Thursday, February 10, 2011

Fuel for Winter Camping

I’ve found out the hard way that when it gets cold, propane shrinks and doesn’t come out of the bottle very well.  Here’s what we’ve found:
  • Stove Fuel:

    • Propane will freeze if the temperature is below 30 or so.  It'll still come out of the bottle, but so slowly that it can't keep up with the heat loss of whatever you're heating.  Bottom line, you eat cold stew.

    • White Gas is somewhat of a bother with the pumping and everything, but I've used it in temperatures down to the single digits and haven't had a problem with it at all.

    • I haven't had the chance to try a butane or other type of stove, but I know my butane lighter doesn't work too well when it's really cold.

  • Propane Lantern uses so little gas that it seems to work fine even when the temperatures are in the single digits.  I haven't ever had the chance to try one out at lower temps then that though.

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