Estimate how much stove fuel you need for backpacking, camping, and hiking trips. This fuel canister usage calculator factors in meals, hot drinks, water boiling, simmer time, stove burn rate, canister size, altitude, wind, cold weather, and safety reserve.
Boiling water:
Enter how often you boil water and how much water you boil each time. The calculator estimates total fuel used for boiling.
Simmering:
Add simmer time for meals that cook longer than simple freeze-dried meals, coffee, or quick boils.
Conditions:
The estimate adjusts for wind, cold, altitude, wind protection, and a safety reserve so you can plan extra fuel.
A fuel canister usage calculator helps estimate how many fuel canisters to bring for backpacking, camping, hunting camps, bikepacking, canoe trips, and group meals.
Real fuel use depends on stove type, pot efficiency, water temperature, wind, altitude, fuel blend, cooking style, and how carefully the stove is managed.
This calculator uses a practical backpacking stove fuel estimate:
Total Fuel Needed = boiling fuel + simmer fuel × condition factors + safety reserve
A 230 g canister may last several days for simple water boiling, but the exact time depends on stove efficiency, wind, cold, simmering, group size, and how much water you boil.
For simple meals, many backpackers estimate fuel by liters of water boiled, then add reserve for cold weather, wind, altitude, and extra hot drinks.
Altitude can affect stove performance and cooking time. Cold, wind, and melting snow often have an even bigger effect on fuel use.
For longer trips, cold weather, group cooking, or uncertain resupply, bringing extra fuel is usually safer than planning with no reserve.