Smallest possible butane-stove set-up?

Ok, for science I have 5 air horn canisters here, with their respective weights to gas ratios.

Falcons are filled with Isobutane originally, so gas weights remain the same. Others are a mix of 1,1 Difluoroethane or trans-1,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene, but I have the isobutane measurements below.

Ozark Trail 8oz: 78g empty, 158g fuel, 236g gross.   49% weight to fuel ratio.

Falcon 5.5oz: 67g empty, 156g fuel, 223g gross. 43% ratio!

Falcon 3.9oz: 60g empty, 110g fuel, 170g gross. 54.5% ratio.

Bass Pro Shops 3.5oz: 63g empty, 69g fuel, 132g gross.  91% ratio

Frontiersman bear horn: 19.3g empty, 28g fuel, 47.3g gross: 69% ratio.

However…frontiersman really needs a 3d printed stand, so its more like:

Frontiersman with stand: 25.5g empty, 28g fuel, 53.5g gross: 91% ratio.

Compared to the MSR canisters:

MSR 16oz: 210g empty, 450g fuel, 660g gross: 47% ratio

MSR 8oz: 147g empty, 227g fuel, 374g gross: 65% ratio

MSR 4oz: 101g empty, 110g fuel, 211g gross: 92% ratio

So yes, there are some clear winners here. But…a clear loser is the standard MSR 4oz can that everyone uses…its one of the least efficient. Only advantage…is that it fits inside your pot nicely (well…as long as you bring a narrow pot like the toaks 550/some jetboils, etc).

With the 3d printed stand, the tiny 1oz canister isn’t particularly efficient, but…wins by being the lightest by far and is perfect for short trips.

Then you could move up to the falcon canisters, and just pick one based on how much fuel you need (either 110g or 156g). For the same fuel weight of 110g, you save 40g with just a tradeoff of doesn’t fit as well in a pot that has a lid. Then…the 156g falcon…is very weight efficient, but tall/skinny, so would be a bit unstable but I think 2 rocks would do fine (or 2 stakes). The ozark trail gives you around the same fuel weight as the falcon, but…11g heavier…though is less tall and a bit wider (so more stable).

The 8oz MSR canisters isn’t that bad efficiency wise if you really need that much fuel, and ..the 16oz is really good but…thats a LOT of fuel.

In short though…I’m never taking a 4oz fuel canister again.

It looks top heavy.  Tippy.

Could you dig a hole for the canister?
Cheers

The only one I’m worried about is the taller 5.5oz falcon.

Well, ..the 1oz canister requires a 3d print. Otherwise you have to do stuff like this ->

Which of course, works….but..totally worth it to just bring a 6g 3d print.

I do have 3d printed legs that attach to standard canisters ->

But the falcon canisters have a different lip on the bottom, so they don’t quite work.

Of course, something could be 3d designed to work, its just, I don’t have the skills for it. Though, if you brought a specific 3d print for it, then the weight difference to go to the ozark trail canister would be negligible, so you could just bring the ozark trail canister which is wider and stubbier. I do think the 5.5oz falcon would be easier to reinforce with 2 rocks than the 1oz canister.

Could you dig a hole for the canister?
Cheers

Yes, that is totally another option. Though…usually my camps are in hard to dig areas….where, the ground is already super compacted or in alpine, where its really rocky (so, would be easier to just use some rocks to prop it up)

DGoggins: Thanks for the excellent summation of weights and capacities.  That’s the sort of thing that, years later, I’ll google “BPL air horn canister weights” instead of having to weigh them out myself.  Sometimes from the store aisle, sometimes from the field.

As an update, everything has been working fine with the canisters.

Though, for the smallest frontiersman canister, I have learned that since the thermal mass is so small, basically when using it you have to keep one hand wrapped around it to continually warm it or it will slow down too much. (and I’m not going to strap a moulder strip to it! Its so small that the chance of heating it too much is too great).

Also, I recently brought the ozark trail canister on a trip, and it was working fine, but then I accidentally dropped it. It only did a small dent on the side, but afterwards…the valve stopped working. Its possible the shock did something internally to the valve? But it wouldn’t release gas anymore, and luckily….some campers near us had extra fuel and saved the last 2 nights of our trip.

I suppose the canisters have thinner walls, so require a little more care. Maybe the valves also aren’t quite at the same quality? I’ve actually noticed differences in valve quality between standard 4 oz canisters from different brands even though you’d think they all have the same supplier with different paint jobs.

Canisters with a smaller diameter can have thinner walls: the pressures inside are the same, but the stresses in the walls are smaller.

Cheers