1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby Dale M. » Fri Apr 05, 2013 7:41 pm

Just get a "correct" hose and use a 11 or 20 pound bulk tank... Those little #1 pounders are a pain in the posterior...

The Mr Heater site has about a dozen hose combinations and adapters to fit most anything...


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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby markhusbands » Fri Apr 05, 2013 7:51 pm

For me, I'm not interested in using up that much space to store propane when my trips are weekend trips with a few meals. I won't use more than 2lbs of propane on any given trip - probably 1. Why carry 5, 10, 20 times more propane than I need? I understand that if you have a 5x10 teardrop with a lot of storage, and you are designing for week long trips, that a 20lb canister makes sense. For me, it's either working around the 1lb cans or finding a way to fit a 5lb tank.
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby Lgboro » Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:00 pm

I carry two 5 # tanks on the tongue of my tear. That way I don't worry about giving out while cooking. They are small and light (although a little expensive).
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby markhusbands » Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:11 pm

So do you move them to the back when you want to use them, or do you have a line rigged from tongue?
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby vaddisonme » Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:26 pm

I have two of the 4.25 lb (1 gallon) containers on the front of my little trailer, too. They are in a tongue mounted aluminum locking box, which has vent holes in the bottom. We get them out when needed and store them in there when not...
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby markhusbands » Fri Apr 05, 2013 9:13 pm

For a reason I won't bother defending, I'm sort of hung up on the idea of being able to start the stove with nothing more than a turned valve. Maybe I should forget about that and just put a 5lber in or in front of the tongue box.
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby Lgboro » Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:00 am

I built a one burner smooth top surface unit in my slide out cook station to take advantage of electric when I have ac. Otherwise, I tend to cook on a table or picnic table when I have one and they tend to move around depending on the campsite so I did not plumb in my propane.

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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby len19070 » Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:42 am

I think a lot depends on what you use a stove for and your needs. I don't do much with one except basically boil water.

For years I never even carried a stove, did everything over the fire. Now I use a Butane single burner for first morning Coffee and on rare occasion cook a breakfast.

Everything else is done over a fire or charcoal.

An 8oz cylinder lasts me a long weekend and stores inside the stove...and I do carry a spare.

Again, I don't think it necessary to bring 20 times more than you need. (or in my case 40 times)

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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby Vedette » Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:06 am

We too have camped for years with very little propane.
Thus we are set up to carry two of the small disposibles that can be replace just about everywhere!
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby markhusbands » Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:16 am

That is a nice looking slide out. Mine is going to look a lot more like a drawer....

Anyway, we'll be using the Camp Chef Ranger as the main cooker, maybe augmented with a portable grill. We don't really cook over fires, and often enough by late summer in Colorado fires are banned anyway. But having car-camped for many years I know a couple 1lb bottles don't give out over a weekend, even using a burner, a grill, and a lantern. So I tempted to use an actual or homemade Gemini system, and later on if I want more I could go with a little 5lber on the tongue.

Thanks everyone for offering your advice. Shows how much variety there is in the way people enjoy camping and adapt their gear to their personal style.
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby 48Rob » Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:54 am

Here is a picture of how I used the 1# bottles in one of our trailers.

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The bottle screwed into a fitting at the end of a plumbing system that was well secured.
There was a red valve between the tank and regulator to shut the gas off.
The stove was the only appliance fed.
The galley was well sealed from the cabin, and vented in the floor in case there was ever a leak.
Worked very well, without having a large heavy bottle, or extensive piping. :thumbsup:

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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby Dale M. » Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:33 am

Something no one else has brought up in big bottle, little bottle debate, is economics..... A reusable 11pound tank holds about 2.3 gallons of propane.... Locally propane refills are $2.69 a gallon, so the 2 plus gallons is going to cost about $5.40....The same amount (approximate 8 #1 lb cylinders) of propane in #1 lb cylinders at about $3.50 per cylinder is going to be about $28 plus you have 8 cylinders to dispose of ( and you are not even getting scrap metal prices for them) ) .... The cost of 8 small cylinders is almost enough to pay for new 20 gallon refillable tank (empty of course) at lowes for $29.95... And a fill up at local "station" (not exchange) is going to be $12.95 ( 4.8 gallons @ $2.69 per gallon) ... I know I sort of moved around here on tank size, but the cost of a 11lb (2.3 gallon) tank and a 20 gallon (4.8 gallons) is about the same...

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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby 48Rob » Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:49 am

Dale,

You're right, the little bottles are very expensive when compared to buying "in bulk" with the larger tanks! :thumbsup:

On the trailer where I mounted the 1# bottle under the galley, I first installed a 5# tank on the tongue, but then decided that it didn't look very good there, was way too close to the open front window, and there was a lot of plumbing to do to get the gas to the stove.

For me, the economy wasn't a big enough issue.
We used a bottle or two per camping trip a couple times a year.

We spent way more on "special" camping food and ice, and gasoline, etc.

Now that we have a bigger camper with water heater, furnace, and stove, a bigger 11# bottle makes more sense, not so much because of economy, but because I don't like to run out, which is why I installed the tap in the system for a 1# bottle.
It has come in very handy three times in the last 7 years.
We could have used a 20# bottle, but the physical size made it a bad choice (too much hitch weight, and just looked out of place).

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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby Vedette » Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:09 am

Hey Rob
What do you the de-icer for while camping?
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Re: 1 lb propane bottle debate revisited

Postby 48Rob » Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:13 am

Brian,

We built that trailer on a very tight budget.
The deicer/anti freeze bottles, with their tops cut off and screwed to the wall held the spare 1# bottles behind the slide out cooler.

Rob

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