Camping Gas Canisters - How Full/Empty?

[irc]

Or refill them?

https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.co ... lling.html

[Gattonero]

I think this is my my single biggest problem with gas canisters.

You end up with half-a dozen each with 'enough for a couple of days - probably' in them. You don't throw them away (and the sheer waste of that bugs be too). So you're off for a week-long tour - do you take four of the above mentioned (maybe five to be sure)? Do you hell - you buy a nice new one which will either run out a day short, or come back and add to your 'enough for a couple of days' collection.

This.
I don't do week long trips, but those 3-4 days with a 30% full gas canister can be a risk of being without fire?
The problem I see, is that with Gas you need the specific stove; but a decently made stove can use Meths, wood and tablets alike, so it's easy to get the fire sorted

[drossall]

I'm not sure I entirely see the problem with using each one until it is finished, and carrying a spare, especially on a bike? And then the next day's ride will often take you near enough to a shop, surely, unless you are in a really remote area. Many towns in "adventurous" areas now have hiking shops, it seems.

[Heltor Chasca]

I'm not sure I entirely see the problem with using each one until it is finished, and carrying a spare, especially on a bike? And then the next day's ride will often take you near enough to a shop, surely, unless you are in a really remote area. Many towns in "adventurous" areas now have hiking shops, it seems.

In theory. In practice, you can be somewhere very populated like the NL and not one outdoor shop supplies the canisters.

How do I know this? I didn't have my own hot coffee this summer for 3 days. Caffeine addiction? Hell no.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi.
I used to use Camping Gaz canisters GT variety, and always carried a spare and the one I was using, last an hour, and five mins to boil a cup.
Globetrotter GT now an antique I still have the thing with a spare canister and a partial fill one on the stove
Must be 25 years since I last used it, stored in the bedroom
Still a few on ebay.

[Barrenfluffit]

The camping gaz CV300+ cylinder has 240g printed on it but this is the gas weight only. A full cannister weighs about 360g so the cannister is 120g
It floats with about 2/3rds of the canister submerged.

[foxyrider]

Last time I checked I had four part used canisters - I never seem to empty one! It's easy enough to select one that has plenty of gas but its the closer to used up ones that are a bugger! I have taken to carrying several part used tins to try to empty them even if my space/weight saving gene says just take the fullest!

Buying gas in the UK isn't usually much of a problem, Wilko, Decathlon and of course the many outdoor shops can generally supply one. Across in Europe i've had issues in Germany and Switzerland in finding a shop selling them. It's not that they don't exist, rather it's finding them and them being open when you need them. Some camp grounds will do them and of course increasing numbers have some on site cooking facilities.

I think a sort of fishing scale could work - weigh full canister and it's simple to work out what's left on subsequent weighs. Needn't weigh much, some sort of suspension 'bag' and the scale.

[Barrenfluffit]

Or refill them?
https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.co ... lling.html

This seems a lot of effort / risk compared to buying an adapter that allows you to use the butane cannisters with the stove.

Incidentally the first post suggested that that if a cannister was full it barely floated. This doesn't work very well as it doesn't account for the mass of the cannister.
If you have a measuring jug it should be possible to roughly weigh them by displacement.

[Gattonero]

I'm not sure I entirely see the problem with using each one until it is finished, and carrying a spare, especially on a bike? And then the next day's ride will often take you near enough to a shop, surely, unless you are in a really remote area. Many towns in "adventurous" areas now have hiking shops, it seems.

I travel light, one Carradice Camper on the rear and one modified Junior at the front.
Potentially I can add one more canister, but in that space I can pack extra Ethanol and a baselayer, so it's not ideal for me. Like said, some stoves for Meths/Ethanol can also use wood or Esbit. There's no gas stove I know that can use wood.
So I use the gas stove only when I know the canister is new, or on very short trips when is 1/2 capacity or less (I weight it when packing)