Camping Gas Canisters - How Full/Empty?

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 21 Oct 2016, 9:19pm

I learned a neat trick today:

Take your gas canister and float it in water.

Almost submerges: Full

Floats to half way mark: Half full

Very buoyant: Empty

NATURAL ANKLING · Post by **NATURAL ANKLING** » 21 Oct 2016, 9:45pm

Hi,
Camping Gaz or Camping Gas :?:

meic · Post by **meic** » 21 Oct 2016, 9:49pm

I use scales, canisters have the weight of gas and total weight written on them.
So a much more accurate measure. Though your measurements could be done in any sink while camping seeing how close you get to a "plimsole line" for empty.

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 21 Oct 2016, 9:51pm

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Camping Gaz or Camping Gas

Propane/butane mix cans. 100/230/450g jobbies you use for back packing and cycle touring.

NATURAL ANKLING · Post by **NATURAL ANKLING** » 21 Oct 2016, 10:25pm

Hi,
Ah... the bigger ones 2 - 15 kg I just shake and guesstimate :mrgreen:

At school we used the standard screw on burner which pierced the can, when empty you just light the hole and play footy in the dark :lol:

Till it goes near the tent

drossall · Post by **drossall** » 22 Oct 2016, 3:48pm

Newer ones have valves that close when you remove them from the lamp/stove. A friend tells a story of the earlier ones when, as a young Scout, he swapped the canister on his stove, and absent-mindedly wandered around for a minute or two with the old one upside down in his hand. The remaining gas formed a pool around the stove until, "Whoosh", there was a brief flash.

No harm done apparently. But he didn't do it again.

Sweep · Post by **Sweep** » 26 Oct 2016, 10:24pm

am i missing something?

What's wrong with just trying to light the thing?

Surely you already know which ones are empty?

And why would you have kept them?

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 26 Oct 2016, 10:31pm

Sweep wrote:am i missing something?

What's wrong with just trying to light the thing?

Surely you already know which ones are empty?

And why would you have kept them?

You are missing something.

Empty ones are already in recycling so generally one wouldn't need to measure those...

But...Sometimes you don't finish a canister. And sometimes what is left wont last your next trip. And if you are travelling light you don't want to take more than you need by packing 2 cans for example. Hence measuring them just helps the whole guesstimating process.

How's that? Let me know if you need more assistance.

EDIT: Your lighting method confirms there is gas present. The fact it may be anything between 1% to 100% isn't good enough for me.

Recently in the NL I was unable to find a compatible can for my stove. That was a bit of a bummer. I like to be self sufficient.

Tangled Metal · Post by **Tangled Metal** » 27 Oct 2016, 8:51am

Why not just remember how many days use you've had and how many days use you get out of each can. I found that to be a simple and sufficiently accurate method.

BTW I've never seen gas weight and gross weight on the same can. You still need to know a typical weight of a fully empty can to accurately determine remaining percentage of the gas that's left. Unless things have changed I'm the last month since I used a gas can (optimus but I usually prefer primus, occasionally msr but I avoid Coleman and cheapo can makes like the plague).

I BTW if it's just you, how many days can you eek out off. 125g primus can or equivalent in a uk summer?

Sweep · Post by **Sweep** » 27 Oct 2016, 2:24pm

Tangled Metal wrote:Why not just remember how many days use you've had and how many days use you get out of each can. I found that to be a simple and sufficiently accurate method.r?

Well spot on tangled metal. So when you discount the empties which you have already chucked/plonked aside for recycling, and brand new unused ones, which you can keep to one side, that only leaves the part used ones anyway. No need for a triangular witch trual.

Tangled Metal · Post by **Tangled Metal** » 27 Oct 2016, 3:05pm

I use part used ones that I think are close to empty as car camping use to simmer food with. So fast boils with a newer can but switch to a nearly.used one for the simmer. We do enough camping where the bulk and weight of multiple nearly used cans won't make much difference.

BTW I include cans that I can't remember how many uses I've had. If in doubt a new can I especially for the more remote trip camping in the hills. That's only for safety/bulk reasons. We seem to the have managed to collect a few cans over the years and until recently we always had a few of these simmer cans lying around.

One more thing, on my own i don't get 6 to 7 days use out of a 125g primus gas can. I've got that use out of so many cans that I can trust my judgement over the gas. Weighing does of course offer the means of getting a more accurate judgement of remaining gas. Especially if you don't have the use experience to simply judge it by other means.

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 27 Oct 2016, 4:42pm

Yup car camping covers all sorts of issues that normally restrict you when touring or backpacking. Good point. You can get away with indulgence and laziness from the back of a car.

Gas is great for compact systems and my 'super-small-stove' is quiet so perfect for wild camping. But for me I'm choosing not to use it for anything more than a week. It is also burns noticeably colder than white fuel. But these days I'm rarely in a rush to enjoy a brew. My rough estimate is that a 100g can should last 4 days so long as I'm not drinking too much coffee and I'm using my windshield.

My Trangia or Primus Omnifuel would be my choice for reliability using meths or white fuel respectively.

For the sake of reference, MSR give you gross and nett weights on their cans so if you happened to be carrying scales you could work it out. A bit of an extreme luxury so like you say, it's down to your experience. I camp right throughout the year, so I do notice quite a difference in fuel usage. Not that I've compiled a spreadsheet and gathered data [emoji6]

I'll enjoy having a play with the immersion technique mentioned in the OP.

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 27 Oct 2016, 6:43pm

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Camping Gaz or Camping Gas

These?

meic · Post by **meic** » 27 Oct 2016, 10:01pm

Why not just remember how many days use you've had and how many days use you get out of each can. I found that to be a simple and sufficiently accurate method.

Especially if you don't have the use experience to simply judge it by other means.

Do you also tape over the fuel gauge on your car, so as to memorise your usage each time and work things out rather than just "cheating" and measuring it? I used to do that because my fuel gauge was broken, life is much simpler now I have a car with one that works.

As for gas cylinders, I take the easy way and weigh them before and after a trip to get an idea of daily usage. Paraffin and meths you can see the level in the bottle.

NATURAL ANKLING · Post by **NATURAL ANKLING** » 27 Oct 2016, 11:22pm

Hi,
No problem-

Cycling UK Forum