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rustmd
12-30-2012, 11:09
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
....................

JAK
12-30-2012, 22:19
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.

rustmd
12-30-2012, 22:46
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

Don H
12-31-2012, 10:02
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.

Doc
12-31-2012, 12:32
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.

attroll
12-31-2012, 17:26
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.

OzJacko
01-01-2013, 04:34
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.;)

Don H
01-01-2013, 10:19
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.

leaftye
01-01-2013, 15:10
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.

q-tip
01-02-2013, 08:48
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.