3 weeks in the Alps

💜 Nice to see you back.

Thank you Matthew!

Hello Katt,

Sounds like a wonderful trip.

I have been able to obtain the standard butane/isobutane canisters several times in shops in the UK (which is still part of Europe in my opinion) but I always arranged my trip to buy them on the first day near my start point.  I just searched the web for outdoor shops in the town where I spent the first night before I started the walk.

I think I recall seeing canisters in outdoor trekking shops in Germany. I have purchased kit from the web retailer Walk on the Wild side/ Bushcraft Bonn and they sell the same Windmaster Gaskocher from SOTO that I use in California. https://www.walkonthewildside.de/92-gaskocher

My first thought is an alcohol stove (well aired-out before packing) and then purchase denatured alcohol from a hardware or paint store once in Europe.

It would surprise me if you couldn’t find screw-on butane-mix canisters at outdoor specialty shops in Switzerland, but if you want to be sure, how about using Amazon in Europe for delivery to your Swiss address in advance?  There are many options for that within the Lower 48 and I’ve found a few that even ship to Alaska.

@Bruce,

thanks. I have found canisters in the past but had to spend half a day and go to a mountaineering shop in Zürich. I bet there are closer stores though.

@David Amazon delivered to my cousin is probably the easiest. If not that I’ll look into the alcohol stove ; my friend has never heard of them so that might be fun too.
The trip is 3.5 months away so it’s a bit of a premature concern but it’s occupying a lot of my mind, in a good way .

Decathlon appears to have them.
And welcome back.

Hi William! Thank you and thank you

I posted this question on the Trek-Lite site under trips -planning.

“A friend is planning a hut to hut in the Swiss Alps this summer and is wondering what sort of stove to bring (currently has iso-butane canister stove) and wondering if iso-butane canisters are widely available for hut to hut hiking or if maybe they should switch to alcohol since alcool? is more widely available. Any advice appreciated!”

Maybe that’ll turn up some solid advice/info.  Also glad to see you are getting along. The last few years has been weird indeed. First the fires and this winter the storms and “atmospheric rivers”  Glad to hear you are doing well!

I’ve spent quite a bit of time checking out everything I could find re: the Pyrenees and recall that alcool which is alcohol for alcohol stoves is widely available but that is in the Pyrenees and not the Alps!

Maybe we’ll hear from Roger?

There are also variations (try a search?) on this available:

https://mercatorgear.com/product/kovea-p-adapter-for-puncture-type-gas-canisters/

Thank you @obx hiker; Roger would be a good resource.
The natural disasters are almost(!) comical by now. We flooded twice, once with 3” of mud, but living in a barn means nothing really got damaged, just a mess to clean up.

@Ed I had no idea they made adapters. Look a little heavy but after having Amazon deliver at my cousins’ house this is the next best solution imo. Thanks!

Got this reply from the post on Trek Lite after being questioned why, if you are hiking hut to hut; you don’t just eat at the huts?  Mildly annoying but better than 3″ of mud.

“Gas canisters are available at sport stores in the cities, towns or sometimes (larger) ski resorts. Migros (supermarket) often stocks the gaz canisters (not the screw on ones!). I have seen the ’regular’ canisters in some larger co-op (supermarket).

Alcohol stoves: I would check closer to the travel time, as there was a fire ban in many, many locations last year due to the conditions. Denatured Ethanol is available in virtually all supermarkets Alcool a brûler (French) / BrenSpirit (German) “

So I learned that the German name for stove alcohol is BrenSpirit.  Maybe the best bet as you say after the adapter is to ship canisters to your family.

BTW as you probably already know there’s a boatload of videos, blogs, travel reports, and facebook groups out there about any major area or route. I’ve found the facebook groups to be reasonably helpful and I generally avoid facebook like the plague. Also the Alltrails blog posts recent trail hiking reports/descriptions and you can message the poster with a polite question. I’ve found that to be a useful resource as well. Got a lot of helpful advice and sometimes very specific and up to date info about trails and off trail routes from locals in the Azores before a trip last spring.

Primus also has a full line of adapters.

I know you already have stoves.  But they also sell a stove that uses Lindal valve canisters and the non-screw on canisters sold in France. REI used to stock it. Now REI only seems to have MSR stoves.

https://www.primusequipment.com/eu/en-gb/stoves/backpacking-stoves/essential-trail-stove-duo?v=P351140%3a%3a7330033909937

Hi Kattt
Welcome back!

It used to be that we could only find the French Campingaz canisters (not screw thread), but more recently we have found the screw thread canisters much more widely available. Perhaps not in tiny villages, but certainly in any Migros or sports shop. This makes sense as the French Campingaz company is now owned by by a US company – maybe Coleman.

To avoid disasters (like no morning coffee) we usually carried one working canister and one reserve. Extra weight, but zero hassle.

Cheers

Hi Katt,

Wow, three weeks in the Swiss Alps – that sounds like fun. Personally I prefer alcohol stoves and have used mine all over Europe.Getting fuel was easy everywhere – France, Spain, Iceland, Scotland. I still have two old Gaz stoves from my early camping days in Germany. You are welcome to have one or both if you’d like. That way you can use the more common blue canisters that don’t have a thread. You can gift it to your friend at the end of your trip to have room for Swiss Chocolate in your luggage :)

Manfred

Well that’s a good example of starting day off with a ray of generous sunshine.

@obx Hiker,

thanks for extending my inquiry to another forum! I think having the canisters shipped to my cousins is the best bet after all; I do like my stove and the weight of an adapter, lol, is too much ;) . We won’t be going through any major routes; we will do some hit to hit, then hop on a train for 20 minutes to an hour and do another hut to hut. We picked several options and will select which ones depending on weather. Nothing very ambitious, just awe striking beauty with a wonderful friend :)

@ Roger

thanks for the welcoming words! Yes a morning without coffee would be pretty disastrous. We will each carry a small canister.

Hi Mandred!!!

thanks for the kind offer, really, but I won’t be needing the stove. I have a couple nice stoves and my fuel issue seems to be resolved.

We are very excited; I have been hiking up from where we live into Big Basin 4 times a week with my pack, to train for the steep elevation gain we’ll be doing; 4,500 feet in 4 hours. I have been enjoying my hiking a lot and am not in as bad a shape as I was thinking.
It would be nice to see you again!

Hi Kattt

having the canisters shipped to my cousins
Small problem here. You can not post the canisters. Well, not legally anyhow. The Post Offices won’t accept them. Safety hazard.
You can post them in PO-approved packing, but that is expensive.

Personally, I would not worry. Canisters should be widely available in the Swiss Alps by now.

Cheers

In my experience cannisters are available in all larger resort towns, but not necessarily in smaller villages and hamlets. So it rather depends on your usage and your route.

Personally I prefer an alcohol stove for the Alps. You can find fuel in any pharmacy or supermarket, and in many village stores too. One time I ran low in the elbow season when most shops were closed, and I was able to buy some from a kind lady at a farmhouse.

As for fire bans, I use a Caldera-style enclosed cone system with a wick-based stove which is objectively safer than a cannister system if properly used. I use it away from prying eyes and have had no issues.

In the US, fuel canisters can ship common carrier or postal service in surface mail.

Most vendors on Amazon will come up “does not ship to your location” for Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands.  Most, but not all.

@Manfred will do!!

@Roger I meant I am going to buy them via Amazon in Europe and delivered to my cousin, not ship them from here.

@George Thanks ifor the info! I did the alcohol stove in the Alps in 2017 and it worked well. Fire was never an issue were I was nor would it be where we are going. I just like the idea of the uncomplicated canister and not taking care of a container of alcohol..

buy them via Amazon in Europe and delivered to my cousin,
Very smart!
Cheers