I own two gas stoves: an MSR Superfly and a Trangia. I don’t normally use gas so I haven’t bought a canister in at least a dozen years. Out of curiosity I just looked at them on Amazon. Wow! Over $30 for a 220 g canister. Seriously? It costs about $30 an hour to run a gassie?
I’ve noticed some stuff like gas canisters are super expensive online, I think it has to do with shipping costs. They have to go by ground freight with extra hazmat paperwork. Should be much less at Walmart or a sporting goods store.
Ah, $10.56 at Walmart for 220g. At $10 an hour that seems expensive. Crown white gas is about $8 a gallon.
All canister brands are not the same. A different percentage of propane. Check brand variations. Some are for 4 season use.
The best gas is propane 25%, isobutane 75% for winter use, not cheap either, about NZ$10.00, or NZ$12.00 for 220 grams, or NZ$16.00 or NZ$17.00 for 450 grams. Liquid fuel (light petroleum naphtha, hydro-treated) has always been cheaper. Cheers Simon Foxxx
On Amazon, that price is exactly right. Ridiculously inflated compared to in a brick and mortar store. I think I pay $8 ish for the larger 500g cartridges and commensurately higher per volume of fuel contained for the smaller ones at Sportsman's Warehouse. The refill doohickey was a few bucks on eBay and the taller hairspray cans to refill with are under $2/ea at local Asian markets. This is of course straight run butane and not nearly as temperature tolerant as whatever proprietary blend of 11 herbs and spices boutique gas mixture the canister originally came with.
@BradB Hi Brad. Perhaps check your Walmart price again. I think you may be able to get a Coleman brand canister there for under $6, and under $10 for the 500 gm. Still not cheap, but I suppose there are situations where the extra expense becomes insignificant in the overall cost of a camping trip. P.S. Lucked out with Dorian, lost power last night but it is back on already. Do you still have your boat down in New Bern -- hope it is ok.
I snagged the numbers below from somewhere,,, Just gives something else to think about when buying, or carrying, fuel. I don’t have any canister stoves, so I don’t buy canisters,,, seems they’re not much of a bargain however a fella does the math. “Here's how the heat output of various camp stove fuels compare. Kerosene - 135,000 Btu/Gal = 100.00% Gasoline - 124,000 Btu/Gal = 91.85% Coleman Fuel - 17,900 Btu/Lb. or 112,770 Btu/Gal Propane - 91,330 Btu/Gal = 67.65% Ethanol - 76,330 Btu/Gal = 56.54% Methanol - 57,250 Btu/Gal = 42.40%”
There's quite a bit of chemistry, fluid and flame dynamics going on in a simple camping stove. As has been pointed out fuel choices depend on many factors, cost being just one. Now being able the refill a piercable canister stove cheaply from a readily available butane canister probably now outweighs using kerosene in certain circumstances. Horses for courses as always, also depending where your cheapest and readily available fuel source is.
@Simes Also, units make a big difference when doing BTU comparisons. On a per lb (or, more correctly, mass) rather than volume basis, the advantage of kerosene over gasoline or propane and butane surprisingly evaporates (so to speak). So when weight is the issue the best choice is not so clear. Unless, of course, there is just something not right about using gas when a perfectly good liquid fuel is available.
The average stove fuel buying public, at least in the first world, doesn't use enough stove fuel over the course of a year for cost to enter the equation on a serious level. You'll probably spend more on fuel to get to the trailhead or camp site once than you do on camp fuel all year. Even among us stovies, not many of us are going to use enough fuel for cost to be a serious concern. I spend more on a single stove than I will on fuel for the whole year.
I have found, at least when buying stoves at yard sales and the like, that a good amount of fuel is usually included when I pick up a new (to me) stove. My last $4 Whisperlite international included a gallon of Coleman fuel. I tell my wife I have to get more stoves just so I can use up all the free fuel I have!
Well done Stevie! I'd have paid $4 just for the Coleman fuel, that's like getting the stove for free!
Free stove with fuel, I really like that deal. Car camping with kero then you van leave the stove running for both the meal and hot washing up water plus witbout worrhing about cost. Cycle touring it's more volume consideration rather than weight. Backpack then volume and weight and duration.
Heard from the marina in New Bern, no damage there. We only lost cable and internet here. I have had the same 220 g canisters for 10 years, so you know how much I use them.
Big 5 has small canisters for ~$5 and larger ones for about $7-8. I only buy them for my Snow Peak GigaPower that gets used maybe twice a year and a 220g can lasts, I dunno, two years or more.
