OK, so you're off out in the woods, away from cars and roads and all. Sure would be nice to have a second cup of coffee on a cold morning and heck how about heating up some water so you can wash your face -- but can you spare the extra stove gas? Dang it, those cute little backpacking canisters are sealed. Aw, heck, better skip it just to be safe. Too bad too, since you'll probably come back with gas left over, and that second cup of joe sure would have been good.

Ever been there? Well, in my latest article on Seattle Backpackers Magazine, there's a simple and hopefully practical way to estimate how much gas is in that little sealed canister: How Much Gas Do I Have Left?

Feedback appreciated as always.

HJ

Neat, never thought about doing that!

Very good - thanks for posting

A reader on SBPM suggested that it would work even better if one turned the canister upside down so that there's no air pocket underneath. I haven't tried it, but it makes sense.

HJ

If you do that right before using, would water in valve cause any problems?

It might, although you could probably blow it out by mouth.

A better solution might be to only buy canisters that have good tight fighting lids, like Snow Peak brand. Keep the lid in place when you put the canister upside down in the water.

HJ

Jim,

Being an engineer, I do it with numbers! I weigh each canister (although they are pretty close). When in the field I float the canister in a measuring cup, 8 oz to the cup (or for those who like metric - 1 cc = 1 gm). Then I know how much fuel I have left.

Being me, I also write the new canister weight and purchase date on the bottom and carry the Sharpie with me and make a mark for every liter of water I boil or the simmer time if it is at less than full throttle. Since I have an idea of the usage, I have a good idea of the remaining stock.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Immediately after you turn your stove off, there will be some condensation on the outside of the canister matching the level of the liquid in the canister. You do have to look right away, but you can mentally track your levels all along, or mark them.

Hi, Jerry, so how does this work? For every additional cc you can add to the measuring cup, you figure you've burned one g of fuel? Is that the idea?

I write the date and weight on the canister after each trip. This gives me a pretty good idea of how much gas I use on trips.

HJ

That's always been one of the nice things about liquid fuel stoves. You know exactly how much fuel you have left.

I've got a couple of Pocket Rocket canister stoves, and their simplicity and light weight is nice for a day hike or whatever. However, anything more than that and I'm taking my XGK.