View Full Version : Care Cannister Stove of Trail
I'm relatively new to cannister stoves and have a question about storage on the trail.
After each use, I make a point of wiping excess liquid out of the pot before placing the fuel cannister inside of the pot. The Soto Windmaster has a piezo igniter and my concern is that excess moisture will get in the way of stove performance. Is this a valid concern? Is it ok to store everything inside of the pot?
Good practice to dry out the pot, but a bit of moisture won't be a problem as long as you can light the stove. And certainly have a backup ignition source in case the piezo igniter fails. :)
chknfngrs
12-15-2023, 16:06
Almost every piezo stove I’ve ever had fails at some point, but could always light it nonetheless
I dry out the pot, not so much for the possible effects on the piezo as to minimize rust from the canister. I place the canister in the pot upside down with the plastic cover on the valve so there's minimal metal-to-metal contact. My stove can then go in the concave base of the canister. I line the pot with a paper towel to eliminate rattles.
I dry out the pot, not so much for the possible effects on the piezo as to minimize rust from the canister. I place the canister in the pot upside down with the plastic cover on the valve so there's minimal metal-to-metal contact. My stove can then go in the concave base of the canister. I line the pot with a paper towel to eliminate rattles.
I would do this as well, but I would use a old bandana I had cut in half to prevent rust and it would serve as a small camp rag as well. And would always carry a small bic lighter.
Kittyslayer
12-17-2023, 20:55
I would do this as well, but I would use a old bandana I had cut in half to prevent rust and it would serve as a small camp rag as well. And would always carry a small bic lighter.
I use a small 4x4 piece of a thicker(cheaper/older) camp towel as it is a nice hot pad as well as drying and rattle prevention. Upside down on the canister too for preventing that rust ring at the bottom.
I like the Easy Reach Bic as I find it easier to light my stove. Endorsed by these two hikers(?). I assume the “and more” means camp stoves.
50299
I use a small 4x4 piece of a thicker(cheaper/older) camp towel as it is a nice hot pad as well as drying and rattle prevention. Upside down on the canister too for preventing that rust ring at the bottom.
I like the Easy Reach Bic as I find it easier to light my stove. Endorsed by these two hikers(?). I assume the “and more” means camp stoves.
50299
Haha that is funny. I also used on of these for most of my hike. I had a Jetboil Stash, which has no piezo, and just like the “standoff range”. And it lasted much longer than Bic Minis which seemed to fail more quickly than they should’ve.
FWIW, the Stash solves the issue of the OP by clipping the canister bottom into the lid.
Since the OP mentioned being new to the canister genre, will pass along something I learned here or on SectionHiker.
You can get a lot more boils out of a canister if you run your flame lower than full blast. Many stoves don’t do simmer, but they do have some range. If you go as low as you can without it petering out, you’ll get a lot more usage per canister. Yes, you’ll wait a little longer.
On a 4.5 month thru, with 70% of nights in the field, I used 4-5 small canisters. 500ml at night for dinner and same for coffee in the morning. YMMV.
Since the OP mentioned being new to the canister genre, will pass along something I learned here or on SectionHiker.
You can get a lot more boils out of a canister if you run your flame lower than full blast. Many stoves don’t do simmer, but they do have some range. If you go as low as you can without it petering out, you’ll get a lot more usage per canister. Yes, you’ll wait a little longer.
On a 4.5 month thru, with 70% of nights in the field, I used 4-5 small canisters. 500ml at night for dinner and same for coffee in the morning. YMMV.
And if you really want to maximize the fuel use (trading off some time to reach temperature), try one of these. I have been very happy with it. :)
Ocelot Windscreens | Flat Cat Gear (https://www.flatcatgear.com/ocelet/ocelot-windscreens/)
gpburdelljr
12-18-2023, 09:30
Since the OP mentioned being new to the canister genre, will pass along something I learned here or on SectionHiker.
You can get a lot more boils out of a canister if you run your flame lower than full blast. Many stoves don’t do simmer, but they do have some range. If you go as low as you can without it petering out, you’ll get a lot more usage per canister. Yes, you’ll wait a little longer.
On a 4.5 month thru, with 70% of nights in the field, I used 4-5 small canisters. 500ml at night for dinner and same for coffee in the morning. YMMV.
I assume this is because on full blast some of the heat is lost and not transferred to the pot. Does this also apply to a Jetboil, which transfers more heat to the pot than a regular canister stove?
You can get a lot more boils out of a canister if you run your flame lower than full blast. Many stoves don’t do simmer, but they do have some range. If you go as low as you can without it petering out, you’ll get a lot more usage per canister. Yes, you’ll wait a little longer. YMMV.
Outdoorgearlab.com made this quote about the Soto Windmaster: "The WindMaster has respectable boil times. With no wind, it boiled a liter of water in 4 minutes. In front of a fan blowing 2-4 mph, it boiled one liter of water in 5 minutes and 46 seconds, for an average boil time of 4 minutes 53 seconds. In this test, it wasn't the fastest — especially when compared with integrated canister stoves — but it wasn't the slowest either."
I tried the lowest setting. The boil time seemed like an eternity. Perhaps there was confusion between a "boil" and "simmer" setting, or maybe cool ambient temperatures was the cause. Will have to do more outings to determine how low it can go before practically sets in.
The wiping of the pot was done with a super thin Walmart reusable cloth that possessed minimal absorptive properties. Moisture removal was so minimal I started to carry the stove in a separate part of my backpack. Perhaps this was a little too ultralight.:) New plan is to upgrade the cloth to one with more robust absorption qualities.
Appreciate all of the excellent suggestions.
I assume this is because on full blast some of the heat is lost and not transferred to the pot. Does this also apply to a Jetboil, which transfers more heat to the pot than a regular canister stove?
I was using a JetBoil Stash, but I think the general principal applies to all.
Outdoorgearlab.com made this quote about the Soto Windmaster: "The WindMaster has respectable boil times. With no wind, it boiled a liter of water in 4 minutes. In front of a fan blowing 2-4 mph, it boiled one liter of water in 5 minutes and 46 seconds, for an average boil time of 4 minutes 53 seconds. In this test, it wasn't the fastest — especially when compared with integrated canister stoves — but it wasn't the slowest either."
I tried the lowest setting. The boil time seemed like an eternity. Perhaps there was confusion between a "boil" and "simmer" setting, or maybe cool ambient temperatures was the cause. Will have to do more outings to determine how low it can go before practically sets in.
The wiping of the pot was done with a super thin Walmart reusable cloth that possessed minimal absorptive properties. Moisture removal was so minimal I started to carry the stove in a separate part of my backpack. Perhaps this was a little too ultralight.:) New plan is to upgrade the cloth to one with more robust absorption qualities.
Appreciate all of the excellent suggestions.
I think the Soto Windmaster might be a simmer capable stove, so yeah that would take a long time. The JetBoils are generally considered boil only, and most folk run them full blast for that purpose. They don't really simmer, but you can feather them down a bit. That is what I was describing.
And if you really want to maximize the fuel use (trading off some time to reach temperature), try one of these. I have been very happy with it. :)
Ocelot Windscreens | Flat Cat Gear (https://www.flatcatgear.com/ocelet/ocelot-windscreens/)
That is a pretty cool idea. I was going to add that I used my body and hands as a windscreen. Definitely not as efficient as this, but does has the advantage of warming up your fingers, which really does have value.
gpburdelljr
12-18-2023, 22:49
My Jetboil Minimo will simmer.
HooKooDooKu
12-20-2023, 14:43
I place the canister in the pot upside down with the plastic cover on the valve so there's minimal metal-to-metal contact.
Piling on...
I learned the hard way that you don't want to have that metal to metal contact. I ran into an issue when I stored a cannister in a titanium pop during a two night hiking trip. Even after that short period, I had a ring in the pot that was difficult to remove.
Deadeye's suggestion of placing the canister in the pot upside down made a lot of sense to me, but the 0.85L MSR Titan Kettle pot simply isn't spacious enough to hold an upside down small canister+MSR folding spoon+Soto Windmaster. Right side up, the fit is tight, but it does fit.
This brings me to second question: Replace the Titan Kettle with a 0.9L Evernew Pot and accommodation for spoon, stove, & upside down cannister is palatial. My new question is this, will the short and wide geometry of the Evernew pot affect the efficiency of a canister stove setup in a meaningful way? BTW, a Bic lighter is carried in my pack to serve as backup.
Piling on...
I learned the hard way that you don't want to have that metal to metal contact. I ran into an issue when I stored a cannister in a titanium pop during a two night hiking trip. Even after that short period, I had a ring in the pot that was difficult to remove.
I made a point to keep the canister plastic cap too, but because I read the one reason stoves fail is grit getting in the threads.
gpburdelljr
12-21-2023, 14:18
Deadeye's suggestion of placing the canister in the pot upside down made a lot of sense to me, but the 0.85L MSR Titan Kettle pot simply isn't spacious enough to hold an upside down small canister+MSR folding spoon+Soto Windmaster. Right side up, the fit is tight, but it does fit.
This brings me to second question: Replace the Titan Kettle with a 0.9L Evernew Pot and accommodation for spoon, stove, & upside down cannister is palatial. My new question is this, will the short and wide geometry of the Evernew pot affect the efficiency of a canister stove setup in a meaningful way? BTW, a Bic lighter is carried in my pack to serve as backup.
Here is a relatively long video comparing canister efficiency with different flame size, and pot diameters.
https://youtu.be/J9Sz3IQ_DW4?feature=shared
Brief Summary:
- the lower the flame, the less fuel used
- the wider the pot, the less fuel used, but with a low flame there is little difference in fuel used for various width pots.
I'm relatively new to cannister stoves and have a question about storage on the trail. After each use, I make a point of wiping excess liquid out of the pot before placing the fuel cannister inside of the pot. The Soto Windmaster has a piezo igniter and my concern is that excess moisture will get in the way of stove performance. Is this a valid concern? Is it ok to store everything inside of the pot?
Good practice to dry out the pot, but a bit of moisture won't be a problem as long as you can light the stove. And certainly have a backup ignition source in case the piezo igniter fails. :)
I always cook and eat out of my pot. If you don't get enough dampness out, and store stove in pot, sometimes your piezo may not work. That's why it always good to have a backup lighter or sparker or matches.
G-FOURce
01-12-2024, 14:54
Outdoorgearlab.com made this quote about the Soto Windmaster: "The WindMaster has respectable boil times. With no wind, it boiled a liter of water in 4 minutes. In front of a fan blowing 2-4 mph, it boiled one liter of water in 5 minutes and 46 seconds, for an average boil time of 4 "minutes 53 seconds. In this test, it wasn't the fastest — especially when compared with integrated canister stoves — but it wasn't the slowest either."
I tried the lowest setting. The boil time seemed like an eternity. Perhaps there was confusion between a "boil" and "simmer" setting, or maybe cool ambient temperatures was the cause. Will have to do more outings to determine how low it can go before practically sets in."
I use a Soto Windmaster, a Boundless Voyage 900ml pot (Amazon), and a FlatCat Ocelot windscreen and my boil times are always under two minutes. That said, I'm backpacking in the southeastern US (GSMNP, Cheaha Wilderness, OMSP, etc.) so I'm never above treeline or in crazy cold conditions. We did a quick overnighter last month in Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham, AL last month where the temps dropped to just below freezing but we still hit sub-two minute boil times. If you can find a Sterno Inferno HX pot, the boil times are even a little faster with that pot. I love mine, but the BV 900 pot is slightly lighter and holds more pee so I go with it for the optimized dual-purpose usage.