Flame King vs Fuel Keg: Which Refillable Propane Tank Is Best? 

Both has pros and cons. I have both. What’s nice about the flame king, is that you can buy a hose with the fill valve on it for little or nothing and you don’t have to have the tank bottle hanging off of the 20lb tank. My preference. But the fuel keg is totally proprietary, meaning you have to use the fill device for those tanks. However the tanks appear to be built better.

Here’s my take on these. If you already have flame king, stay with them. If you lose your Allen wrench just tape it to the shaft of the fill adapter or hold it with a rubber band. Easy fix. If you don’t have refills already then I’d definitely take a look at the Mr Heater brand, but they are more expensive than Flame King. I have 8 flame king tanks and been using them for years with no complaints. Flame kind also does sell a rebuild kit if the o-ring would unseat itself. Mr Heater does not offer this. Also I like the bright green color of flame king versus the black color on Mr heater. Makes finding them a lot easier to find amongst the clutter in my shop I would think.

Great review. I've owned quite a few Mr Heater products that I've been very pleased with. Then allen wrench has always stopped me from buying the Flame King brand, so when I saw the kegs at Tractor Supply I bought two. I had to wiggle mine to get them to seat properly to get them to fill, but I haven't used them enough to recommend anyone to purchase. The first buddy heater i bought lasted 12 years, I bought 2 more 5 years ago and they still work like new. I use these every year from Oct.-Jan. Every year a lot.

Awesome video! Great information! Fuel Keg is the clear winner!

I’ve watched multiple videos on the fuel keg. Some people think the ring opener system can bleed fuel any time, so it’s good to show that it can’t. I’ve also seen concerns that the white ring in the center can come out. Still waiting to see if that issue is real.

I actually like the tool on Flame King - with Fuel Keg I'd be worried some kid on the campsite will undo the bleeding valve :)

I'm buying the fuel keg.

It is possible to fill without the allen wrench. just can't get it totally full.

Thank you so much for this! I just learned today that the 1 1b. ones come in a refillable version now. With either, you have to keep up with the kit parts, so having an allen wrench with everything else does not seem to be that big a deal to me. It's going to boil down to cost for the tank and the kit. Wonder if either company offers it as a bundle?

The Fuel Keg I saw at Tractor Supply didn't have the key ring on the valve.

Does this keg fit Coleman products?

fuel keg it better but they dont have 1/2lb bottles

I bought six fuel kegs. 4 failed after the first use. The safety valves failed and stopped purging when filling. Seems to be a common issue.