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Bill Stratton

Member
For you guys that live and airplane camp out west in the high country. Four of us are planning a camping trip in our RV's in June to Idaho. Is it safe to carry the small propane bottles in an airplane up to 17,500 feet?
 
Yes

Be sure and let me know if you suddenly find out otherwise. I've carried them upwards of 15K.

John Siebold
Boise
 
Don't know about the propane but I don't think there is any problem. When are you coming and what strips do you plan to land at? Also it gets COLD at night in June so come prepared! There is the annual Father's Day fly in at Smiley Creek on the 21st. Smiley Creek is a good first stop as it is at 7200' with a 4500' runway. Talk to Gordon Hendricks the caretaker there and he can give you a lot of info on where to go and not to go. Don
 
Propane has always made me nervous. So what I do is take along a Svea 123 stove, then drain fuel out of the wing to run it. These stoves will run on just about anything, and although the lead in fuel gums up the jet, I just run a piece of wire thru it to clean the stove each time. (They even supply the cleaning tool with the stove.)

It's getting hard to find these stoves in retail stores; however I just did an ebay search for SVEA Stove and came up with lots of them.
 
Besides the SVEA, there are lots of camping stoves that run on gasoline or diesel or kerosene, coleman makes one and there are several others. You'll need to clean em up when they lead...personally, I just don't use leaded fuel in them.

As far as propane, it's handy, instant and clean. I've toted tanks in my cessna for years up to 15,000' or so, no problems.
 
Should not be a problem. The cylinder is designed for a lot of pressure - IIRC, relief valves on disposable propane cylinders are set at about 300 PSI. The propane is already under pressure and getting it nice and hot, like the Texas sun or getting heated by a stove closeby will increase the pressure quite a bit. Going to 17.5 isn't that much of a pressure change (7 psi).

As usual, no warranties are expressed or implied, etc.

TODR
 
With all the backpacking I've done, I have found the Coleman Peak 1 stove to be the best all around stove out there.

When camping above 14,000' or at 6,000' and 5 below, this stove just works when others have not. There are no parts to lose, you can tell exactly how much fuel is left, it can burn different types of fuel, you can depressurize it before packing it, fuel is readily available, it doesn't clog, it has a wind blocker built in, leveling ring, and when compared to the full up weight of other stoves, it is actually comparable.

Simply put, it just works and it works all the time.

Aluminum bottles are available for extra fuel but I have found I can hike for four days w/o a refill.

Some of the major problems I have seen with the canister propane stoves is when it is really cold out, they do not flow and the hikers have to warm the fuel cans prior to use. I've seen them clog with dirt when dropped prior to assembly. Probably the worst thing I've seen is when the tank is removed from the stove head the check valve didn't close properly and the guy lost all his fuel. (Good thing it was morning and there was no fire.)
 
N941WR said:
With all the backpacking I've done, I have found the Coleman Peak 1 stove to be the best all around stove out there.
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It's a good stove. If you want liquid fuel, I'd also put in a vote for the MSR Dragonfly. Runs on mogas, white gas, jet-a and probably 100LL, although you will need to make sure you keep it clean (shaker jet or no). The Dragonfly differs from other MSR stoves in that it actually simmers, although it has a full-on blowtorch mode like the XGK. Well built, light weight, detachable fuel canister. Plus, it was built by a local company in Seattle, at least it was 15 years ago, but I think still is made there.

msr_dragonfly.jpg


If you don't need liquid fuel and/or don't use the stove that much, though, I would recommend canister fuel models. Less maintenance, simpler, cheaper up front, but harder to find fuel in the field and more expensive if you use it a lot. There are a lot of good canister fuel stoves out there. I'd recommend going to a store where you can try them out and return it if you try it and then don't like it (REI, for example - I've been a member for nearly 20 years).

TODR
 
Johnson Crick

The Cub folk are having their annual group fest on the third weekend in June at JC. Lotsa door prizes and even mountain flying classes from the McCall folk.
Check www.supercub.org fo mo info.
Everyone welcome.
Steve
 
the_other_dougreeves said:
... I'd also put in a vote for the MSR Dragonfly...
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Doug,

Put this in the Never Ending Debate section. Too many parts to bring a long, assembly required, which means dirt can get in the hose, the straws that go in the bottle can get bent, bla, bla, bla. All those things I've seen on the trail, that's why I stick with the dirt simple Peak 1. Just MHO.
 
Are we sure it's a good idea to cook over a fire that is burning leaded fuel?
 
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