Firemaple Stove & Hans Butane Cylinder

Raja brought for me from England a Firemaple titanium stove for camping. Model name is FMS 116T. It's a very small lightweight stove that's less than 50 grams. It comes in a cool little hard plastic case. It has a threaded bottom that sits on the cylinder. 

To use it with I bought a Hans butane cylinder off Amazon. The cylinder has 230 grams of gas in it. Only experience will tell me for how long it will last. The stove fitted perfectly and the flame seemed very good. But this rig is good only for some very basic cooking on the field like an omlette or tea for one person. Not for any serious cooking. I have to look for some utensils to go with this rig. 

In case you have never used these gadgets (like me) when you screw on the stove on the cylinder a bit of gas comes out with a scary hiss and the unmistakable smell of cooking gas. Please do not panic but keep turning it. It goes off in half a second. This point was written in the literature that came with the stove. 

Another point to note for newbies, when you are tightening the stove on the cylinder, keep the cylinder upright. Because what's inside is liquid. If you keep it inverted the liquid will come out when you are turning the stove on. The liquid becomes gas when it comes in contact with the atmosphere. I learnt it the hard way.

Here is a youtube video that I made on how to use the cylinder and stove. I am afraid I got the spelling of Hans wrong in the video.

The only problem with this set up seems to be the fact that Hans is apparently the only company in India that makes these mini cylinders. Kabsons has small cylinders for domestic cooking which are not feasible to carry on the trail. They come in 2 Kg sizes. I tried to look for a local solution to this in Lake Market. They seemed violently opposed to the idea of a small portable cylinder, saying it will never work here. They obviously have no clue about adventures and the requirements of camping. I am sure customers like me don't make up for a large market size.

However, it might be possible to locally refill these cylinders. Have to enquire around. In a worst case scenario I can use an adaptor on a small tubular canister and use my stove. However, how stable that set up will be for making an omelette or tea is open to question. The canisters are cylinders with a very narrow base.

Coleman has something similar but they need Coleman stoves. I believe the threads are proprietary and monopolistic. Though there might be an adapter available somewhere. 

These 230 gm cylinders cannot be brought in from abroad either because apart from the cost, they will not be allowed in an aeroplane. Which is another problem for domestic travel. If I want to use this I cannot travel by plane.