+1 for the GasOne single burner low profile 10K BTU version. While I don’t camp much at high elevation (>7000’) and cold temps (<32F) butane craps out up there.
I looked it up and read that the difficulty with isobutane and similar stoves is not so much altitude, but cold weather. When you combine cold ambient temperature with the temperature drop from the expanding gas, the gas pressure drops a lot, causing flow problems. Propane doesnt have the altitude or near freezing temps issues (it does freeze up burt thats below zero F in my experience). Some troll posted about “summer” vs “winter” mix propane but I think they were trying to cause confusion, like me being told to find some “chain stretchers” or “quadrant bubbles” when I was on a survey crew as temp help one year, but I digress...
Liquid Coleman fuel stoves perform much better in cold but the potential for spills and fumes turns me off.
For backpacking, where weight is an issue, the amount of BTU's you get from liquid Coleman fuel is more than what you get from the same weight of isobutane (and you can carry liquid fuel in a lightweight aluminum bottle vs steel cans for isobutane.
I had been using an older Coleman (big and heavy) 2 burner but the size and storage (in a Prius) necessitated a change. I found that the GasOne with windscreen ($32) and the 12 pack of butane bottles ($24), both from Amazon, did the job. Pays to buy the butane in “bulk” as the price can get crazy at remote stores, I’ve seen $5 a can/bottle, same thing with the Coleman green 1 pound propane bottles.
As far as using the butane gas lighters (the cheap BBQ style), there was a thread here titled “High Elevation Lighters” from Oct 2009 that briefly discussed the topic.
Seems like an update would be useful almost 9 years later.
