Inside Outdoor Fall 2016

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into vapor. For that reason, care needs
to be taken so fuel or fuel vapors do
not escape at any time, causing poten-
tial fire, explosion hazards or air pollu-
tion. It comes as no surprise that the
Transportation Safety Administration
(TSA) makes no exceptions for travel
with fuel either as carry-on or checked
baggage: “Cooking fuels and any flam-
mable liquid fuel is prohibited.” This
makes sourcing fuel in remote areas of
the world problematic.
Temperature and altitude also affect
fuels in different ways. The most widely
used canister gas products do best
when the ambient temperature is above
11 degrees to 30 degrees Fahrenheit
(-12C to 1C). If the outside temperature
falls below these numbers, the canisters
need to be warmed to at least these
temperatures or the flame will be er-
ratic. In winter camping or high altitude
expeditions, it is commonplace to keep
canisters from freezing by keeping them
inside occupied sleeping bags. Another
torturous option includes putting the fro-
zen metal canister in the unlucky armpit
of the camper(s) drawing the short straw.
Canisters also get colder in use since
the escaping vapor feeding the flame
causes the liquid gas in the canister
to draw heat from the canister’s walls.
The heat, in turn, is used to maintain
the vapor to stoke the flame. This effect
is exacerbated in cold temperatures,
manifested by frost or ice forming on the
canister. To offset this, reflecting heat to
and/or insulating the canister will help
keep the vapor flowing but can be dan-
gerous if the canister is overheated.
Liquid fuel is not without its own
problems. Many liquid fuels are not
stable over time and will eventually
breakdown, causing obstructions within
the fuel delivery system. Periodically
refreshing the fuel will keep that from
happening. Cold temperatures can
affect fuels such as diesel by gelling, a
condition where it starts to solidify. At
the other end of the temperature spec-
trum, high heat breaks fuel down into
simpler compounds. These compounds
are either totally consumed, pass
through the stove during combustion or
get deposited inside the various com-
ponents of the stove. Those residing
in the stove will eventually obstruct the
burner’s orifice, forcing a good clean-
ing to return the stove to peak operat-
ing efficiency.
At altitude, all fuels suffer from lower
heat output due to oxygen starvation.
Still, canisters get the performance nod
since the fuel generally burns cleaner
and starts up faster. Also, unlike liquid
fuels, canister gas stoves do not need
to be pumped to build up pressure to
force out fuel. Already under pressure,
as the altitude increases, the atmo-
spheric pressure decreases making
canister stoves work even better.
There is a downside however. The
pack it in, pack it out ethos includes
end-of-life stewardship of all refuse.
Here, discarding the depleted or par-
tially depleted canisters in the appro-
priate recycle stream includes ensuring
the canisters are completely safe for
the workers who handle them. This is
not always a safe or simple process
(Kovea’s EZ-ECO stove resolves the
partially filled gas canister question).
Obviously, there are a lot of strikes
against non-renewable, open-flame,
fuel-burning cookers. So what could
possibly get around all that? If you
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Fall 2016 | InsideOutdoor 19