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What is stove canister availability like in Phoenix or Flagstaff lately? I have a GC trip coming up in a couple weeks and I'll need to pick one up on the way. Availability is looking more steady in NJ in recent months, but there have been dry spells of various lengths during the pandemic, so I'm cautious about bad assumptions.

@big_load
Went to REI yesterday in Paradise Valley and picked up a couple smaller canisters and they had plenty of those and the bigger ones as well. Honestly haven't seen an outage there in the last two years, only sometimes a little less, so you're pretty safe

@xsproutx

Thanks! Our biggest shortage was in early-mid 2020, when they impossible to get for about six months.

@big_load
Yeh, I've definitely seen shortages of them in some places I've traveled to but, for some reason, seems like it never hit us here (or, at least, that I noticed)

If you are talking about the ones used by MSR Pocket Rocket and Jet Boil, I have found that Walmart always has an off brand. I also found that sometimes they don't work very well, so sometimes I bring my stove to the store to test the canister before I buy it. You don't have to light the stove, just install it, and turn the valve to "on" and listen for the hiss. I have had at least 3 faulty canisters over the past couple of years from Walmart. There is no REI near me, so I buy the off brands. Big 5 carries a slightly better brand, Primus, and that store is close by.

Does the BCO or general store at the park sell used canisters? So many people travel by air and can't bring fuel so they buy a canister, use it for a single overnight, and can't bring it back home. I believe I've heard that these "used once" canisters are sometimes left at the park for somebody else to use. I'm not sure where I've heard this discussed or the validity of it, but you may wish to inquire with somebody more knowledgeable than I am about local park things.

@chumley
I know they have 'hiker boxes' overseen by the ranger-types at B.A. & I.G. campgrounds. I have always seen canisters in there. The root cellar near Hermit Creek often has canisters as well.
"Some people I know" have established caches for this sort of item at various points in the Canyon.