Jetboil in Cold & at Altitude

[treillw]

I used my jetboil for the first time to boil snow. 10 below and at 7500'elevation.

It melted the snow pretty fast, but I felt like it took forever to heat up and actually boil. Is this just because of the outdoor temperature and the temperature of the melted snow, or are there other factors coming into play here?

I thought the flame on the jetboil looked a little anemic and it didn't roar like it usually does. Anyways to improve things?

Just curious.

Thanks.

 

[BBob]

Which model jetboil? Was it a cheaper non-regulated model or one with a regulator?

 

[*zap*]

Why Does My Canister Stove Fail in Cold Weather? | Appalachian Mountain Club

His canister stove is so reliable the rest of the year, AMC's gear guru got to wondering why it's such a dud in winter. Here's what he found out.

www.outdoors.org

I use an msr dragonfly or international in cold weather.

 

[Wrench]

I had to heat my spoon and touch the tank last week at -5* to get going with a msr windsurfer. Mtwarden has a great hack that used copper wire or foil to warm the can from the flame.

 

[treillw]

Which model jetboil? Was it a cheaper non-regulated model or one with a regulator?

Minimo

 

[BBob]

Minimo

The regulated models like the Minimo tend to do better in the cold than the non regulated so I'd say it's as good as it gets with that one??? Was there any wind?

 

[Poser]

If you’ve seen the climbing film “Meru” (which if you haven’t, you should), it’s interesting that the guys were using a hanging Jetboil at high altitude, 20,000+ feet in the Himalayas. I can’t imagine a good reason to use that stove, much less isobutane canisters, at that altitude short of a sponsorship agreement and even then it would seem to be too much of a liability. Jetboil’s website mentions proven results as high as 26,000 feet, shifting the liability to keeping the canisters warm. I could see that being somewhat feasible in a big wall style climb such as Meru where there will almost always be a belayer available who could keep a canister inside of their down jacket, but seems less feasible to rely on having a warm fuel canister immediately available upon the team being out and all on the move. Also, at those temps, it would seem that the canister would not stay warm for very long at all, melting snow for water is super time consuming and taking the canisters on and off so much to maintain warmth would result in the unnecessary loss of fuel.

Any thoughts there?

(Side note, upon looking up the trailer to post here, I noticed the film is rated “R”, which seems odd.

 

[treillw]

The regulated models like the Minimo tend to do better in the cold than the non regulated so I'd say it's as good as it gets with that one??? Was there any wind?

Not terrible wind. There was some, but we tried to avoid it.

 

[Patton]

If you're fuel gets exceptionally cold, it's going to condense and have trouble burning a good flame. Sleep with a your fuel canister in your sleeping bag, warm it in the truck, keep a sock around it etc. Was dealing with the same obstacle this week in -7* at 8600'.

 

[Lawnboi]

It’s not a stove flaw it’s a fuel flaw. Cold canisters usually mean poor performance. One of the many reasons I have a white gas stove in my arsenal.

 

[bcimport]

Regulated or non regulated doesn’t matter for canister stoves when it gets cold. Gas pressure is directly proportional to the temp of the liquid in the stove. The stove needs pressure to force vapour to the burner in meaningful quantities to get good performance. Once you get much below freezing iso butane stoves are going to suffer major performance losses. You have to get the canister warm to increase the pressure (keep it in your sleeping bag, pocket etc or warm it beside a camp fire if you need to use the stove. I stopped using the jetboil for colder conditions because I can’t set the insulated pot in or near a fire when the stove won’t function. Still a great bit of kit but you have to work through the limitations of butane as your fuel. Liquid fuel or wood is the way to go if you routinely camp in below freezing conditions.

 

[treillw]

So a white gas stove is best for very cold weather?

 

[*zap*]

Yes, imo.

Msr has a good lineup of multi fuel stoves. White gas, unleaded gas, diesel, kero and jet fuel is what I can burn in mine according to msr and I will be trying denatured alcohol in a day or two.

 

[justinspicher]

I just used my jet boil this past week during a cold phase here in SW Colorado. I was between 11,200’ and 11,600’ and didn’t really have any issues. I kept a small isobutane fuel canister in the JetBoil and a larger one next to it. Put both in my bag, inside my puffy. The weather was 12* when we left the trailhead at 0500, and right around 15* when the sun came up and we stopped for coffee. Had boiling water in just a few minutes.

 

[*zap*]

I just used my jet boil this past week during a cold phase here in SW Colorado. I was between 11,200’ and 11,600’ and didn’t really have any issues. I kept a small isobutane fuel canister in the JetBoil and a larger one next to it. Put both in my bag, inside my puffy. The weather was 12* when we left the trailhead at 0500, and right around 15* when the sun came up and we stopped for coffee. Had boiling water in just a few minutes.

^Fuel brand?
Thanks.

 

[*zap*]

Comparison of different liquid fuel stove video:

 

[justinspicher]

^Fuel brand?
Thanks.

Zap,

These were the fuel brands I was using.

 

[*zap*]

 

[GotDraw?]

Boiling Point of Isobutane is 11 degrees Fahrenheit. Below that, it will not transform from liquid to gas state.

Boiling Point of Propane is -43 Degrees, but due to the low boiling point, propane containers need to be heavy (relatively thick steel) to handle the pressure.

White Gas and Kerosene stoves are often built with preheaters to help them burn at temps even below propane,

JL

 

[*zap*]

So, if you really like your canister fuel stove you can get a convertor and run propane thru it, you will also need a base for 1# propane bottles. If you go with MSR liquid fuel stove they sell an "arctic" fuel pump for most for their stoves for extreme cold temps.