One Pound Propane Refill Kit
Propane appliances have been exceedingly useful when camping and traveling especially when I am short on time and need to get food prepared quickly. Both wood and charcoal can take as much as 20 minutes before you can cook over them whereas propane provides immediate heat and we can be eating even before I could begin cooking over the former! Don't get me wrong I definitely enjoy my steaks, pork chops, etc. grilled over propane but for some foods it really does not matter.
The problem is most appliances use one pound propane tanks that cost $5.00 or more each, more if you are in a pinch and need to buy one from a gas station. Furthermore these tanks are single use and often end up in landfills. Which is why I was excited when I found the Flame King Refill Kit on Amazon! The kit comes with one empty propane tank and you can buy additional Flame King Propane tanks from Amazon, I would recommend buying at least two more tanks so that you have a total of three. That will allow you to travel with two full tanks assuming one is partially used - I have tried refilling a partial tank and it proved to be a bit of a pain because once a tank has some propane in it there is pressure when you try to reattach it to the kit.
Tip: Wear gloves when refilling When propane expands it cools and you can literally get freezer burn when handling it. I have found these simple gloves are sufficient and also thin enough to not impede your ability to handle the tanks and the tools used to fill the tanks!
DO NOT REFILL DISPOSABLE ONE POUND TANKS - IT CAN BE DANGEROUS
Quick Analysis
Based on current prices and making assumptions on the high side for the refill tanks/kit and low side for one pound disposable tanks.
The empty tanks are roughly $20/each and the kit is $65 and includes one tank - so three tanks and one refill kit for $85 and that is if you don't get it on sale.
To refill a 20 pound tank it cost $25 on the high end.
In neither the case of a one pound or 20 pound propane tank is it the case that they are completely full (there is always room left in them to allow for expansion).
t can reasonably be assume that a 20 pound tank will hold as much propane as a one pound tank so $25/20 = $1.25 of propane in each one pound tank. Therefore you save $3.75 each time you refill a tank and therefore after 22.66 refills you break even (refilling each tank 7.56 times). If you only use a one pound propane tank a couple times of year it may take a long time to break even. However, when one travels across country, camps every other weekend during the summer, and does day trips with frequency the payoff comes rapidly!