The MercatorGear ‘Gas Canister Calculator’ is a tool to estimate gas consumption and canister requirements for your particular expedition or trek depending on the number of people and the number of days, how much water you need to boil, and the type of stove and canister used.

We use gas consumption data from real usage cases to create a realistic set of consumption figures. This enables you to experiment with different stoves and usage scenarios to work out which is the optimum combination for your particular trip.

Inputs for the Gas Canister Calculator* 

A) Number of people in the group

B) Number of days/nights on the trail

C) Boiling water requirement per person per day in litres. Here is a rough guide;

• 0.5 litres (2 cups) is for classic ultralight/minimalists thru-hikers
• 1 litre is enough for a dehydrated meal and a couple of hot drinks
• 2-4 litres gives you plenty of boiling water plus cooking
• 5 litres is for those who wish to boil most of the water they need for hydration and do plenty of cooking
• On the trail in northern Europe, the MercatorGear research team live well and do plenty of cooking (including a lunchtime brew up) on less than 3 litres per person per day. 

D) Canister Size: This enables you to try different standard sizes (100g/3.5oz,  230g/8oz & 450g/16oz) to see which is the best combination to optimise the stove & canister combination for a specific trip.

E) Stove Type: Our calculations are based on extensive testing with three different types of KOVEA stove, each with its own weight and efficiency attributes;

NOTE about other stove brands: Although our data has been collected using KOVEA stoves, our calculations should be broadly similar for other good quality stove brands within the same categories.