Refill Your Fuel Canisters!? FlipFuel Review

If you use canister stoves and have found yourself with collection of half-full fuel canisters at home, the FlipFuel might be worth a closer look. In today's video, Neil talks through canister fuels, what's in them, the different sizes, and how the FlipFuel can play a key role in saving money and space by transferring fuel from one canister to the next.

Outline:
Intro: 0:00
Understanding Fuel Canisters: 0:28
Ways to Use Canisters
Small Canister to Small Canister: 3:39
Small Canister to Large Canister: 5:40
Large Canister to Small Canister: 6:19
Final Thoughts: 7:21

#bikepacking #pedalfurther #flipfuel
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::About The Host::
Geometry: 150lbs, 5'9.5", 32" inseam

[NelsonSherry]

By far, the easiest way I've found to create the pressure gradient is to pour hot water into the concave bottom of the top canister. Then the temp difference is significant and you don't have to deal with cooling the receiving/bottom canister. I've had no problem draining the top canister completely. If you overfill the receiving canister, you can easily flip the system over and drain a bit back, or just hook up your stove and burn off a bit. Overfilled canisters, without a bit of space for liquid expansion, run the risk of deforming or maybe bursting if heated, but are not particularly dangerous unless heated significantly above their filling temp.

[Likelybiking]

Another good thing to use halfies for is your local coffee outside! And if you don’t have one, start one! It’s a blast!

[CornishColin]

I've been doing this for over 7 years now with something that looks exactly the same but raw aluminium (Gas Saver from G-works). Every time I top up a little canister from a large one I mark it with a sharpie that way I can keep track of the number of times I've filled it - when it gets to 12 times I throw it out (no specific reason for 12 but seems about right) - I figure the canisters are designed to be disposable and perhaps threads will wear, seals will fail or the inside of canister may eventually corrode? Just erring on the side of caution.

[tristanbogaard]

Definitely one of my favorite new products of 2022. Useful and with a clear purpose to save fuel and money. Very nice. I use an alcohol stove myself as it doesn’t require so many wasted metal canisters. That said, it’d be great to see a follow-up video on canister recycling procedures as I’ve never heard of them being reused / refilled / recycled properly.

[GeekonaBike]

I've tried a similar process w/ propane tanks to camper bottles, & you're correct it's not for the 'faint of heart' or the easily frustrated, but it can save a buttload of $$$

[coreyreeder]

Yes!! What a great product. Thanks for bringing this to the channel

[tomschwemberger]

FYI, you shouldn't have a problem with over-filling/exploding canisters if you let out the excess before the can warms up. An explosion would be caused by excess pressure (not fuel). The pressure in the recipient canister can never exceed that of the donor canister while they are connected. If you over-fill the recipient canister, pressure will build proportional to the increase in temperature, but as long as you let the excess fuel out first, you'll be fine.

[davemeise]

I do the same type of thing with one pound propane tanks. The waste and expense was too much for me to accept and we use the one pound tanks a lot for our vehicle type of camping. Naturally the weight was not too much of an issue but the bulk of a 20 pound tank was. I bought a "transfer valve" and now before a camping trip I refill my one pound propane canisters from my 20 pound tank.
I use the chill method for my empty tank and use the propane tank at normal temperature. Unlike the isobutane tanks the propane simply stops transferring on it's own. I weigh each of them after filling just to ensure I don't overfill them as they are under a lot of pressure once full.

[PlainZr]

I am using something similar from China called Camping Moon. Works the same and I have been using Butane refills for my stove canisters. I live in South East Asia so I don't have cold or high altitude problems where I bikepack.

[bradleywoods]

This was a great tutorial. Thanks for explaining so thoroughly

[ronlac]

The valve on the side is an air-release valve. Release the air when disconnected from the canister you want to fill from. So you don't nee a difference in temperature. If the pressure isn't enough to fill, disconnet the canister you want to refill, from the canister from wich you take the gas. Leave the adapter on and press the valve on the site. Only air will escape. You can smell it if you are unsure. You have to release the air from the canister you want to refill. Sorry because of my english (im from germany *g*).

[DiabloOutdoors]

I'm a scuba diver and did lots of tech diving. So I'm quite versatile when it comes to gas and pressure. The basic here is not only the capacity but also the pressure. First, this is not recommended to refill those small canisters, and even less since this way requires you to play with temperatures. Make a mistake and this may explode in your face. Using a larger canister to refill a smaller one is safer, but avoid this with two same-size canisters since you need to freeze one and get the other one a lot.

Also be aware that if any accident, your insurance will NOT cover you. You may even be sued because of that.

Besides that, just so you know, only trained personnel with certification are allowed to fill tanks in the scuba world and there's a good reason for that. Too many accidents in the past...

In my humble opinion, filling a small PROPANE tank from a larger one is OK. But don't play with those small isobutane/propane canisters. Another reason besides safety is the cost. Medium canisters costs, on average, half the price of the bigger one, and so on. So no saving there. And if you have some canisters with low fuel left, keep them for use at home or on small trips. Besides that, you're bikepacking, right? So the weight of the canister is minimal...

[EckmanJones]

I have a bobcat kovea cook system that I take with me camping. It all stores nicely in the titanium cookpot. But the brilliance of the system is the kovea spider, which at freezing temperatures can vaporize the remaining fuel by turning the fuel canister upside down. It was worth every penny, I do regret not getting the baking part of the system. So yeah I cheaped out after spending over $100 on the system only not to buy the $12 baking plate lol. With that said I need the flipfuel because I have three half full canisters.

[joshturner]

I do hope you get to review the Allied BC40. It’s dreamy!

[Rob_]

Never ever fill these canisters with pure propane. Only use butane or butane/isobutane/propane mixtures.
The reason why this works best with 1/2 empty canisters is because these still contain a lot of liquid gas that keeps the canister cool. Just repeat the process and cool the partly filled canister again in the freezer for 10~15 minutes.
Additional tip: always attach or remove the canister from any equipment with the valve pointing up. If you hold the canister upside down when attaching or removing, the little bit of gas that escapes is liquid so that will give you a much higher loss on your gas (don't ask me how I know...)

[josephoutdoors]

California legislators have been trying to introduce a bill to eventually ban one time use propane and fuel canisters. Their State Parks lose money on disposing these tanks because most recycling plants refuse to process them because they are rarely disposed of correctly.

I’ve been trying to buy the flame king set for propane but it’s constantly sold out. I do hope that manufacturers get ahead of the legislation and provide a refillable option. I don’t mind paying more for a design that is built to handle this.

[michaelmann]

I recommend also getting a Snowpeak Mini-Flame lantern. They produce a small candle-like flame and are designed to burn off that last little bit of fuel left in your cartridge. My experience has been when the lantern stops burning the cartridge is truly empty.

[larry]

This is why I'm trying out alcohol fuel stoves (Trangia). We'll see how the performance compares, but I have a problem with the waste that those canisters create.

[southwestxnorthwest]

It's actually pretty easy to overfill the recipient container, I've done it and it created a bulge on the bottom. Wasn't even aware of it until I went to grab a fuel canister once for a trip I was going to take, made me pretty nervous realizing there was a overfilled canister inside my gear room the whole time

[NoLuvJustRespect]

This was a super helpful video! But I'd also like to know what brand of shirt you were wearing in this video 😅😆