The camp stove gas canister warning from an old ranger at Glacier

I was refilling my stove at the Many Glacier campground last September when a ranger walked over and pointed at my half-empty propane canister sitting in the sun, saying 'that thing is a bomb if you leave it in a hot car for a day.' He showed me a dented canister that had bulged outward from pressure and explained how the seals fail after repeated cold-to-warm cycles, which I never thought about since I always store them loose in my trunk. Has anyone else had a canister swell up or leak after a big temperature swing, and do you actually replace them on a set schedule or just when they look sketchy?

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nina_hall2d ago

Damn, that ranger just saved you a world of trouble! I had a buddy who left a canister in his truck bed through a Montana winter and the thing looked like a softball by spring, seals completely shot. He only noticed because it was hissing when he went to grab it, and honestly that scared me straight. I learned the hard way to treat them like eggs after a near miss with a leaky one in my garage, which smelled awful and made me feel like an idiot. I don't run them on a set date, but I do check the date stamp and give them a shake to hear for loose parts before every trip. If a canister has been through a big temp swing, I mark it with a sharpie and use it up quick, never letting it sit in a hot car more than a few hours. That old ranger probably has a whole graveyard of horror stories, so I'm glad he flagged you before you found out yourself.