Camping gas cold weather
Updated: 23 October 2026
You lit the stove on a still morning, the kettle started, and the flame sank to nothing while the weather app still said only a few degrees above freezing. That is the usual camping gas cold weather failure with a butane cartridge, and it is a fuel problem before it is a stove problem. Cold does not change the valve you need. It exposes what is printed on the can. The packs in the [gas cartridge comparison](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/gas-cartridge) mostly say butane. One title says a mix, and none of them prints a degree rating you can treat as a winter specification.
You lit the stove on a still morning, the kettle started, and the flame sank to nothing while the weather app still said only a few degrees above freezing.
You lit the stove on a still morning, the kettle started, and the flame sank to nothing while the weather app still said only a few degrees above freezing. That is the usual camping gas cold weather failure with a butane cartridge, and it is a fuel problem before it is a stove problem. Cold does not change the valve you need. It exposes what is printed on the can. The packs in the gas cartridge comparison mostly say butane. One title says a mix, and none of them prints a degree rating you can treat as a winter specification.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Fuel stated | Mix in the title | Connection | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Green Haven Green Haven C500 butane-propane mix, pack of 12 | Butane-propane mix | Yes | EN417 screw | 9.4 | about £46.48 | View offer |
 Straame Straame 227 g push-fit, pack of 8 | Butane | No | Push-fit | 9.2 | about £11.99 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  Green Haven Green Haven C500 screw, pack of 2 | Butane | No | EN417 screw | 9.2 | about £13.99 | View offer |
On this page
Why the flame falls
A cartridge stove burns vapour from liquid fuel in the can. The liquid has to boil. The Camping and Caravanning Club says liquid butane is hard to turn into gas below about 4°C, which is why a summer can fades on a cold pitch. Out and About Live puts the start of butane trouble below 5°C. Gas It states butane’s boiling point at about −2°C. Use the Club’s about 4°C for these small cartridges.
Liquid Gas UK’s sheet puts the pressure at a mild 15°C at about 1.5 bar for butane and about 7 bar for propane. Propane still makes vapour when butane has gone quiet. The sheet is not a rating for any amazon.co.uk pack in this set. A morning at 3°C is already in the band the Club warns about. Do not invent a lower limit the listing never printed.
What a mix is, and what it is not
A butane-propane mix, sometimes with isobutane, is what many brands sell so the can keeps working closer to freezing. In this comparison only one title states it: Green Haven’s C500 12-pack, model DYN12237, 4.7 from 244 reviews, with a threaded resealable valve in the description. The material line says propane, butane and steel. No ratio, no net grams and no temperature are in the attributes.
Straame’s 227 g packs say butane. The other C500 packs are butane in the fuel attribute, even where the material line mentions propane. A reviewer’s 70/30 is not a specification. Coleman’s cold line and Trangia’s −22°C winter-gas figure belong to those products. They are not printed here. If the title says butane, pack for butane.
Cooling under a hard flame is a second problem
A can can fade in July, with no frost on the ground. Drawing vapour cools the remaining liquid. A hard flame takes heat out of the can faster than the air puts it back. One UK review on the bayonet Green Haven page describes that fade on a weed burner.
Ease the flame and let the can warm upright in the open air. Do not heat it. A butane can on a pitch already near freezing will not catch up the same way, because the air itself is the cold sink. Warming a cartridge with a flame or boiling water is how people get a rupture. If you can still hear liquid, the can is not empty. Change it later as a part-full resealable can, using how to fit a gas cartridge.
What to buy for a cold UK trip
If the forecast sits near 4°C and the stove is an EN417 screw fitting, the only pack here that states a mix is that Green Haven 12-pack. Grams are missing and there is no printed winter rating. It is still the listing that says what the other seven do not. Butane Straame packs and butane-titled C500s remain the ordinary choice for milder trips, on the matching valve. Which of those is the sensible pack is best camping gas cartridges.
A mix does not convert bayonet into screw. Nothing in this set states a butane-propane mix in a push-fit can. For days genuinely below freezing, Out and About Live points at propane cylinders. That is a different appliance and a matched regulator. A jacket pocket is not a published operating range.
Common questions
At what temperature does butane camping gas struggle?
The Camping and Caravanning Club says liquid butane is hard to turn into gas below about 4°C. Out and About Live says trouble starts below 5°C. Gas It puts the boiling point at about −2°C. Those are public guides, not a rating printed on the cans in this comparison. A morning around 3°C is already in the awkward band for a butane-only cartridge.
Does a butane-propane mix fix a cold morning?
It is the usual way brands keep vapour pressure up as the air cools, because propane still boils when butane does not. Liquid Gas UK cites about 7 bar for propane and about 1.5 bar for butane at 15°C, which is the gap a blend is trying to narrow. A mix title is not a printed guarantee of −10°C or −22°C. Those degree lines belong to other brands’ winter cans, not to the Green Haven page.
Is a cold rating printed for Green Haven?
No. The mix page has no degree figure. A review that says the can burns in real cold is one person’s sentence. Coleman’s cold line and Trangia’s −22°C winter-gas figure are other products. Do not write them on this pack. If you need a number on the tin, this comparison does not contain one.
Why did my weed burner fade after a few minutes in summer?
High draw cools the liquid left in the can, and pressure drops even when the air is warm. A UK review on the bayonet Green Haven listing describes that fade on a weed burner. It is not the same event as a butane can on a 3°C pitch. Ease the flame and let the can sit upright in the open air. Do not heat it.
Does cold performance change the valve I need?
No. Cold exposes the fuel. The collar stays screw, bayonet or Campingaz Easy Clic. A butane-propane mix in a C500 still will not fit a push-fit stove, and a Straame butane push-fit will not become a winter screw can because the air is cold. Match the valve first, then the fuel line.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs, captured on 20 October 2026. Retrieved 22 October 2026.
- Liquid Gas UK, Consumer Guidance Sheet 28 (2022) (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Camping and Caravanning Club, gas for tent campers (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Campingaz UK, gas families (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Trangia, gas burner guide (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Cadac 2024 consumer catalogue (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Cornwall Council, camping gas canisters (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- WildBounds, camping gas explained (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- LeShuttle, carriage of dangerous and hazardous goods (retrieved 22 October 2026)