We did a simple test using a couple of commonly used stoves to see how much fuel they used to boil 250ml and 500ml of water. We used a Jetboil Zip (integrated pot with heat exchange) and an MSR Pocket Rocket (open stove) for our test.
| Fuel used to boil 250ml | Fuel used to boil 500ml | |
| Jetboil Zip | 4g | 6g |
| MSR Pocket Rocket | 6g | 12g |
Now, let’s assume an average hiker might do 4 boils per day; morning cuppa, morning porridge or midday cuppa, rehydrate the evening meal, evening cuppa. We worked out based on these 4 boils how long a 100g, 230g and a 450g canister would last.
| Jetboil Zip | 1 Person: days/canister (4 boils of 250ml/day) | 2 People: days/canister (4 boils of 500ml/day) |
| 100g canister | 6.3 days | 4.2 days |
| 230g canister | 14.4 days | 9.6 days |
| 450g canister | 28.1 days | 18.8 days |
| MSR Pocket Rocket | 1 Person: days/canister (4 boils of 250ml/day) | 2 People: days/canister (4 boils of 500ml/day) |
| 100g canister | 4.2 days | 2.1 days |
| 230g canister | 9.6 days | 4.8 days |
| 450g canister | 18.8 days | 9.4 days |
Of course, this is just a guide. We did the test in perfect indoor conditions*; wind, chilly temperatures, nearly frozen water in the mornings, big cups of coffee and a whole range of other variables will play out to alter the amount of fuel used, but we did our best to answer the question!
* We set up the stoves inside. The ambient air temperature was 25 degrees C, the water starting temperature was 15 degrees C. We weighed the canister before bringing the water to a vigorous boil, then weighed the canister after to get a figure for the amount of fuel used. We used a Trangia Hard Anodized aluminium pot on the MSR Pocket Rocket for good efficiency of heat transfer.
