Some of my recent posts have been a little heavy on the theory end of things. This post is nearly purely practical. Have a look at: Cold Weather Tips for Gas Stoves

HJ

P.S. The above link is now working. Sorry about that. :oops:

So, no tip on wrapping copper wire around canister and into flame?

Well, that'll work, BUT you could also blow yourself sky high. Maybe not too much chance in really cold weather, but you have to be really cautious with that technique. Supply enough heat to the canister, and you're in fat city. Too much and KABOOM!

Water on the other hand is pretty safe. You can feel how hot or cold the water is before the canister ever touches it, and the water generally won't get hotter as you cook in cold weather.

I'll do a post at some point in the future on various canister warming techniques (water, windscreen, copper wire, and body heat being the standard techniques). Body heat and water are pretty safe. The windscreen and wire techniques can be down right dangerous if you don't know what you're doing or are not careful.

HJ

Heh I know, was just kidding. Something like brunton's remote canister mount would be great for a copper wire mod and inverted canister though. Wanted to try it but local shop sold out before I got around to it.

When you plan on putting your canister in water, is there any point in warming the water first? I think I remember reading that recommendation somewhere, but it seemed to me that as long as the water was liquid it shouldn't matter.

Yeah, I've seen some interesting MYOG winter set ups with wire and a remote mount. There are still some Brunton ones out there on eBay and such. There are also some Chinese copies although I don't know how good the quality is.

HJ

Hi, Denis,

As long as a) the water is liquid and b) you have good fuel (no "regular" butane), you should be good to go.

In colder weather, warming the water somewhat can be good because it will stay liquid longer.

HJ

That makes sense, thanks Jim.

How much water do you recommend using? How much of the canister should you plan on covering with water?

Thanks again.

Denis,

More coverage = more better. Pardon my poor English, but that's easy to remember. You want enough thermal mass to counteract cooling. More water will have more thermal mass.

As a practical consideration, 3/4 up the side should be plenty, but if all you have is a shallow dish to hold water, use it. Anything will help. The problem with the shallow dish is that it won't hold a lot of water, and the water it does hold may freeze quickly, depending on the temperature.

I've seen butter/margarine type tubs used to good effect. Place the tub on a square of closed cell foam to insulate it from the ground, put in the canister, add water, then fire up the stove. I've seen a "cozy" made out of closed cell foam used with the plastic tub, which also helps keep the water from freezing.

I haven't tried it, but I've heard talk of using a Ziploc bag to hold water to put the canister in. Can't get much lighter or more compact than that!

HJ

Ok, I don't like most gas stoves, but here goes my 2 cents:

If you are, say, trying to boil water, and you have the butter tub or another container holding water around the gas canister, wouldn't it be smart to add some of the heated/heating water from the pot to the tub to warm up the gas canister while you are trying to get the water to actually boil?

Meanwhile, I'll stick with my 123.