Canister Stoves in Winter

[Jkrew81]

So I am confused about somthing.... How is it that when you look in magazines or on webpages they always show these guys climbing in remote sections of the globe with canister stoves??? I for one have an MSR pocketrocket and I must say as soon as October comes around I am too scared to use it due to the fact that I do not like crunchy noodles. Is there some trick that they use to make it work in cold climtaes or does that just show us that NH gets colder than alot of places these people climb??????

 

[DougPaul]

A canister stove fails when the internal pressure becomes less than the external pressure. Cold reduces the internal pressure, high altitude reduces the external pressure.

Thus a stove that operates poorly in the cold at low altitude can operate well at the same temp at high altitude.

Doug

 

[BrentD22]

I've used my pocket rocket in winter...

On a one night overnight trip I often will use a canister stove if the temps don't look like they'll get crazy low. To ensure the canister works correctly I put it in my pocket for a little while before cooking.

I usually bring a alcohol stove in winter, but occasionally my canister stove works just fine.

 

[MadRiver]

I used my canister stove last Friday night at Crag Camp while the temperature was in the teens. I covered my canister with insulation tape prior to the trip and kept it in my sleeping until dinner time. That night I kept the canister in my bag and it worked well the next morning.

 

[mudhook51]

I've used hand warmers,kept the canister in my jacket and sleeping bag, and set it in warm water while cooking. It works, but the propane burns off first and you don't get a hot cooking flame. You end up burning more fuel canisters. Same with the lanterns. I'm going back to my multi fuel bottle stove in cold weather.

 

[newjeep123]

I believe you can get canisters with different gas mixtures - some are blended to work a little better in the cold - still not as good as good old white gas though.