We are planning to camp at Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon next month. We currently have a small Camping Gaz (270) stove from a previous camping trip in Germany. How available are Camping Gaz butane cartridges available in these areas? Thanks

Apparently the Camping Gaz 270 has a different valve from the other butane cartridges and they are not interchangeable. It also appears that they are being phased out in the US, and are hard to find. (For example, I see that REI no longer carries them, althoug I recall seeing them there recently. Indeed, I could find no source in the US for them, although they are widely sold in the UK).

You might want to call a couple of places, such as Zion Adventure Company in Spriingdale, and the Canyon Marketplace at Grand Canyon South Rim (if you are going to the South Rim).

I have called the Canyon Marketplace in the paast to inquire about availablity of fuel cartridges, and they were very helpful. Unfortunately, I can't locate the number on the park website for you! Hopefully someone will have better luck.

If you cannot confirm in advance that you will be able to buy the cartridges there, you might consider buying a different stove, with a type of cartridge that is widely avvailable. They are not very expensive, and it is better than finding you cannot use your stove in these places.

Camping gaz was pretty easy to find several years ago, but as enzian says, it does seem hard to locate nowadays. A good alternative might be something by Coleman.

We rented a campstove + sleeping bags + crash pads from Desert Outfitters in Las Vegas before our camping trip. It was really cheap and saved us a lot of trouble travelling. You might want to look into just renting a stove.

Thanks for your input! That's kind of what I was getting the sense that was happening as REI, etc appeared not to have the blue canisters.

You might want to post your question on www.backpacker.com. Click on Community. Then go to the Forums home page. Pull down to Gear and post your question. You will have to sign up first however and is free.

So we just stopped by the Seattle REI (the "flagship" store) to pick up some last-minute things for our own camping trip. They had lots of the blue Gaz 270 cartridges. So they don't have them online, but they do carry them in the stores. At least that one.

Not that heps you much for your trip, unless maybe you are flying into Las Vegas? You could call the REI store there, and if they have the, pick up what you need before you head to Zion, etc.