Gas Check - first multi day with the family

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Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Tue 08 Nov, 2016 9:50 pm

A few searches last night indicated I should probably be working on 30grams per person per day per haps

We (3 adults) are doing 8 nights on the overland track in December = 720g of gas.

Sound about right...??

We will be cooking (re-hydrating) three meals every night and only one hot breakfast for one person each morning. And the odd cuppa, only one of us drink hot drinks.

It's the last thing I need to organize somebody else (transfer company) to get for us
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby South_Aussie_Hiker » Tue 08 Nov, 2016 10:00 pm

That'll be oodles.

I walk in a pair. We each have one hot drink in the morning, rehydrate one dinner each, and each have a hot drink before bed. So two meals and four cuppas a day.

We've done the OLT (7 days) and not finished one 230g canister. 790g will be heaps.

Make sure you don't waste it, and be aware cooking rather than rehydrating food uses a lot more gas.

I never take one big canister, accept the slight weight penalty by taking two smaller ones. That way you have some redundancy.

Heat up the water for all three meals at once. Doing three separate small amounts will waste more gas, plus you can all eat at the same time.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby johnk1 » Tue 08 Nov, 2016 10:20 pm

That will be heaps.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby JohnStrider » Wed 09 Nov, 2016 10:21 am

As per everyone else's comments.

It's funny with the gas cannisters etc that you always think you don't have enough but always seem to get through with plenty left over. Perhaps its because it's so lightweight and gives off the perception that you need to take more than you first thought.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Wed 09 Nov, 2016 12:16 pm

Goodo......and thanks

You're right, we haven't done many meals on hikes and doesn't sound like much.

Each of us will carry a cylinder and maybe palm off the leftover gas to a member in Hobart.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby JohnStrider » Wed 09 Nov, 2016 12:50 pm

Sounds good mate. Let us know how it all goes.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby Hermione » Wed 09 Nov, 2016 9:15 pm

I think you should be fine, with a cylinder each. We always over cater with gas, I have a horror of running out. We used 1 cylinder for 3 nights with 3 adults on a recent trip to Frenchmans Cap. Of course we had carried a spare which all adds up to extra weight. Maybe it's because I'm a theatre nurse I'm quite risk averse so I like to have redundancies with stuff like gas.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby skibug » Fri 11 Nov, 2016 11:31 am

Hey weeds,

My rule of thumb is around 12 grams gas for each litre of water you need to boil. So if you boiled three litres per day (say 2 cuppas and one rehydrated meal per person) for eight days, around 300 grams gas. Many variables including air and water temps, windiness and wind-shield efficiency (cooking outside in any breeze wastes a lot of gas), stove type, and pot type. Simmering requires much less gas per minute. Probably worth having a 30% margin of error for mishaps, emergencies, wastage, helping other hikers, medical use of hot water, and so on, carried in two separate canisters. Liquid fuel (eg metho) is about double, ie 25 grams per litre.

Hope this helps,

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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby pazzar » Fri 11 Nov, 2016 2:22 pm

A good gas blend should give you about 1 hour of burn time per 100g. Practice at home to see how long your meals take to cook, and how long your stove takes to boil enough water for a cuppa.

I used less than 230g of gas on a 6 day Overland Trip this winter. For three people I would think that 790g will be plenty. Better to have too much than not enough though. If you don't use it all, you can hand it in to a backpackers hostel - they will give them away to a needy traveller, ensuring it is not wasted.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Fri 11 Nov, 2016 6:53 pm

South Aussie and pazzar.......

i'm looking at my canister.....when you guys mention 230g i assuming you mean the net weight.

mine has 230 nett and 374 gross on the side.

just need to make sure i send the right info to the transfer company

or do i trust that the visitor center @ cradle will have gas??
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby pazzar » Fri 11 Nov, 2016 9:00 pm

Yeah I was talking net weight - that is the standard size for those types of cannister.

How much time do you have before you start the walk? Most outdoor stores, and even hardware stores sell gas (if you are flying in via Launceston or Hobart), but the visitor centre should have some too, although I'd always call first to check.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Fri 11 Nov, 2016 9:11 pm

The transfer company is happy to arrange...we land at 2pm ish and are going straight to cradle. Most stay the night and head over in the morning but we figured you loose nearly 1/2 a day although from what I read there is plenty of daylight.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby Hermione » Fri 11 Nov, 2016 9:17 pm

Whoever you're using for transport should know which size has cylinder you're talking about. It's probably the most common one. Although maybe more expensive it simplifies things having your fuel waiting for you. We've done this sometimes when we were living in WA, as it is a bit of an undertaking getting all your gear here for a walk anyway.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Fri 11 Nov, 2016 10:14 pm

The last thing on the list is posting a large bag down with cloths as we are staying on for a week. The transfer company picking us up at Lake St Clair have kindly offered to store for us.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby South_Aussie_Hiker » Sat 12 Nov, 2016 7:33 am

Yeah 230g is the weight of the gas, the total weight of each canister is about 350g.

I'd order it through the transport provider. Parks' Cradle Mt office nearly always has heaps, but you'd have to ring a few days in advance and check their stock levels to make sure you won't miss out.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby Hermione » Sat 12 Nov, 2016 2:19 pm

You could just pay for some extra baggage with the airline. Saves the hassle of posting your clothes, I've done this a few times then got the transport company to hold it.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Sat 12 Nov, 2016 2:27 pm

Hermione wrote:You could just pay for some extra baggage with the airline. Saves the hassle of posting your clothes, I've done this a few times then got the transport company to hold it.


But I fly into Launceston and need the holiday bag in Hobart. I couldn't find a transport company that could do both transfers.

It's not a big cost when mixed into the overall cost of the trip.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Sat 12 Nov, 2016 2:44 pm

Just remembered I get two included bags on the flight down. Better check who we are flying with in the way back, might have to pre-book.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Mon 05 Dec, 2016 9:08 pm

Ordered three cylinders....
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby weeds » Fri 23 Dec, 2016 5:23 pm

Only used two and both still had a bit of gas in them.

We donated the third to a guy we meet who was returning to do pine valley in the new year.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby South_Aussie_Hiker » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 6:30 pm

Glad it went well.

And thanks for posting back.
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby JulianS » Wed 11 Jan, 2017 1:04 pm

Dumb question alert (and a bit of a tangent from the OP...)

I've often wondered about ways of reliably working out how much gas is left in a canister. Could you just weigh it and work out a % after subtracting the mass of the canister itself? Or is it not that simple?
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Re: Gas Check - first multi day with the family

Postby RonK » Wed 11 Jan, 2017 1:08 pm

Yes, it is that simple.
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