View Full Version : fuel lasts how long?
pocket rocket stove w/ 8 oz. canister, 1 hiker, 2 meals/day--breakfast boil water for 1 via coffee & 1 cup granola/oatmeal mix; dinner boil 2 cups to rehydrate dinner & for tea or hot chocolate. fuel lasts how long?
wonder about other types of stoves/ fuel--any website w/ this beta?
.com
Rocket Jones
12-30-2012, 13:25
Too many variables to give more than a guesstimate. Air temp, starting water temp, wind and whether you have an effective wind screen, etc.
I suggest buying a couple cannisters and practicing. Weigh the canister before and after to get a feel for how your stove works while you cook your way.
AllenIsbell
12-30-2012, 13:45
I use Magic Heat that you can get from Academy. It's like $7 for the fuel and stove and it claims to burn about 6.5 hours. I pulled my wick out a little to get a taller flame and it lasted me about 3+ hours, and I have about 1/4 can of fuel left. t was super cold outside (<30F) and took about 10 minutes to boil water.
Wise Old Owl
12-30-2012, 13:59
Well some claim at best 20 days in past posts - with windscreen - maybe 15 days... supplement with a UL wood stove for back up, remember to take liquid soap.
slow mind
12-30-2012, 15:04
What is the loquid soap for???
slow mind
12-30-2012, 15:05
*liquid
....................
loquid soap is for saving money when running low in the UK
Old Hiker
12-30-2012, 22:28
pocket rocket stove w/ 8 oz. canister, 1 hiker, 2 meals/day--breakfast boil water for 1 via coffee & 1 cup granola/oatmeal mix; dinner boil 2 cups to rehydrate dinner & for tea or hot chocolate. fuel lasts how long?
wonder about other types of stoves/ fuel--any website w/ this beta?
.com
Anecdotal/hearsay from me: my 8 oz cans lasted 5-8 days, depending on the burn time. Remember (sorry if I'm preaching to the choir) your coffee/tea/hot choc doesn't have to be boiling - waste of fuel to get it there, plus, you have to let it cool down before drinking it.
I always had a backup 4 oz that I had to start using a couple of times when my 8 oz ran out. The ONE time I didn't have a backup, I had to buy an extra off another hiker in the Smokies.
Used a PocketRocket exlusively - don't think I'm going to change.
old hiker, that's what i was thinking too, thanks for the confirmation, and the reminder of a backup. rocket j, sorry i didn't add those details, guess i was thinking all mild weather for the most part. always good to think of less than optimal conditions.
i thought i once read a cool list of stoves & fuel sources, all describing many characteristics. anyone know of this list? can't recall if it was on white blaze, or from some gear store, or what.
.com
Well you could do a test. How many times can you get 1 cup of cold water (55*) to boil at room temperature (68*) from one 8 oz. canister?
My guess is about 18.
peakbagger
12-31-2012, 12:20
My experience was about 10 days on a standard cannister with a pocket rocket cooking the meals you describe. Note in order to get that you will have to cook out of the wind or breeze which sometimes means cooking in a corner of a shelter. If you rig up a hanging heat shield (I have posted photos before on WB), a standard cannister is good for 13 to 14 days and you dont have to be as picky about breezes. When its near freezing and the cannister is low, you lose a lot of output unless you prewarm the cannister.
I plan on 10 days with morning and PM use. I have one Esbit cube as backup in case I call it wrong. I don't worry about discarding a partial canister when I'm in town and have reached 10 days.
Kerosene
12-31-2012, 14:43
My experience, in October in central Virginia, is 9 days for a similar boil amounts using a SnowPeak GigaPower stove with a 110ml SnowPeak isobutane canister with a large piece of aluminum foil for a pseudo-windscreen as needed. You might want to plan for foods that can be eaten raw those last few days, just in case.
Wise Old Owl
12-31-2012, 15:00
What is the liquid soap for???
A small vial of liquid soap is used on the bottom and sides of your Billy Can. You use a very thin layer but careful not to get it inside or on the lip of the can. This allows you to boil water on a wood stove and this makes it easier to clean it up before returning it to your pack. Dawn or Polmolive works great. I use it in my UL setup rather than taking a bar of soap.
MuddyWaters
12-31-2012, 17:21
Typical rough estimate is an hour of burn time in 8oz cannister on ~3/4 output.
Doing two 3.5 min burns per day, = 7 min
60/7= probably 8-9 days.
If you use a windshield. If you dont all bets are off. It could be half that. 6-10 days is about the range to be expected.
Moved this topic/thread to the "General Gear Talk" forum.
slow mind
01-01-2013, 03:40
A small vial of liquid soap is used on the bottom and sides of your Billy Can. You use a very thin layer but careful not to get it inside or on the lip of the can. This allows you to boil water on a wood stove and this makes it easier to clean it up before returning it to your pack. Dawn or Polmolive works great. I use it in my UL setup rather than taking a bar of soap.
Neat I'll try it.... Ashes from the stove W/water also works great, kind of like a soot solvent.
A small vial of liquid soap is used on the bottom and sides of your Billy Can. You use a very thin layer but careful not to get it inside or on the lip of the can. This allows you to boil water on a wood stove and this makes it easier to clean it up before returning it to your pack. Dawn or Polmolive works great. I use it in my UL setup rather than taking a bar of soap.
I let my pot get black and put it into its cozie before I put it back in the pack.;)
Typical rough estimate is an hour of burn time in 8oz cannister on ~3/4 output.
Doing two 3.5 min burns per day, = 7 min
60/7= probably 8-9 days.
If you use a windshield. If you dont all bets are off. It could be half that. 6-10 days is about the range to be expected.
Well my guess of 18 burns was pretty close.
I only heat 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water once a day and I believe I was getting two weeks out of a small canister on my MSR Pocket Rocket with some left over. I did carry an extra canister due to occasional difficulties in finding them. I never ran out but was close a few times.
MuddyWaters
01-01-2013, 15:01
Always good to test your own setup.
weigh cannister, boil water, weigh again. Calculate.
Keeping in mind that wind outside makes a heck of a difference.
I recall I actually boil about 2.5 min inside, but mostly use alcohol these days so not sure I remember right.
I suggest buying a couple cannisters and practicing.
+3
A canister only costs $5 for a valuable lesson.
The little things we do at home can go a long way. For the last month or so I've been trying out a 30cc dropper bottle with Dr Bronners soap at home. I've found that the bottle will go about two weeks, not counting my hair, which would probably be negligible if I trim my hair short. I can strap it around my neck like soap on a rope so I don't accidentally drop it in sinks or nasty public showers. With my system dialed in pretty well, this is a pretty big discovery for me.
Oil Camp XLS Cook Pot-cuts boil time down by 40%--(I tested it myself)- 7.0 oz. but I got rid of my pot cozy so the weight gain was 0 oz.