Compact stove advice

[dfanonymous]

When does altitude/cold start affecting lighting and burn on these canisters ?

About 15 degrees for isobutane.

The reason some of us mention altitude is because of the change of boiling point. The canister/stove doesn't have to work as hard at 18 f, at 10k vs if it was 18f at 2000 ft for instance.

 

[biednick]

When does altitude/cold start affecting lighting and burn on these canisters ?

It all comes down to boiling points. High altitude has basically no impact. You can push them a bit colder at high altitudes since liquids boil at a lower temperature the higher you get, but it's not a huge difference. You'll likely never notice. Temperature depends on the fuel mix. Most canisters are a mix of butane and propane. High n-butane blends will start to struggle in the mid-upper 30s and completely fail around freezing. Isobutane blends work well down to around 20 and completely fail around 10. Inverted canisters work well to about 0, maybe a bit colder. The propane will still vaporize and push liquid butane out to the stove. Pure propane will work even colder, but given the weight penalty of a propane canister I'd rather just carry a liquid fuel stove (and probably wouldn't be out in the first place).

 

[dfanonymous]

If some of you are wondering about the limitations of these butane canisters in cold, here's a visual representation:



Not the most scientific but you get the idea.

Also if you're interested in some of the brands and how much fuel they have in them: