Weighing fuel canisters ?

R

RonSC

Joined
Nov 30, 2006
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After recently trying DIY alcohol stoves I have relegated my canister stoves to the "back burner" ( sorry for the bad pun) Perhaps I'm obsessive but I've always felt that the one drawback of gas canister stoves was the inability to know just how much fuel remained in partially used canisters...On recent trips rather than chancing a guess, I tend to just grab fresh canister so now I have half dozen partially used ones. I was just wondering if anyone has attempted to keep track of canister use by weighing them periodically after use in an attempt to determine amount of remaining fuel. Just brainstorming.....
 
Colin Fletcher, author of (The Complete Walker) checked his with a postal scale. Great section on stoves.
 
I weigh my cannisters and mark them with a sharpie. I use a Berkley hanging digital fish scale that came from one of the big box stores for about $20. It requires a full new cannister and an empty one, a plastic shopping bag to hang the cannister in. I also boiled a pot of water at home and weighed before and after to get an idea of how much is used per meal for dehydrated meals, coffee etc. I've not done this since I got an Emberlit though. I carried my gas stove as backup the first few trips but it has sat on my gear shelf since then. Except once this winter when the power went off and I wanted to make coffee in the kitchen, not outside. But back when I did use the gas stove before I started weighing the cannisters, I was forevermore carrying more gas than needed for fear of running out.
 
You can also float them for an idea of the contents. MSR has started putting marks on their cans. its rough, but works if you don't have a good scale.
 
I weigh my fuel canister after each trip. It lets me know how much fuel is left, and lets me track my fuel usage.
 
I just date them, and hash mark the usage as I go along. I found I much prefer the 180 Stove. Burns twigs or other materials, which I don't have to carry with me. Swiss Trangia for back up though, if I am feeling lazy.
 
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