Fuel for MSR Pocket Rocket

Simon Mc said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please advise?

Partly marketing, but probably mostly covering their legal backsides in
case someone blows themselves to bits. I think you'll find everyone
says similar. I'm pretty sure Primus do, yet I run my Primus stoves off
Coleman cartridges at the moment, and have run an OD stove off them too.
AFAICT they're all effectively interchangeable.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Thanks Pete, I guess I was covering my not-so-legal backside by asking!

"Peter Clinch" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Simon Mc said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister
fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please advise?

Partly marketing, but probably mostly covering their legal backsides in
case someone blows themselves to bits. I think you'll find everyone says
similar. I'm pretty sure Primus do, yet I run my Primus stoves off
Coleman cartridges at the moment, and have run an OD stove off them too.
AFAICT they're all effectively interchangeable.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Simon Mc said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please advise?

I do not know if this is true, but I was told that MSR canisters are
filled to a higher pressure so you can get more of the gas out when the
canister is nearly empty.

I was told this by someone in Blacks, so I have no reason to doubt it
:-)
(Actually that's unfair. I asked her why the MSR canisters cost more
and she said that she'd been told this story and had no idea if it was
true either!)

I have used Go canisters but have just bought an MSR one. I shall let
you know if it's any "better" although I don't know how I shall judge.
I'm right tight wi' me gas.

Judith

Judith said:

Simon Mc said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please advise?

I do not know if this is true, but I was told that MSR canisters are
filled to a higher pressure so you can get more of the gas out when the
canister is nearly empty.

I was told this by someone in Blacks, so I have no reason to doubt it
:-)
(Actually that's unfair. I asked her why the MSR canisters cost more
and she said that she'd been told this story and had no idea if it was
true either!)

I have used Go canisters but have just bought an MSR one. I shall let
you know if it's any "better" although I don't know how I shall judge.
I'm right tight wi' me gas.

Judith

Weigh the cannister when full and then when empty, the difference is
the gas. I use the small '100' cannisters and they weigh 100gms when
empty and 200gms when full. I dont think that the manufacturer makes
much difference.

Sorry about my earlier blank posting

Alun

Judith said:

I do not know if this is true, but I was told that MSR canisters are
filled to a higher pressure so you can get more of the gas out when the
canister is nearly empty.

I was told this by someone in Blacks, so I have no reason to doubt it
:-)
(Actually that's unfair. I asked her why the MSR canisters cost more
and she said that she'd been told this story and had no idea if it was
true either!)

I could believe they would cost more if the pressure is higher, since
the higher pressure simply means there's more gas in the canister, and
more gas = more cost.

Similarly, though, not much gas = not much pressure. Putting more gas
in at the start just makes it last longer; it won't perform any better
in later life because it's basically the same as any other canister of
the same size with the same volume of gas inside it.

[Science bit: Unless, of course, there's an enclosed, expandable,
high-pressure expansion unit inside the canister, e.g. a small inflated
balloon. As the gas is used, the gas pressure will drop causing the
balloon to expand, occupying more volume inside the canister, thus
increasing the gas pressure again. Ultimately when all the gas has been
used up, all that's inside the canister is balloon. This would
definitely explain why they cost more.]

Colin

Alun said:

Weigh the cannister when full and then when empty, the difference is
the gas.

Or you can just read the net weight off the side of the can, which is
much easier!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Judith said:

Simon Mc said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please advise?

I do not know if this is true, but I was told that MSR canisters are
filled to a higher pressure so you can get more of the gas out when the
canister is nearly empty.

I was told this by someone in Blacks, so I have no reason to doubt it
:-)
(Actually that's unfair. I asked her why the MSR canisters cost more
and she said that she'd been told this story and had no idea if it was
true either!)

I have used Go canisters but have just bought an MSR one. I shall let
you know if it's any "better" although I don't know how I shall judge.
I'm right tight wi' me gas.

The MSR IsoPro canisters are filled with isobutane. The normal stuff
is a mix of butane and propane. I vaguely recall something on
aus.bushwalking about isobutane....

Yep. See http://tinyurl.com/bxlpv

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Judith" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I do not know if this is true, but I was told that MSR canisters are
filled to a higher pressure so you can get more of the gas out when the
canister is nearly empty.

Phil might be on to something (I haven't followed up the link re
iso-butane) but the pressure in the can has nothing to do with the
amount gas in the can (provided there is some of the liquid phase
remaining) and everything to do with the temperature within the can.

--
Roger Chapman so far this year 34 summits
New - 15 (Marilyns 4, Sweats 1, Outlying Fells 10)
Repeats - 19 (Marilyns 5, Sweats 10, Wainwrights 12, Outlying Fells 0)

On Tue, 31 May 2005 17:25:25 +0100, Roger <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Judith" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I do not know if this is true, but I was told that MSR canisters are
filled to a higher pressure so you can get more of the gas out when the
canister is nearly empty.

Phil might be on to something (I haven't followed up the link re
iso-butane) but the pressure in the can has nothing to do with the
amount gas in the can (provided there is some of the liquid phase
remaining) and everything to do with the temperature within the can.

Warming the can gently by cupping ypur hands over it or even sitting
in some warm water will increase the pressure and efficiency of the
stove as you struggle to get the last few grams of gas to burn. It
may however be the case that warming water on the stove to liberate
extra gas is inefficient and a waste of gas 😉

"Simon Mc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please advise?

--
Regards,

Simon Mc
(remove "nospam" to reply)

I was very interested in this topic as I too have an MSR Pocket Rocket. Has
anyone yet tried a "non-MSR" cannister on theirs?

"Michael Hobby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Simon Mc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister

fuel".

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine

with

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please

advise?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was very interested in this topic as I too have an MSR Pocket Rocket.

Has

Quoted message said:

anyone yet tried a "non-MSR" cannister on theirs?

I have a Snow Peak 'Giga-Power' can on mine and it worked on the last
expedition just fine.

Nick

"Michael Hobby" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I was very interested in this topic as I too have an MSR Pocket
Rocket. Has anyone yet tried a "non-MSR" cannister on theirs?

Yes, I use Coleman with mine which seems fine. I have never had any of the
MSR stuff though, so can't offer a comparison.

John

Michael Hobby said:

"Simon Mc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please advise?

I've never used an MSR can on mine, I've used Epigas, Coleman Gas and
Plastigas Topmix all with equal and perfectly acceptable results. It
may just possibly be that MSR Isopro offers some miravcle of cooking
efficiency, but I honestly can't quite see how.

I said:

The MSR IsoPro canisters are filled with isobutane.

Eh do what? I must have had my brain in neutral. Isopropane.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

"Tim Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Michael Hobby said:

"Simon Mc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just bought one of these great lightwaight stoves. Noticed on the
instrcutions that it says "This stove uses only MSR IsoPro canister
fuel".

Is this just marketing by MSR? I was expecting this stove to be fine
with
any of the resealable Butane/Propane canisters. Can anyone please
advise?

I've never used an MSR can on mine, I've used Epigas, Coleman Gas and
Plastigas Topmix all with equal and perfectly acceptable results. It
may just possibly be that MSR Isopro offers some miravcle of cooking
efficiency, but I honestly can't quite see how.

I asked because I'm off to the Pyrenees next month and I don't know which
ones I'll be able to get.

Michael Hobby said:

I asked because I'm off to the Pyrenees next month and I don't know which
ones I'll be able to get.

As far as I can tell if the can has the correct fitting and contains a
butane/propane mix it'll work fine.

Phil Cook said:

I said:

The MSR IsoPro canisters are filled with isobutane.

Eh do what? I must have had my brain in neutral. Isopropane.

I think you were right in the first place. Propane is a saturated
hydrocarbon with three carbon atoms. "Iso" indicates that one of the
carbons is branching off the main chain. But you can't make a branch
when there are only three atoms:

CCC propane CCCC butane CCC iso-butane
C

My guess would be that IsoPro is a contraction of ISO-butane / PROpane
mixture (apart from sounding more positive than IsoBoo ;-). That would
make sense as you would have some of the more volatile gas to get going
and some of the more energetic gas to be more efficient.
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales