10.1 Stoves
If your stove doesn’t work during the summer, you can still get water to drink. If the stove is inoperable in the winter, you can’t melt the snow that provides drinking water. Dehydration leads to hypothermia. Things can get ugly in a hurry.
Members of WinterCampers.com have displayed variety of cooking options – using a fire for simple meals, white gas stoves, canister stoves and alcohol stoves.
Zenstoves.net has a great article entitled “How to Choose a Backpacking Stove”. The article addresses factors such as fuel types used, fuel availability, weight and fuel efficiency, speed of cooking, cooking needs, starting and long term costs, cold weather performance, ease of use, safety and health concerns, personal preference, environmental/eco concerns, and ability to build stove at home or on the trail.
A comprehensive list of stoves is covered including:
- Petroleum Stoves (White Gas, Kerosene)
- Liquefied Gas Stoves (Butane, Isobutane, Propane)
- Alcohol Stoves (Alky, Meth, Spirit)
- Chemical Solid Fuel Stoves (Hexy, Hexamine, Esbit, Triox, Fuel Tab)
- Wood Stoves
- Candle Stoves
- Solar Stoves
- Flame-less Stoves (MRE Heater)
- Electric Stoves and Immersion Coils (Heating Coils, Heating Elements, Beverage Heater, Heating Rod, Coffee/Drink Heater)
- Calcium Carbide Stoves and Lanterns (Acetylene Stove/Lamp)
A discussion of fuel types, fuel availability, and table providing a fuel comparison and weight/efficiency ratings follow. It is a long article (>8,500 words) and worth reading if you are considering stove options for winter camping.
Views from the Top ran an interesting survey last winter asking participants what type of stove they used for winter camping.
Not surprisely, the overwhelming majority of the 62 participants declared for a liquid fuel/white gas stove. They are reliable in cold weather.
The interesting part to me were the number of participants that cited success with canister stoves. From April through November I use a MSR Superfly stove that adapts to any Lindal valve type canister. But several posts on this forum gave advice for using a canister stove in the winter including: sleeping with the canister or stowing it within a down bootie, pre-warming the canister, using an insulated pad and windscreen during burning to keep the canister warm. The convenience of the canister stove certainly makes me want to try extending my use of it a few more degrees.
10.1.1 Using Canister Stoves
Canister stoves typically see a decline in performance in cold weather. During burning the fuel inside the canister evaporates, causing the canister to cool. Moisture in the air will condense or freeze on the outside of the canister further chilling the gas inside the canister. The temperature inside the canister can drop to a point where the liquid fuel inside the canister won’t evaporate appropriately.
10.1.1.1 When to use a canister stove
Before discussing ways to combat cold weather’s effect on a canister stove let’s define what we mean by cold. In sub-zero temperatures, while the first 2/3 of the propane/butane blend canister will deliver as expected, the canister may need to be warmed to keep the flame going. At temperatures above 15, isobutane offers a more consistent delivery of fuel, without the need to keep the canister warm during the final 1/3 of its canister life. Above 40 degrees F and the issue is a moot one. Summary, in conditions that are single digits or less use a white gas stove.
10.1.1.2 Type of fuel
The type of fuel canister is important as they are not all the same. Most canister stoves have some combination of n-Butane, isobutane, and propane. Here are the relative percentages for popular canisters:
- Primus: 50 % n-butane, 25 % isobutane , 25 % propane
- Peak1: 70% n-butane, 0% isobutane, 30% propane
- MSR IsoPro: 0% n-butane, 80% isobutane, 20% propane
- Snow Peak: 0% n-butane, 85% isobutane, 15% propane
Why is this mixture information important? Without the fuel in the canister being vaporized, there is no pressure to feed fuel into the jet. These fuel components all vaporize at different temperatures.
- n-Butane vaporizes at 31 degrees F
- Isobutane vaporizes at 11 degrees F
- Propane vaporizes at -43 degrees F
When you use your stove at or below 31 degrees is the n-butane will cease to vaporize and all the propane and/or isobutane will vaporize instead and that will burn first, leaving just cold liquid n-butane in the cartridge. Likewise, if you use your stove at or below 11 degrees, the propane will be the first to go leaving only isobutane and butane in a liquid form with no more pressure. Generally, you want less n-butane and more propane for cold temperatures.
10.1.1.3 Increasing efficiency
The easiest way to increase the efficiency of the canister is to start off with a warm canister. Keep them deep in your pack or jacket or in your sleeping bag so they start off warm. You can heat the canister by using a chemical hand warmer.
Setting a canister in a pool of water, it can be as little as an inch, it keeps the frost from condensing on the canister and chilling the gas inside.
If your stove has a preheat stage, meaning the fuel line loops through the flame to vaporize the fuel before it goes through the jet, you can invert the canister so the stove functions as a liquid feed. Light the stove with the canister upright. Then turn the canister over and stabilize it. This is beneficial because the propane (which will vaporize in all but the worst conditions on earth) will stay above the liquid butane and isobutane, pushing it down through the fuel line into the stove. You don’t want to turn the stove on very much, as it will behave very differently with the canister upside down. Basically with the valve just cracked you will get a full roar, and you don’t have as much flame adjustment as you do with the canister upright. When you shut it off it will burn for a few seconds until all of the gas is out of the fuel line.
10.1.1.4 Windscreens
Use a windscreen and keep a lid on whatever you are cooking. A windscreen should deflect the wind from both the stove and the cooking pot. It should not totally enclose the stove: there must be room for air to get in and allow for excess heat dissipation. You can lay your pack or a sleeping pad on it’s side as a wind block or use aluminum foil.
The windscreen should reach a bit above the top of the stove and up the side of the pot,. If you are using a large pot, as is normal, there should be a slight clearance between the pot and the windscreen. Don’t enclose the canister and flame together. If you make the gap between the windshield and the pot too small and have a minimal gap between the ends of the windscreen, you will be bottling up very hot air. This might or might not cause combustion problems, but will almost certainly transfer a lot of heat into the fuel tank or cartridge if it is inside the windshield, which could then get too hot.
10.1.1.5 How hot is too hot?
How can you tell how hot you can safely allow your canister to get? All gas canisters must be able to take at least 122 F without any damage at all in order to pass the relevant European and American Standards, but it is best to keep the canister below ‘hand temperature’, which is about 86 F. Warm is OK, ‘hot’ is not. Typically, your hand can touch something below 113 F without it getting an ‘ouch’ response.
Put your hand on the canister. If it feels cold let it warm up a little bit. If it feels cool to mildly warm, that’s good, but keep an eye on it. If it starts to feel hot or above a comfortable hand temperature, take action to limit the thermal feedback such as adding a shield. If the canister feels too hot to touch comfortably take action fast and shut the stove down at once.
If you hear the stove is starting to roar a bit, check the canister temperature. The roar suggests that the internal pressure is getting too high.
10.2 Fire
The use of fires in the wilderness is controversial. Certainly we endorse LNT’s principle of minimizing the impact of campfires. However, in the camping in the winter when it can be dark before 5pm a fire can provide a focal point, a source of heat for melting snow for water or cooking, and heat for drying and/or warming clothing.
10.2.1 Building a Fire in the Winter
A lightweight saw, and possibly an ax, along with the knowledge of how to use them in the wilderness, are crucial ingredients for building a fire. Many backpackers have little experience with the proper use and maintenance of an ax or saw.
A Sawvivor folding saw is a 15″ folding saw that weighs only 9.6 oz and can cut 6″ logs.
An ax is useful for splitting larger diameter wood. When wood is wet or frozen on the outside, splitting the wood will reveal the dry inner portions that will burn and help dry the other wood.
10.2.2 Platform
If the snowpack is only a few feet thick, dig down to the ground otherwise plan on making a platform. Stamp the snow and make it flat where you intend to build this fire pit. This will give it a nice depression which will help with blocking the wind. Make sure that you get it nice and tight. The size depends on how big you want it. Now put down some logs on top of the fire pit this will now be your fire platform and you will build your fire on top of the logs.
Whether you are trying to promote Leave No Trace techniques and establishing a protection layer between the fire and the ground or shielding the fire from dampness or trying to keep it up out of the snow and direct it’s heat; a platform is all important.
The picture below depicts a good platform. It is built in the existing fire pit at the Tirrell Pond lean-to. It has a solid base of logs; getting it up out of the snow and a couple of reflective walls to channel the heat back to the fire and towards the lean-to. No wonder these Winter Campers are so happy, anticipating the pleasant evening to come!
10.2.3 Fire starters
We will assume you have a lighter, matches, or sparking device. I like using a Swedish Fire Steel. The Swedish Fire Steel fire starter comes in three models:
- The Mini model is available in orange, weighs .5 oz., is 3 inches long and is rated for approximately 1500 uses.
- The Scout model is available in red, weighs 1 oz., is 3 inches long and is rated for approximately 3000 uses.
- The Army model is available in black, weighs 2 oz., is 3 3/4 inches long and is rated for approximately 12,000 uses.
The fire starter consists of a steel striker and a composite metal rod attached together on a lanyard to keep everything together. The metal rod is composed of ferrocerium, an alloy of iron and mischmetal (primarily cerium) and iron. When you first get your Fire Steel it will have a clear protective coating on the metal to prevent corrosion, simply scrape this coating off before first use or plan on your 1st few scrapes to be less than productive.
The fire starter produces numerous hot (5,400 degree F) sparks when the attached striker is stroked along the main shaft. The sparks lodge in tinder and voila! Fire! Having good tinder is key to the success of this process. My favorite tinder is cotton balls gobbed with petroleum jelly.
One technique to keep your tinder from scattering when striking is to hold the striker still and pull the shaft upwards or away from the tinder so that you can create sparks without scatting the tinder.
Starting a fire with a Swedish Fire Steel
- Build your fire platform/layout and organize your tinder into a pile. Have additional tinder and small kindling available.
- Holding the striker in one hand and the Fire Steel rod with the other hand make contact with the striker at an angle to the rod over the tinder.
- Using some force to keep the striker and rod engaged, pull the “slowly down” with the thumb of hand holding the Fire Steel
10.2.4 Tinder
Tinder includes everything from the materials that catch the spark to burning agents to small pieces of fuel. Tinder might include commercial products, candles or homemade aids such as cotton balls and Vaseline. Natural tinder might include shredded bark or wood shavings. White birch bark from fallen trees is a reliable starter. Finally, small fuel items include pencil-size or smaller twigs.
10.2.5 Kindling and Wood
Gather only dead wood from downed trees and branches to feed your fire. Kindling wood should be 3D: dead, dry and dinky. The kindling should be no thicker than your thumb and snap easily with two hands. You need two armfuls.
10.2.6 Fire Styles
10.2.6.1 Tepee Fire
For a no-hassle fire, use the classic tepee method: In the middle of your foundation, sandwich a handful of loose tinder between two layers of kindling. Prop small and medium sticks, no bigger than your wrist, upright around the kindling, their tops meeting like the poles of a tepee. Leave a larger opening on the windward side to ensure enough air for the fire, and light the tinder.”
1.2.6.2 Reflector Fire
A reflector fire is really any fire that has some sort of flat surface behind it to direct the heat back out past the fire. This surface is erected behind the fire and pointed, for example, at the face of a tent, lean-to or other shelter.
A back reflector can be made out of a few large slabs of bark, several logs laid against supports and stacked upon each other to form the surface. Rocks can also be used but just like those used to ring a fire, make sure they do not contain moisture. That trapped moisture can be heated to where it’s like a steam engine with no release valve. Exploding rocks can send shrapnel and shards flying in every direction!
Lay some logs on top of one another against the sloping back. Form a rectangle on the floor at the base of the slope as your fireplace. By lighting a fire in the middle most of the heat will be reflected back to the front of the fire, making cooking easy. Be sure that you build it so the ‘grate’ or fireplace faces the wind.
A good reflector close to the fire will help reflect the heat back towards you. In addition it helps to draw the smoke upwards instead of getting in your eyes. You can use this to your advantage by also reflecting heat into your shelter.
Notice when we discussed campfire location I recommended that you did not make a fire up against a large boulder or tree stump. Build the fire away from the rock/stump and place a reflector on the other side. As the rock reflects the heat onto your back, the reflector warms you to the front.
If there are no ‘natural reflectors’ simply build several reflectors of your own and place one behind you, then one on the other side of the fire.
10.2.7 Maintenance and feeding
Pre-heat and dry larger pieces of wood by laying them discretely alongside the fire before placing them in the fire to burn. If you keep at it you can dry out any wood enough to burn.
Finally, fires by committee are notoriously problematic. Everyone has a different thermostat and style. Our process is to appoint someone as “The FireMaster” and request the FireMaster for more or less heat.
10.3 Pots & pans and Utensils
Minimum cooking equipment for a group of four usually includes two nesting pots with covers; one for melting water and a 2nd for cooking a one pot meal. Depending upon the meal being prepared a pot cozies may prove useful. If you don’t have a fabric pot cozy a spare garment will work in pinch.