Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting White Gas or Propane

For elk camp in the Rockies...

Do you prefer white gas (coleman fuel) or propane?

I'm not talking about a backpack trip, but instead a truck-based camp using two-burner stoves and lanterns. If propane, I'll probably use a "tree" and run off a 20lb tank. If it gets cold, is propane a problem? I've only used propane with the small canisters, and have never used a large tank. Is a large tank better in cold weather?

I suppose one advantage to propane is that you could run a Mr. Buddy Heater off the tree as well.

I currently have both, and would like to downsize.

I prefer Propane and the 20 gallon would be the cheapest route to go.

Without a doubt go propane. No pumping, pouring, priming, preheating, etc. Instant on. Hardly any issues, just make sure you don't have a leak. Larger the tank the better.
Mr. Heater Buddies have worked great for me up to 9000 ft. elevation. I have not tried them higher.

Another propane endorsement. I have seen at least two tent fires (not mine) with Coleman gasoline stoves, and one lantern fire. Admittedly, someone screwed up, but it's harder to do with propane stoves and lanterns. There is no risk of spillage, little risk of leakage, etc.

Then, there was the burning mule...but that's a different story.

No doubt, propane is the way to go and you shouldn't have any issues with the cold. I use my propane fired heater in my enclosed trailer every winter and have never had an issue with it.

Propane is good to -44 deg. Mr Buddy can be questionable above 7000 ft. I've had some work and others don't,the oxygen depletion sensor is not high tech and varies greatly at high altitude. We've always used a triple burner [16,000 btu] gas hot plate burners to heat up the wall tent until got the wood stove fired up.
There is a way to by-pass the oxygen depletion sensor with a fine wire but for liability reasons I'll say no more.

We use propane. I would not want my hands stinking like gas WHEN I spill.

We ran a mister buddy, a lantern, and a stove off a 20lb propane tank in our cook tent last year. 9000' and down to single digits. We ran a separate lantern off one of the small propane bottles in our sleep tent. All worked great.

We also took a borrowed white gas lantern and never could get it started. We took a borrowed white gas stove and it was a pain to prime/start, but we eventually used it just to say we had.

You have to be a crafty old SOB to be able to use white gas.

I vote propane.

this was my first year using propane in elk camp. i used coleman lanterns for the previous 35+ years. i don't see myself going back to liquid fuel, ever.

+10 on propane. I camp at 9982 and have used buddy heaters without a hitch. I also have the Hr Heater adapter to refill the small disposable cans and I only take 3 or 4 small ones and refill them as needed off the bigger one.

I've been refilling them for years. It saves quite a bit of $$. However, DO NOT OVERFILL THEM. Here's a pic of one I overfilled years ago. It did this sitting in a hot garage. I keep this around to remind me about overfilling.

Regarding cold temperatures, we had always used 5-gal bottles, and for safety kept them outside the wall tents. On numerous occasions we had issues with flow at or below 0 degrees. It was likely due to moisture in the tanks and lines freezing, but did require us to bring bottles inside to warm up and produce flow.

I have a propane tractor so have the hose on my 500 gallon tank to fill it with. I also have an adapter to fill the smaller bottles but as the gent said be careful not to overfill. Most have a relief valve but I use a scale to make sure I don't screw up.
Propane is less muss/fuss in camp and I see no reason not to use it.

We did find out that some of the newer units that come with a hose and regulator can cause a headache until you get the hang of it. From what I was told at a propane station is that the newer regulators on propane equipment have some what of a failsafe built into them now. If you crank a 5-gal wide open you well never get anything to burn correctly. Guy told me to crank the tank about 1/4 turn open and we have never had a problem since. FWIW

That's true. It's a safety valve built into the large valve to prevent it dumping the whole load in an accident or equipment failure. If you open the valve vast, the safety valve will shut down.

LOL must be me. I got stuck on white gas Coleman gear because a buddy always had trouble with his propane. We hunted late season in one of the coldest places in CO. It was so dang cold it was hard to get paper to burn to start a fire in the woodstove some mornings! Liquid gas would light. His propane had to be brought into the heated tent to work. It is true each lantern and stove has its own personality, and some are pretty cranky, but if you maintain them, they do work very well. They all performed perfectly for 2 weeks in early October elk camp, though it only dipped to single digits. You do have to use a little caution and common sense with flame, and it is not wise to ignore a gas stove when it is in its start-up phase on a cold morning. Nor is it a good idea to just light a lantern and hang it right next to the tent roof until it is burning bright and steady. I can see how you could burn a tent down. It can take a little tinkering. One common mistake is to overfill the tanks. Otherwise, meals and light, lovely ambiance, glowing tent in the dark.

You can use nitrile gloves to keep the gas off your hands.

Looks like the landslide goes the other way, though, but us throwbacks don't really care. What gas appliances will you be selling off - heh, heh?

Toss me in the camp with the other throwbacks.... I'll be in good company

IMO propane is the best fuel for base camping situations when weight and bulk are not concerns. The appliances are so simple and easy to use that they are almost idiot proof. I used white gas stoves and lanterns for about thirty years. Then, about twenty years ago, I switched to propane for base camping and I'll stick with that from now on.

I still use white gas stoves when backpacking in the snow because it performs well in cold conditions.

I use Isobutane canister stoves for light weight summer backpacking because they weigh less than other options.

We take a plastic bottle of charcoal lighter fluid to light the wood burning stove.

KC

Propane freezes up at 25 degrees and 10000 feet. I use Coleman fuel.

Can't say I've experienced the same issue. We've used our propane heaters and lanterns in -10f @ 10k with no problems. But I use the larger bottles primarily.