Isobutane in Mo’orea (French Polynesia)?

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I am heading to Mo’orea next week and searched for fuel online (with no luck).  Does anyone have any idea about fuel avaiability in Mo’orea?  Thanks in advance.

[obx hiker]

Teahupoo?  

Hey it’s French so camping gaz?

[Brad Rogers]

I don’t know the real answer to your question but French Polynesia doesn’t scream Isobutane to me unless people use them for stoves on boats.  My guess is you’d be better off with an alcohol stove.

[David Thomas]

Brad: My mind went to cruising sailors, too, and they’re REALLY opposed to propane (and therefore, I assume, butane) except if stored  on deck to power a completely above-deck grill.  Their fear is that, being a heavy vapor, it will settle low until it finds an ignition source.  Unlike houses and tents, boats (the ones still floating) have NO ventilation in or out at the bottom.

Diesel?  Sure.  Motor gasoline?  Yup.  Alcohol?  More likely than propane/butane, I’d think, for the sailing crowd.  Westmarine, for instance, sells alcohol stove fuel and used to sell marine alcohol stoves.

I’d toss in a cat-can stove and then you’re in business if you can score:

– Everclear, hopefully 190 versus 151.

– Gas-line antifreeze, red or (preferably) yellow bottle.

– IPA = “rubbing alcohol” – sometimes I find only 70% but sometimes 99%

– denatured alcohol

I’ll PM Jon with my trick for getting alcohol fuel onto to Pacific Islands.

[obx hiker]

Nice to have David Thomas join in. I could find where there are marinas selling 5kg tanks but that’s wayyy too much and you can’t fly with even an empty can. An alcool à bruler stove may be your best bet.

That camping Nelson place supposedly has a kitchen.

[David Thomas]

A folding backpacking Ti wood stove wouldn’t be wrong (nor heavy) for feeding with palm fronds bits.  $40-50.  5 to 7 ounces.

For car camping and motor-boat camping, I’ve often advocated for those $15 charcoal-lighting chimneys.  They burn FAR cleaner than an open campfire, bending the upper lip or using two short lengths of rebar lets you put a pot on top, they put out a screaming amount of BTUs and I find 2-3 people can sit in camp chairs around and get warmer but far less smoky than around a campfire on the ground.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Brad, OBX & David, thanks for the suggestions.  I know where I can get alcohol, that’s not an issue.  I was just interested in isobutane.  Again, thanks for the suggestions.

[obx hiker]

I found this blog article about refilling your propane tank with butane in French Polynesia. David might find the methods and parts of interest. Evidently butane is widely available. I also found where there’s a gas dealer in Papeete selling both propane and butane in larger quantities.

I found no mention of smaller bottles for camping stoves or for that matter any retail outlets selling any ‘camping’ gear. I also am not sure how you could manage to get even an empty tank on a plane even if you did want to go through all that folderol to get it filled in the FP.

It was fun trying to figure this one out. Probably not fun for you Jon but I’m betting the trip will be a blast!

 

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Thanks for the info, I went ahead and ordered a butane to isobutane connector (less than $10).  I am playing for a drop that I will be able to find fuel cans for those single burner butane stoves.  Any, the main point of the trip is to help out on my wife’s research.  I usually go every year, but, due to COVID, we haven’t been back for 2 years.  I’ll actually be doing a lot of snorkeling, boat driving and shuttling research divers around the island.  In my spare time, I want to get more testing done on a stove design.  No rest for the wicked.

[obx hiker]

Tough assignment and good of you to man up and accept your responsibilities like a good spouse ;)

Hope for a report on how your fared with the FP stove problem.

[Matthew / BPL]

That sounds like a great working trip. Enjoy!

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Good news, I found butane in Mo’orea.  Bad news, the interface is like the old GAZ canisters.

but I did find a fire starter that look similar to Esbit

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

And now I found 90% ethanol at the pharmacy!

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Scored!  I found butane in a fishing store in Maharepa.   Apparently, some boats use butane stoves.  Now the experiments can begin!

[Roger Caffin]

re butane fuel
When traveling overseas it makes sense to always carry one of those tiny canister adapters which let you refill a standard screw-thread canister from other sorts – especially butane canisters. One will cost you a few dollars from ebay – or a whole lot more for the same thing from an American retailer.

Cheers

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I brought an adapter with me.

 

5 test, 500 ml of 75 F water (high speed boil test).

average time to boil – 2:30

average fuel consumption – 5.05 grams.

[Roger Caffin]

I have some of those adapters. They work fine, although the ones I have are not all that stable or secure. They can wobble a bit. But they work without any transfer.

Cheers

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I ran the numbers for the StoveBench analysis and came up with a score of 3.02.

So what does that mean and how does it compare to other stoves?

[Roger Caffin]

Not everyone agrees with the formula used in that article.
Cheers

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

20 mph Mo’orea wind

 

 

[Author]

Posts