MSR — New Gas Vendor?

Jim,

Do you like this blend best? I have not had as much success with MSR and have prefered the primus brand. Maybe this has changed? Can you share your experience?

Thanks

Brian,

When it's relatively warm, say above 50F/10C, it doesn't matter a lick what blend of gas one uses. Any gas will do including 100% regular butane (n-butane). It's when the temps fall below 40F/5C, then it starts mattering what blend one uses. Below 40F/5C, the trick is to avoid fuel with n-butane which won't normally vaporize well enough to run a stove.

For temps below 40F/5C, MSR is a good blend (80% isobutane, 20% propane), but usually I use Snow Peak because Snow Peak is less expensive. Snow Peak is 85% isobutane and 15% propane which is nearly as good as MSR. Primus is 50% n-butane, 25% isobutane, and 25% propane which actually makes it a lesser choice for colder weather. Why? The propane and isobutane will be used up at a faster rate leaving nothing but poor performing n-butane in the tank. In colder weather (below 40F/5C), that n-butane won't vaporize strongly enough to run a stove well. Below 31F/-0.5C, n-butane won't vaporize at all. You could be left with a tank that still has fuel in it but be unable to use any of it.

Yes, you could take steps to warm the canister, but the colder it gets, the harder it is to get n-butane to vaporize. It's generally better to get a blend that doesn't contain n-butane. MSR, Brunton, and Snow Peak all come to mind. Jetboil might be OK, but they don't publish what their blend is. Glowmaster, Coleman, and Primus are to be avoided in colder weather; they all contain n-butane.

HJ

Jim,

Thanks for the info. Last time I tried MSR was about 4 years ago in yosemite and the canister simply did not work well and the flame was not very intense compared to what I had been using. Perhaps it was an isolated incident with that one canister.

I'll give the MSR another shot if needed, otherwise I'll try snowpeak. Thanks!

Brian,

Sounds like maybe you got a bad canister — or maybe the stove wasn't screwed down all the way. I've had that happen where I didn't screw the stove down all the way and got bad performance. I tightened up the stove just ever so slightly, and the gas flowed at full strength.

HJ

Jim,

It was a coleman F1 ultralight, and you may be right. I think I started using this stove about then and had to buy an MSR canister at location….I may have erroneoulsy concluded it was the canister where somewhere along the way – probably on a later hike – I figured out that this stove had to be screwed on much tighter than most. While it didn't seem to leak or make any noises, operation was sub-par.

I'll try the snow peak next, and if not available I'll use the MSR. I'll be in Holy Cross wilderness next week, and on route I'll pick up one of those brands. Cheers!