Air horn canister stand, version 2

You certainly wouldn’t want to accidentally lose an ear drum. Nice design.

I don’t have one of them there printers, so I’ve been using the canister stand that comes with Jet Boil stoves.  Coincidentally enough, the center of the stand is just the right dimension to fit an air canister into and is very stable.  At 29 gm it’s considerably heavier than yours, though light enough since I don’t have a printer.  So, how much do you want for one of those bad boys?

Jan, version 2 looks great. Would you mind sharing a link to the file? And details/source for the carbon fiber legs? Also, the feet look nice, but are they really doing much?

FYI, my son printer your version 1 stand for me and I used it on a trip to Yosemite a few weeks ago. It worked great.

I uploaded the files to printables. Info on the materials is there too. The CF rods are a staple in model building supplies. Buy more and make some stakes, they’re great.

The feet have two important functions, none of which supporting the weight:
1) They serve as a handle for removing the legs, allowing not only pulling but also twisting.
2) They make it easier to see the parts on the ground.

Thanks Jan

I found some 3mm rod in my stash, so I made even lighter version of the stand. It’s now 9 grams / 0.32 oz.

The legs are now more flexible, but still plenty strong for supporting the small pot. Now the weight penalty in comparison to the simpler round stand becomes truly negligible.

Here’s a picture of the new version (assembled) next to the parts of the previous one. I also used transparent material this time.

I’m not quite sure I understand the purpose of needing the air horn in the stand?

To understand the back story, try starting here.  My 2 cents.

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/smallest-possible-butane-stove-set-up/

I skimmed the “backstory.” So it’s being used as a stove instead of an air horn?

Maybe it’s time to admit that blowing an air horn will rarely get you a warm breakfast, especially in the woods…

=))  that gave me a good laugh! Thanks Jan. Admittedly, I haven’t had the chance to read the back story yet, but will. This is unique now that I know the purpose. =)

they remove the “air” from the air horn canister, then fill it with butane

the point is, that an air horn canister holds 1 ounce of butane, has a lindal valve on the top.  If all you need for a trip is 1 ounce then you’re good

Yes, it’s very clever. I just didn’t understand from the first photos illustrating the stand with the horn attached to the canister. With the description of wanting to blow the air horn right next to their sleeping pad to enjoy a breakfast. It was all very covert ;]

The Air Horns are on Amazon for $7.29  right now with free shipping.  I might have to get one.  I could not get the link to post correctly so go to Amazon and search “Shoreline Marine Eco Air Horn”.

If I did my calculations correctly you can add as many air horn canisters as you want for longer trips. The combined weight of multiple air horn canisters is always less than single or multiple conventional canisters. A bit expensive, and time consuming to fill though.

Not all that expensive!  I buy Kovea gas canisters designed for backyard cooking/chaffing stoves (8 oz) @ 2.99 ea.  The Materials Safety Data Sheet lists the mix as 75% isobutane and 25% propane, the same as backpacking canisters.  That works out to $.37/ 8 refills.  Cheap!  Other brands are just butane, which works just fine in warm weather.  Unfortunately, REI is currently out of stock, but they assured me it will be back.

Yeah piney, 4 air horn canisters carry 4.5 ounces of butane and weigh 2.66 ounces, a little less than a 4 ounce canister that weighs 3 ounces.

Maybe better to consider them about the same weight except with the air horn canisters you can just take as many as you want.

I think with the weight of the stand, then the 4 ounce canister weighs slightly less

The air horn canisters are not that expensive.  The cost of the butane is the same

The cheapest butane is $2 for 8 ounces at the neighborhood korean grocer.  You need a different adaptor to transfer to a backpacking canister

Any of the cheap butanes that I’ve examined are 50% isobutane, 50% n butane.  That is, when the temperature is about 21F, there is zero pressure, which means you can use it down to about 28F.

I don’t believe that MSDS, but it would be easy to check – take it to a place that’s 23F or so and open it up to see it has some pressure, repeat for 21F and see there’s no pressure

Monty Montana
Not all that expensive!  I buy Kovea gas canisters designed for backyard cooking/chaffing stoves (8 oz) @ 2.99 ea.  The Materials Safety Data Sheet lists the mix as 75% isobutane and 25% propane

These guys?

They are ISOButane and not N-Butane?  Good to know!

Jerry Adams:
Any of the cheap butanes that I’ve examined are 50% isobutane, 50% n butane.

Jerry:  I’ve gone through a lot of, for example, GasOne brand 8 oz.  “Butane Fuel” cans  (and one other similar looking brand) — either moving that fuel directly into 100/110 gm hiking canisters, or using the GasOne cans inside one of those bigger table-top stoves.  That particular brand performs like pure N-Butane to me.   It is quite useless at around 40 F, suggesting that the “adiabatic cooling” of the canister when used for a while drops things to around the boiling point of N-Butane (about 30 F).

What brands can you suggest that would have 50% IsoButane?

I’ve looked at different brands of those cartridges and their boiling temp is a little over 20 F

I don’t believe that MSDS.  They’re actually about 50% isobutane, 50% nbutane.  The application of cooking and chaffing isn’t normally done at super cold temps, but with people standing around.

The boiling temp of 75% iso, 25% n, would be about 16F

Easy to determine, if you can go to a place where the temperature is 20F or so.  If there’s a little pressure then it really is about 75% iso

MSR Isopro canisters are almost 100% isobutane.  They slow way down when you get close to 11F.  I’ve used them below 20F with no problem.  And they’re more expensive.  There are other good brands

Printable files update: For both this and the earlier, round version, I published the source code generating the 3D thing at printables.com. I also added a series of ready-made printable STL files for many possible canister diameters, from 30 to 50 mm in 0.25 mm increment. This should cover any canister where such a stand makes sense.

Brian, I just tried a “kobest” cartridge and it was pretty slow at 40F, so that would have been more n butane

There are a lot of different “brands” but I think they’re made at the same factory in Korea.  Then they put different labels on them.  Just based on looking at the cans and they seem identical.  The proportion of n butane and iso butane probably varies depending on what’s the most cheaply available at that particular moment

I was on a trip where it was 14F.  I just used MSR Isopro.  It worked fine – it must have been pretty pure iso butane.  It’s a lot more difficult to create pure isobutane.

You could put isopro in your air canister can if it’s cold, and just cheap butane if it’s over 40F or so.

When my 8 ounce canister gets close to empty, it slows way down.  Like, when there’s less than an ounce left.  The air horn canister holds just 1 ounce so this would be worse.  One thing I’ll do when my 8 ounce canister slows down, is take a bic lighter and apply the flame to the bottom of the canister to heat it up so it runs better.  You might want to be prepared to use a bic lighter on the air horn canister.

Listening to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me on NPR this morning (can I be more of a boomer?), Peter Segal introduced the next quiz segment by asking, “why should you pay a little to have a job done right when you can fail to accomplish it yourself?” that’s how I feel about the air horn canisters. Sure, I could save $1.40 to spend several hours emptying and then filling the canister. And by the way, how do you empty the air horn canisters without, you know, sounding the air horn?? And how do you fill the damn thing, especially without getting gas all over your hands and kitchen?  I know, there must be an engineering answer. You guys are more coordinated and smart than me and you have tools. I don’t.

I’ll save the money I spend on a trad boomer canister and oh, 30 times the canister weight penalty over an air horn by not bringing my phone, cables, batteries, solar panels, gps, etc.

“But how will I survive without an Iphone?”

O.K. gen Zer.