps. https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-cold-can-i-run-my-gas-stove.html

Make sure to check out the links at the site.

https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-best-brand-of-gas-for-cold.html

http://seattlebackpackersmagazine.com/stoves-for-cold-weather/

colorado_rob
12-19-2016, 16:29
I've melted snow/ice in my jetboil plenty of times. One of the reasons I like it is that it works much better in the l cold than some other canister stove designs.

That said, if you do a lot of winter camping, then white gas is the way
to go.Yeah, all of this.

If you're really in love with canisters, check out inverted canister stoves too. We use one in lieu of our Jetboil and even in lieu of our liquid gas whisperlite, looks like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CFPIPKA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CFPIPKA&linkCode=as2&tag=ultrarevie-20&linkId=TEFNET4TC6EH5PDO

Works down to any temperature you'd care to be outside in. And keep drinking that coffee! I have 3 delicious cups a day on the trail or off.

saltysack
12-19-2016, 16:35
Been there before also.....try an iced trail mocha....
2 Carnation instant breakfast packs or hot coco mix, lil nido and 2 mount Hagen or bustelo instant coffee packs... taste great...fast


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

golfjhm
12-19-2016, 17:00
Was probably near 0 degrees on TN/NC AT at 5,000 ft 2 weekends ago and all 5 in my group had no problems using Jetboil (canister stove). Ignitors didnt work but we all had lighters that did work. Slept with water and fuel canister in bag and had no problems. Kept canister (and nalgene) in down jacket pocket prior to bed and when not in use. You gotta do all you can to prevent your water from freezing or at least a liter from freezing. Very difficult to thaw without risking putting it next to a fire (or having to build one in tough conditions).

Dogwood
12-19-2016, 17:31
Was probably near 0 degrees on TN/NC AT at 5,000 ft 2 weekends ago and all 5 in my group had no problems using Jetboil (canister stove). Ignitors didnt work but we all had lighters that did work. Slept with water and fuel canister in bag and had no problems. Kept canister (and nalgene) in down jacket pocket prior to bed and when not in use. You gotta do all you can to prevent your water from freezing or at least a liter from freezing. Very difficult to thaw without risking putting it next to a fire (or having to build one in tough conditions).


Yup, I've used canister stoves down into the single digits when I had to. Might have to apply some tricks/tips and not get the optimal efficiency from the fuel or stove but it works if you know how to work it. I had many more problems using canister fuel gas stoves below 20* before I read that adventures in stoving site. Tons of good info at that site. It helped out a lot. Now I don't sweat it if I have to use a canister stove on a few nights when the temps get into the low double digits or even single digits.

MtDoraDave
12-19-2016, 17:40
If you read the "hot water bottle hack" thread in this same section, you'll see that lots of people do keep water bottles in their sleeping bags. There is a small risk of it leaking inside your bag, but I haven't had any trouble with smart water bottles in my sleeping bag.

I, too, keep my fuel can inside my sleeping bag, as well as my filter. The instructions/ warnings on the Sawyer filter clearly say not to let it freeze. I keep it in my cargo pocket while I hike in sub freezing temps, and keep it in my sleeping bag at night. Previously, I had a katadyn filter/pump, and although it didn't have the freeze warning, it doesn't work while frozen - thawing it in unfrozen water works quickly... but you have to have unfrozen water first.

mitch
12-19-2016, 17:56
[QUOTE=Dogwood;2112965]Umm, learn how to start/light a fire/ warm up/warm food without a stove. You said you got a spark. Go from there

Not only did I have a spark I had a back up Bic

egilbe
12-19-2016, 17:56
If you read the "hot water bottle hack" thread in this same section, you'll see that lots of people do keep water bottles in their sleeping bags. There is a small risk of it leaking inside your bag, but I haven't had any trouble with smart water bottles in my sleeping bag.

I, too, keep my fuel can inside my sleeping bag, as well as my filter. The instructions/ warnings on the Sawyer filter clearly say not to let it freeze. I keep it in my cargo pocket while I hike in sub freezing temps, and keep it in my sleeping bag at night. Previously, I had a katadyn filter/pump, and although it didn't have the freeze warning, it doesn't work while frozen - thawing it in unfrozen water works quickly... but you have to have unfrozen water first.

Isn't unfrozen water just...water? Frozen water would be ice.

mitch
12-19-2016, 18:02
Dogwood;2112953]Umm, get off coffee?
Of the things I've had to get off of in my life coffee is not one. I love me a fresh cup of brew in the morning

Dogwood
12-19-2016, 18:15
Being from Tally has hee I guess you're not so inclined to starting a fire as you'r more accustomed to avoiding one. :D

Starchild
12-19-2016, 18:16
The Jetboil Ti model has a known design flaw, that being that the 'flux ring' (aka heat exchanger) is made of aluminum while the pot is made of titanium. When those metals thermally expand due to the fire, they have stresses that cause them to detach from each other, causing the flux ring to melt and burn and no longer be attached to the Ti pot.

This can happen at any time it is in use, but the chance is minimized if you have liquid (not solid) water in the pot. To melt snow your best chance is to start with liquid water, heat at a low flame and gradually add snow/ice.

Engine
12-19-2016, 18:22
Umm, get off coffee?


*******************



Edit: After thinking about Dogwood's original post, I realized my statement was both inaccurate and undeserved by DW. Sorry buddy. ;)

zelph
12-19-2016, 18:35
You can use Everclear alcohol with a Companion Burner. Make a container to place it in such as seen in the video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiPp2ZvL3h8

HooKooDooKu
12-19-2016, 18:38
I don't think melting ice in a ti jetboil is recommenededCorrect.While the cup is ti, the heat-exchanger fins are still aluminum. The two metals do not expand at the same rate when they are heated. So if the bottom of the cup gets too hot, the welds holding the two together fail. While I don't recall the full history of how Jetboil has handled this, today their web site says that Ti cups can only be used to boil water. The water, staying in full contact with the bottom of the cup, keeps the bottom of the cup from getting hotter than about 212º (unless, of course, you allow all the water to boil off). Snow and individual pieces of food leave voids allowing the cup to exceed 212º.(It's sort of like the concept of being able to boil water in a paper cup. So long as the paper remains wet, it will never reach it's ignition temperate of 459º. So it's actually possible to boil water in a paper cup. If you want to see this for yourself, the safest way to do it is to fold a paper cup from a sheet of paper and hang the cup from a length of string. Suspend the cup over a lit candle until it starts to boil. The cup might get black from soot of the candle, but so long as the paper is strong enough to not disenegrate from the water, the water will eventually boil. Warning that I'm not sure what might happen if you use a manufactured paper cup. These usually have a wax coating to prevent the water from soaking thru the paper. That means the paper will not get wet and I'm not sure how much that will allow the temperature of the paper to increase above 212º while you wait for it to boil).

bigcranky
12-19-2016, 20:59
Last dec. my water froze and my canister stove would not light, it did spark.

You're describing my first ever winter hike, maybe '99 or so, south of Damascus the weekend before Thanksgiving. Add that my water filter froze, and on Saturday morning there were more hunters on the trail than I've ever seen anywhere. :)

My hiking partner and I ended up hiking from Double Spring all the way to Damascus on Saturday. No hot food and no coffee would not have been fun out there for a second night.

Kaptainkriz
12-19-2016, 21:06
cmoulder turned me on to the copper strip "hack" over in this thread: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/115424-How-low-will-a-cannister-go!?p=2041964&viewfull=1#post2041964

cmoulder
12-19-2016, 21:09
Solution (https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/98947/) :)


Last dec. my water froze and my canister stove would not light, it did spark. No oatmeal I can deal with , but no coffee was tough. So this week I'll keep my canister in my bag but I hate to put water in there. I don't think melting ice in a ti jetboil is recommeneded , Maybe a different stove to melt ice?

cmoulder
12-19-2016, 21:11
LOL, I was looking for that WB thread and couldn't quite locate it. ;)

Dogwood
12-19-2016, 21:56
Or, maybe, get off the soapbox.

If that was a soapbox I was on that's the shortest soapbox speech in history. One short sentence that was posed as a question. See the question mark? No preaching. What do you think this is a fact based forum, a how to mathematics textbook? This forum is a soapbox. If you came here thinking it wasn't maybe you didn't' see you're standing on a soapbox as well.:p

Engine
12-20-2016, 06:44
If that was a soapbox I was on that's the shortest soapbox speech in history. One short sentence that was posed as a question. See the question mark? No preaching. What do you think this is a fact based forum, a how to mathematics textbook? This forum is a soapbox. If you came here thinking it wasn't maybe you didn't' see you're standing on a soapbox as well.:p

.........:p

MtDoraDave
12-20-2016, 08:19
Isn't unfrozen water just...water? Frozen water would be ice.

Yes, thank you. I think we all know this. My intent was that keeping water from freezing was step one in using it to thaw a filter.

I've avoided correcting the your/you're or then/than mistakes I see because I've come to learn that people don't appreciate English or grammar corrections, as they do nothing to keep a thread on topic... and when I have done so in the past, someone will point out my overuse or misuse of the ellipsis, comma - or hyphens. ;)

MuddyWaters
12-20-2016, 08:40
and when I have done so in the past, someone will point out my overuse or misuse of the ellipsis, comma - or hyphens. ;)

Just learnt me a new word..

Dogwood
12-20-2016, 21:54
Dogwood;2112953]Umm, get off coffee?
Of the things I've had to get off of in my life coffee is not one. I love me a fresh cup of brew in the morning

My question about coffee wasn't rhetorical or driven by contempt. :) I was hoping it would elicit wider thought. It also came from personally experiencing struggling with coffee usage both on and off trail. When you said "no coffee was tough" it made me think of my own struggles. :)

If one must get their caffeine have you considered in a non cook method chocolate covered coffee beans. Less fuss and faster. Pretty tasty too. Gnoshing some good quality high cocoa content chocolate can also offer that caffeeine boost in a non cook approach.

egilbe
12-21-2016, 05:27
I like coffee...

Wolf - 23000
12-22-2016, 04:47
Last dec. my water froze and my canister stove would not light, it did spark. No oatmeal I can deal with , but no coffee was tough. So this week I'll keep my canister in my bag but I hate to put water in there. I don't think melting ice in a ti jetboil is recommeneded , Maybe a different stove to melt ice?

Mitch,

At night pour the water into your cooking pot. In the morning there will be a thin layer of ice but still most of your water will still be water. Winter hiking south of Mass., I never had my entire pot freeze. Only a thin layer. Winter hiking New England, I had a few times were it froze solid. It wasn't a big deal. I just melted the ice back to water with my stove.

Wolf

Engine
12-22-2016, 07:37
Mitch,

At night pour the water into your cooking pot. In the morning there will be a thin layer of ice but still most of your water will still be water. Winter hiking south of Mass., I never had my entire pot freeze. Only a thin layer. Winter hiking New England, I had a few times were it froze solid. It wasn't a big deal. I just melted the ice back to water with my stove.

Wolf

If you have a cozy, placing the pot in that would probably help a bit as well.

Sarcasm the elf
12-22-2016, 08:03
I like coffee...




https://youtu.be/diSp3fHKw44

Wolf - 23000
12-22-2016, 08:11
If you have a cozy, placing the pot in that would probably help a bit as well.
Cozy are only really effective if the water in the pot ishot. Prior to bed, I'm normally using my pot for either eating dinner ordrinking a hot drink. Any water I add to it afterwardfor the morning is normally cool or cold. Putting a cozy might help some but it isreally not going to do much. It is also a thin layer of ice that insulate therest of the water from freezing.
Wolf