Thanks for the extra information Jim.

Originally Posted By: Hikin_Jim
... although I'm not fan of sporks/foons.

I'm not completely sold on the spork thing either, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I do have a nice little fold-up steel fork & spoon I think will fit in this set if the need arises though.

Originally Posted By: Hikin_Jim
As for fuel, it doesn't matter who makes the canister. All of the standard threaded canisters are interchangeable. The thing to look for is the best type of fuel.

I didn't think it really mattered what canister I used but I wanted to follow the store's recommendation, at least initially, in case I ended up having to return it due to some issue or because I changed my mind and decided I really needed the Simmerlite instead.

As a side note, comparing the MSR IsoPro to the Snow Peak Gigapower Gold fuel mixture, would you expect a noticeable difference in performance? The MSR is 20/80 propane/iso-butane while the Gold is 15/85.

Originally Posted By: Hikin_Jim
Claims of good performance down to -10C/14F for this type of stove are misleading at best. Yes, your stove will work down to -10C/14F, with a new canister. But toward the end of the canister, not so. Propane has a higher vapor pressure than isobutane. The propane burns off at a faster rate than the isobutane. Toward the end of the canister, you've got only isobutane for all practical purposes. Isobutane vaporizes at -12C/11F. The canister on a typical upright canister stove needs to be about 5C/10F hotter than the vaporization point of the fuel in order for the stove to run properly. For your stove, assuming you don't have any regular butane in your fuel, a more dependable figure is -5C/23F. If you try to run it when the canister is colder than that, you will most likely have either an insipid flame or none at all.

From your articles and others I've read (like this one) I do understand I was operating at the low end of the recommended temperature for this type of stove (maybe even under), but all in all I can't really say I found the stove's performance disappointing.

I am guessing based on the weather records I found that the lowest temperature I cooked in would have been around -7 C or so, maybe a bit warmer. But I definitely had the advantage of a full canister.

For the last breakfast, it would have been warmer (maybe 0 C or a little more) and I finished up on a near empty tank; I just checked it and that canister only has 28g left in it. I can confidently say it was slowing down a bit near the end.

Reviewing this time-line along side your post it looks like I had a perfect set of conditions for the stove to work near its minimum possible temperature; a colder first morning (but nicely above -10 C) and a warmer second morning for when the tank was lower.

One of the other Dads was using his Whisperlite and he could get his water boiling a little faster than I could, but not an order of magnitude quicker. I could get mine started and going a bit quicker and with out the large flames & fireballs though; although his less than optimal priming was a nice source of warmth smile.

Originally Posted By: Hikin_Jim
Now, having said that, there are tricks that you can employ to keep the canister warmer. Remember that it's canister temperature not air temperature that matters. I've listed canister warming tips and tricks in this article.

It is nice to know that even if I find myself in lower temperatures that I'm not totally out of luck. That said, it seems like it would be a good idea to get myself the Simmerlite (or something like it) so I could confidently go colder than that weekend though.

But that'll have to wait until next year; I still need to get a good tent!
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Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck. Roald Amundsen