How much water from a billy can of snow - picture heavy

[Cyclingrelf]

I don't have much experience of snow, so thought I'd use the current weather conditions to see for myself how much water a billy can of snow produces.
I packed a medium zebra billy can with as much snow as I could cram in

Next, I built a hot fire by clearing a patch of ground and laying a platform of split sticks. On top of this, I put feather sticks, then piled small and split sticks on top. This lit easily and burned nice and hot. Sorry about the precarious billy in the picture, I moved it to be more stable after taking the shot.

Result! I got 1/3 of a billy can full of water. Surprisingly little considering I'd packed the billy full of snow.

And a nice brew of coffee to use up the hot water

 

[Martyn]

Excellent experiment.

 

[SimonM]

Be carefull packing billies full of snow then heating them up.

The snow at the bottom can melt, leaving the top layers un heated. Left un attended this could ruin your billy.

The technique I was shown was to add a little snow, melt it, then ad more snow and so on until you gve enough water for your needs.

Simon

 

[rancid badger]

Well done

R.B.

 

[tjwuk]

Its not much. Works the same when digging earth. The volume triples when its loosened!

Also a little tip. When melting ice or snow over the fire in a tin add a little at a time as filling the can takes longer to melt as it melts from the bottom and leaves a void between the packed snow and water .

I know the reason of the post was to show how much you get from a billy can when its full, thanks for sharing.

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Be carefull packing billies full of snow then heating them up.

The snow at the bottom can melt, leaving the top layers un heated. Left un attended this could ruin your billy.

The technique I was shown was to add a little snow, melt it, then ad more snow and so on until you gve enough water for your needs.

Simon

How does it ruin a stainless steel Billy?

 

[SimonM]

How does it ruin a stainless steel Billy?

The theory goes that if you leave it over the heat you could melt the billy...

Never tested it, it was just the way i was shown a good few years ago.

simon

 

[QDanT]

The theory goes that if you leave it over the heat you could melt the billy...

Never tested it, it was just the way i was shown a good few years ago.

simon

1,000*C thats a good wood fire I've used a stainless water jug as a crucible to cast brass, with a charcoal fire in an earthenware pipe and blower bodged forge in the past
http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=103

 

[bikething]

1,000*C thats a good wood fire I've used a stainless water jug as a crucible to cast brass, with a charcoal fire in an earthenware pipe and blower bodged forge in the past
http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=103

Probably more relevant to aluminium pots - like the mess tins that used to be issued to the military types

 

[SimonM]

Probably more relevant to aluminium pots - like the mess tins that used to be issued to the military types

Bang to rights on that one...

Simon

 

[listenclear]

Cool, thanks for that. I have wondered in the past how much you'd get.
Fair play to you!

 

[hog]

I bet the water tasted flat, you must aerate it to get it to taste like normal water again.

 

[bikething]

I bet the water tasted flat, you must aerate it to get it to taste like normal water again.

I'd be more inclined to bung a tea-bag in it

 

[mjk123]

Worthwhile experiment to see how little water you get from snow, Also worthwhile is to look at how much debris there is in "clean" snow. You can skim off the whitest of the white, melt it down and there's still bits of sticks and dirt in it. Makes me appreciate that it's always raining in the forest, sometimes water, sometimes squirrel dandruff and bark bits. But something is always precipitating.

 

[Chris G]

ISTR that snow is only about 17% water. Allow for evaporation and you are probably looking at about 10-15% return on volume.

As for boiling it, a fire will generate a set(ish) amount of heat. If you heat an entire billy of snow over flame A, and a small amount of snow over flame A, the small amount of snow will melt more quickly (you are not transferring the heat into additional volumes of snow). Also if when the first bit of snow melts, you then add a little more to the water, you have the heat from the water and the heat from the flame melting the snow, so it melts even more quickly that the first bit of snow, and so on.

As for burning a hole in the billy, the comments above are correct. In theory as you can only see the top of the snow in the billy (assuming that you filled it) you don't know that the snow at the bottom has melted, then boiled and boiled off. The snow above this boiled volume (having being packed in and being mostly air (17% water remember)) then forms an insulative layer for the snow above and in effect prevents it from heating up. So all the heat goes into the billy material and for aluminium billys/mess tins, etc this then leads to a hole in the billy with a snow plug an inch or so above it.

Chris

 

[Ahjno]

Excellent experiment Susannah! :You_Rock_

@ melting your pot ... I always thought it was one of those internet myths. Anyone ever ruined their billy? Or knows someone who ruined their billy ... or know someone who know someone who ruined it?

Theory sounds OK-ish ... What about sticking a sharpened stick in a billy filled with snow? Right in the middle, twist it so you end up with a sort of snowdonut?

 

[Bodge]

I would imagine warping would be the first problem you may encounter with a dry pan.
I made a brew from snow the other day in my jetboil and just added bits at a time. I was suprised at the amount it took to make a mug full and even more astounded at the zingy taste of the special yellow snow I found by a tree.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Thanks for all those tips and points of interest.

 

[Chinkapin]

When I was in the far north we always carried a water bottle and put a bit of water into the bottom first before trying to add any snow.

The old timers said that if the billy was real hot and snow as add to it, that it would impart a scorched taste to the water. I always added some water first so I can't say if this is a fact or just some old campers tale.

As far as the percentage of water from snow, this varies a great deal. Some snow is clearly "wet" snow and won't drift when the wind blows, and is heavy. Other snow is light and will blow easily in a wind. The former has a much higher percentage of water than the latter.

 

[forestwalker]

The theory goes that if you leave it over the heat you could melt the billy...

I've seen Al pots melt.