Anyone any tips for keeping your gas bottles from freezing up, I normally just keep it off the grounds and possibly put in an old sock, the colemans bottles (70/30) still have a habit of getting too cold and losing pressure.
Cold Bottles..
- Thread starter Lithril
- Start date
Matt you can also use a piece of Karrimat to try and insulate it a bit better, before now I have used a peice done like a cup that the gas bottle sits in.
What stove are you using??
See if you can get one with a bar that preheats the gas, this will keep performance at a better level, but will not stop the problem of the cannister freezing up
What stove are you using??
See if you can get one with a bar that preheats the gas, this will keep performance at a better level, but will not stop the problem of the cannister freezing up
Hi Lithril, what kind of stove do you have?
It's fairly easy to warm up the gas bottle if you've got one of the kind that are connected to the stove by a piece of tubing - just lift it off the ground and warm it in your hands. The other kind where the burner screws directly on to the bottle is a bit more problematic - I've seen all sorts of ad hoc devices made out of tinfoil and karrimat and so on, however none of them seem to work as effectively as using an over sized pan that will reflect some of the heat downwards to the bottle along with a tinfoil wind shield that traps some of the warmth. Got to be careful not to heat the bottle too much though !!!!
IMO gas stoves or spirit stoves of any kind just cant compete with petrol or parrafin stoves when it comes to cold weather use. I love my trangia in the summer when it burns efficiently but the minute the weather gets a bit cooler its out with the MSR XGK
George
It's fairly easy to warm up the gas bottle if you've got one of the kind that are connected to the stove by a piece of tubing - just lift it off the ground and warm it in your hands. The other kind where the burner screws directly on to the bottle is a bit more problematic - I've seen all sorts of ad hoc devices made out of tinfoil and karrimat and so on, however none of them seem to work as effectively as using an over sized pan that will reflect some of the heat downwards to the bottle along with a tinfoil wind shield that traps some of the warmth. Got to be careful not to heat the bottle too much though !!!!
IMO gas stoves or spirit stoves of any kind just cant compete with petrol or parrafin stoves when it comes to cold weather use. I love my trangia in the summer when it burns efficiently but the minute the weather gets a bit cooler its out with the MSR XGK
George
keep you bottle up side down. That way if it part freezes the liquid is at the top when you come to have a drink.
I've got a previous model to this http://www.cotswold-outdoor.com/Cat/2006 good little stove and does work fairly well. Does have a preheat bar which makes a big difference (I've heard of too many stoves without this that have flared and sent the tent up in flames... )
If the socks don't work its normally down to using my hands, I've got a couple of old karrimats lying around, think I'll have ago at making a cup out of it, cheers peeps.
If the socks don't work its normally down to using my hands, I've got a couple of old karrimats lying around, think I'll have ago at making a cup out of it, cheers peeps.
I've frozen my hands to insensibility warming gas cans in cold windy weather. I don't reckon insulating the can will help much because the can can easily get down to below freezing through internal cooling. You need to get heat into it from somewhere not trap the cold in.
My solution was to buy an optimus himalaya which has a big preheat tube. Provided even liquid gas can get as far as the burner (prop the canister upside down), it'll vaporise and burn just fine. Monster output.
Failing that, I think some VERY CAREFUL creativity with a windshield to try and direct a little bit of warmth onto the cylinder is probably the most effective. But people really have blown canisters up by overheating that way so it's potentially lethal and shouldn't ever be left unattended.
Cheers
My solution was to buy an optimus himalaya which has a big preheat tube. Provided even liquid gas can get as far as the burner (prop the canister upside down), it'll vaporise and burn just fine. Monster output.
Failing that, I think some VERY CAREFUL creativity with a windshield to try and direct a little bit of warmth onto the cylinder is probably the most effective. But people really have blown canisters up by overheating that way so it's potentially lethal and shouldn't ever be left unattended.
Cheers
By the way - remember that heat pumps can be used to heat buildings by sucking heat out of ground that is only at four or five degrees. In theory once there's ice on the outside of your gas cylinder, it's going to be better off sitting on cold, wet, UNFROZEN ground than being sat on an insulator. Just shelter it to avoid any windchill effect. Seems counter intuitive but ...
D
dataphage
Guest
Depending on the size of the gas bottle you could try using the neoprene covers that are sold as wine coolers to insulate the bottle. I'm sure I've seen versions of these that would fit a Sigg size bottle.
Alick is absolutely right. Insulating the gas bottle is NOT what you want to do.
Some of the bottles now available over here are using mixtures of various gasses....butane, propane and isopropane to reduce the bottle chilling problem. Isopropane has a lower freezing point than butane which helps keep up the vapor pressure, but for me a cold day is just not a day for liquid gas stove use. MSR G/K all the way. No Genie rubbing of the lamp posture with that stove.
Some of the bottles now available over here are using mixtures of various gasses....butane, propane and isopropane to reduce the bottle chilling problem. Isopropane has a lower freezing point than butane which helps keep up the vapor pressure, but for me a cold day is just not a day for liquid gas stove use. MSR G/K all the way. No Genie rubbing of the lamp posture with that stove.
When I saw the title of this thread I was hoping that it was going to be full of tips to keep bottles of beer or wine cold on a hot summer day....oh well
Thats what my Stella fridge is for... unless you're out practicing bushcraft then what are you doing CARRYING beers (hipflasks much lighter ;-) )
