About how many canisters of gas will a crew of 12 need if they are using the freezer bag method of cooking.

Is there a need for cups/mug if we are freezer bag cooking and don't have a chuck wagon.
Thanks

What is your stove set-up?

Windpro 4qt pot.

My guess would be no more than three full size (8 oz.) canisters if you're only using one stove. If you have a pot cozy, that will help.

Check your itinerary to see if you can pick up fuel at one of these spots then plan accordingly.

Canister Fuel is sold at the follow locations:

Base Camp

Tooth of Time Traders

North Country

Ponil

Baldy Town

Central Country

Ute Gulch

South Country

Phillips Junction

Forgot to answer this. Only the advisors would need cups for advisor's coffee at staff camps. The Sea to Summit X-cup is a great one.

Our crew of ten completely used three 8 oz. canisters and partially used two more. The discrepancy is that we used one (of our two MSR Reactor)stove to make coffee each morning.

After seeing how amazingly quick and awesome our Reactor stoves worked at Philmont, I would never willingly use any other stove. They are incredibly fast and efficient. On one side-hike to Cypher's Mine we only took one stove and the 1.5 L pot and boiled water for all 10 crew members' dinner in a matter of minutes.

One thing I would suggest is to take a Sharpie and write a number on each canister (1-6) Use the canisters up completely in sequence starting with canisters one and two. Don't use canister three until canister one is empty. Don't use canister four until canister two is empty, etc. Doing this will make sure you don't have a bunch of partial canisters that you don't know how much has been used. Assign canister one to a kid with a heavier pack so he gets relief more quickly.

You can buy 4 oz. IsoButane canisters in the back country, and they cost $4 plus tax.

One thing I would suggest is to take a Sharpie and write a number on each canister (1-6) Use the canisters up completely in sequence starting with canisters one and two. Don't use canister three until canister one is empty. Don't use canister four until canister two is empty, etc.

Ditto that suggestion! For all trips.

Also, weigh each canister before leaving and write the weight on the can. Weigh any partially full canisters when you return. The diff is how much was used, write that on the canister.

I just returned from Philmont. We used two Jetboil Sumo Ti stoves and only used two 8oz canisters for the entire trek for a crew of 13 using freezer bag cooking. In fact, one canister still has a bit of fuel left. We brought four 8oz canisters, fully expecting to resupply in the backcountry. We walked out carrying two full canisters. The Jetboils worked great for us. We even boiled water for coffee all but one morning.

Edited by petergriffith on 07/19/2012 08:17:53 MDT.