On the subject of backpacking...
 

"BJ Conner" wrote ...

snip

I borrowed a MSR SuperFly Stove with Piezo Igniter a couple of weeks
back. It's supposedly a backpacking stover but I was tailgating with
it. It uses canned butane or something. I set it up on a picnic tabel
turned the valve on and pressed the button ( no match required ). The
little ******* really roared and was boiling water in a few minutes.
I am going to buy one and the french press coffee maker/cup that REI
sells. If you want to make a cup of soup or coffee out by the crick
you need to look at one.
It reminded me of the old Primus I had, roars, get damm hot but not
much chance of burning a whole in a picnic table, no large fire balls
etc.



For crick-side coffee, I use the Pocket Rocket -- also MSR, but a few bucks
cheaper, and smaller in the pack. Pocket Rocket and small fuel can fit
inside my cookpot. Ziploc full of coffee, a filter or two, and the Melitta
single-cup doodad make for some might-ee-fine joe.

Downside to the french press is clean-up. Carried a mini one on a BP trip a
while ago, and while the coffee is great, the clean up is a large PITA.

Dan
...or, I guess you could hold a pot of water over some burning ping-pong
balls....

On the subject of backpacking...
 

"Daniel-San" wrote in message
. com...

For crick-side coffee, I use the Pocket Rocket -- also MSR, but a few
bucks cheaper, and smaller in the pack. Pocket Rocket and small fuel can
fit inside my cookpot. Ziploc full of coffee, a filter or two, and the
Melitta single-cup doodad make for some might-ee-fine joe.

Downside to the french press is clean-up. Carried a mini one on a BP trip
a while ago, and while the coffee is great, the clean up is a large PITA.

Dan
..or, I guess you could hold a pot of water over some burning ping-pong
balls....

UM......birch bark. :)

I wasn't familiar with the Pocket Rocket......well, not MSR's
anyw......um.....heh, heh......never mind. :(

I just googled it. Small, cheap, convenient.....just the ticket for a
streamside cuppa. Is this something you use just for such occasions, or is
it your main cookstove for backpacking? If the latter, the light weight and
small size are real strengths but it doesn't look all that stable for a
large pot. If the former, it's just right.....but it's another stove.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I already have a lot more gear than
I want or need; packing for a trip is more a matter of making lists of
things to leave at home rather than those to take.

My current stove, the MSR dragonfly, is a lot more expensive but it packs up
into a pretty small package. Even with a small fuel bottle it isn't very
large or heavy.......certainly doable for a day trip on a stream. What
makes it even more appealing for me is the very precise control over the
flame......it's the first stove I've owned that will do both jet blast and a
low simmer. If you aren't familiar with this one, it's worth checking out.

Wolfgang

On the subject of backpacking...
 

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...
Well, as it happens, none of them speaks Latin. That's not the real
problem though. None of them answers even when called by their common
names either. Just go out on a really wet day and apply a match or a
lighter to a bunch of tree bark. If it burns, you got the right one.
:)

Wolfgang

Oh don't you think for one minute that I don't know what you're up to!

Sure I can see it now. Mark comes toolin' up, on his ATV, to every tree out
in the Pisgah National Forest ignitin' unknown trees of unknown origin, to
his little hearts content! Oh yeah, wouldn't little Kenny just love to get
his hands on those pics!

Op --returnin' my copy of Wolfgangian Religious Rites: Made Simple and
Easy--

On the subject of backpacking...
 

On Thu, 9 Feb 2006 16:55:02 -0600, "Wolfgang" wrote:


"Daniel-San" wrote in message
.com...

For crick-side coffee, I use the Pocket Rocket -- also MSR, but a few
bucks cheaper, and smaller in the pack. Pocket Rocket and small fuel can
fit inside my cookpot. Ziploc full of coffee, a filter or two, and the
Melitta single-cup doodad make for some might-ee-fine joe.

Downside to the french press is clean-up. Carried a mini one on a BP trip
a while ago, and while the coffee is great, the clean up is a large PITA.

Dan
..or, I guess you could hold a pot of water over some burning ping-pong
balls....

UM......birch bark. :)

I wasn't familiar with the Pocket Rocket......well, not MSR's
anyw......um.....heh, heh......never mind. :(

I just googled it. Small, cheap, convenient.....just the ticket for a
streamside cuppa. Is this something you use just for such occasions, or is
it your main cookstove for backpacking? If the latter, the light weight and
small size are real strengths but it doesn't look all that stable for a
large pot. If the former, it's just right.....but it's another stove.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I already have a lot more gear than
I want or need; packing for a trip is more a matter of making lists of
things to leave at home rather than those to take.

My current stove, the MSR dragonfly, is a lot more expensive but it packs up
into a pretty small package. Even with a small fuel bottle it isn't very
large or heavy.......certainly doable for a day trip on a stream. What
makes it even more appealing for me is the very precise control over the
flame......it's the first stove I've owned that will do both jet blast and a
low simmer. If you aren't familiar with this one, it's worth checking out.

Wolfgang

If you want compressed fuel, look at replacing the rigid tube from the
torch-head of your standard Weller-type propane torch and replacing it
with flexline (or bend more sharply in a plumber's spring) and rig
whatever pot/container stand you wish. These can be found really
inexpensively (I've seen them at tag sales for under 1USD) even new, and
the flame-adjuster attachments can come in handy, too. You can start
from scratch at a welding supply store, too - valve, tube, tip(s), etc.
I like a separate stand - a tablet stove frame makes a good start - that
I can use with a number of heat sources.

On the subject of backpacking...
 

wrote in message
...

If you want compressed fuel....

Um......no, I don't.

Thanks anyway.

Wolfgang
who supposes that what with nonexistent towns full of ungrateful yankees and
stoves that use the wrong fuel and g-men with their microcephalic heads up
their tight asses, the sleuthing bidness ain't what it used to was.

On the subject of backpacking...
 

Mr. Opus McDopus wrote:


I don't know? I gotta Primus "Himalayan," of some such, and it will scorch
concrete using any number of fuels: butane, propane, white gas, diesel,
unleaded, leaded...you name it and it'll burn it....in liquid form of
course. Hell, I bet it'd burn liquefied horse ****!

Op --great ping-pong balls of fire!--



I had my primus in Jamaica years ago and couldn't find any white gas on
the island. We burned over-proof rum. It burned hot, smelled good and it
gave us something to do while our food cooked, but it gummed up the jet
on the stove so we had to clean it frequently.

Willi

On the subject of backpacking...
 

"Wolfgang" wrote ...

"Daniel-San" wrote...

For crick-side coffee, I use the Pocket Rocket -- also MSR, but a few
bucks cheaper, and smaller in the pack. Pocket Rocket and small fuel can
fit inside my cookpot. Ziploc full of coffee, a filter or two, and the
Melitta single-cup doodad make for some might-ee-fine joe.

Downside to the french press is clean-up. Carried a mini one on a BP trip
a while ago, and while the coffee is great, the clean up is a large PITA.

Dan
..or, I guess you could hold a pot of water over some burning ping-pong
balls....

UM......birch bark. :)

I wasn't familiar with the Pocket Rocket......well, not MSR's
anyw......um.....heh, heh......never mind. :(

Yeah -- many jokes on that one...



I just googled it. Small, cheap, convenient.....just the ticket for a
streamside cuppa. Is this something you use just for such occasions, or
is it your main cookstove for backpacking?

Being something of a gear junkie, I have...hmm...lessee here... eight or
nine different stoves.

The ubiquitous MSR WhisperLite, which while an extremely reliable stove,
neither whispers nor is lite.

The aforementioned Pocket Rocket, which while nice and light is as you
said -- something less than 100% stable with large cookpots. Plus, I'm not a
huge fan of relying on canned fuels. Why? No idea, just one of those
preference things, I guess. The PR is very, very quick to boil some stream
for a cuppa, and that's pretty much all I use it for. It does simmer very
well, but my cooking on BP trips consists of making water hot, so simmering
is an option that I don't need. Kind of an impulse purchase that has found a
niche in my outdoor world.

My main BP stove is a Brasslite Micro (no longer made, but Aaron has many
other models available -- and if you're a decent metalsmith, plans for the
Micro are (were?) available at one time somewhere in Google-land). The stove
is teeny, weighs about an ounce (+/- ?) and burns alcohol (the
uber-available yellow-bottle HEET at a buck a bottle). Rock-solid reliable,
smell-free, and silent -- but the 'sits-to-grits' time is a bit longer than
with the PR, due to a somewhat more hmmm... 'esoteric' fiddle-factor. Takes
two cups of water from 60 degrees to a boil in five or so minutes. Great
stove. A fine example of a smart design.

I also have a coupla no-longer-used Esbit burners of varying designs. Good
system, except for the horrible stench (don't believe the 'virtually
odor-free' propaganda -- these things STINK) and the 'goo' they leave on
your cook pot. And, at about 50 or 60 cents per use, they're a bit pricey.

In addition to these, I have made a few (5? 6?) different stoves from this
site: http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html. Fun. Michelle wonders
exactly why I save various cans, and why I've bought cat food when we don't
have a cat. Making stoves is sorta like tying flies -- doing something you
enjoy with something you made.

If the latter, the light weight and
small size are real strengths but it doesn't look all that stable for a
large pot.

I guess 'large' is relative here. I usually use a .9L Evernew Ti pot. Never
had any issues with stability, but I have heard of some folks using 3 or 4
liter pots and having tipping issues. (Personally, I think it's a case of an
'ID 10 T' error, but whatever, some folks blame the stove.) For a solo-sized
pot, no worries.


If the former, it's just right.....but it's another stove.

And that's bad because??????

Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I already have a lot more gear
than I want or need;

Need is relative. Do you need it to perform some kind of actual function?
Probably not. Do you need it to satisfy an urge to have cool toys? That's
between you, Becky, and your support group. ;-)

packing for a trip is more a matter of making lists of
things to leave at home rather than those to take.

Amen! My basement looks like an REI threw up. Kayaks on the wall, rods
hanging from the ceiling, various Rubbermaid tubs full of lord-knows-what on
shelves, waders hanging from the rafters, a general pile-o-**** in the
middle of the floor, and let's not even discuss the tools...


My current stove, the MSR dragonfly, is a lot more expensive but it packs
up into a pretty small package. Even with a small fuel bottle it isn't
very large or heavy.......certainly doable for a day trip on a stream.
What makes it even more appealing for me is the very precise control over
the flame......it's the first stove I've owned that will do both jet blast
and a low simmer. If you aren't familiar with this one, it's worth
checking out.

Looked at it quite a bit before I became a stove alcoholic. Great stove in
terms of heat output and reliability (like all things MSR), but it's liquid
fueled, which requires a heavy bottle and pump assembly, priming time, nasty
stench, loud.... If you actually 'cook' on a trip, rather than just boiling
water, then a liquid- or canister-fueled stove with flame control is almost
required. I don't cook that way -- 99.9% of the time it's boil two cups
water, add to Mountain House bag, stir, wait, eat.



Wolfgang


Dan

On the subject of backpacking...
 

"Daniel-San" wrote in message
t...

"Wolfgang" wrote ...

"Daniel-San" wrote...

For crick-side coffee, I use the Pocket Rocket -- also MSR, but a few
bucks cheaper, and smaller in the pack. Pocket Rocket and small fuel
can fit inside my cookpot. Ziploc full of coffee, a filter or two, and
the Melitta single-cup doodad make for some might-ee-fine joe.

Downside to the french press is clean-up. Carried a mini one on a BP
trip a while ago, and while the coffee is great, the clean up is a large
PITA.

Dan
..or, I guess you could hold a pot of water over some burning ping-pong
balls....

UM......birch bark. :)

I wasn't familiar with the Pocket Rocket......well, not MSR's
anyw......um.....heh, heh......never mind. :(

Yeah -- many jokes on that one...



I just googled it. Small, cheap, convenient.....just the ticket for a
streamside cuppa. Is this something you use just for such occasions, or
is it your main cookstove for backpacking?

Being something of a gear junkie, I have...hmm...lessee here... eight or
nine different stoves.

The ubiquitous MSR WhisperLite, which while an extremely reliable stove,
neither whispers nor is lite.

The aforementioned Pocket Rocket, which while nice and light is as you
said -- something less than 100% stable with large cookpots. Plus, I'm not
a huge fan of relying on canned fuels. Why? No idea, just one of those
preference things, I guess. The PR is very, very quick to boil some stream
for a cuppa, and that's pretty much all I use it for. It does simmer very
well, but my cooking on BP trips consists of making water hot, so
simmering is an option that I don't need. Kind of an impulse purchase that
has found a niche in my outdoor world.

My main BP stove is a Brasslite Micro (no longer made, but Aaron has many
other models available -- and if you're a decent metalsmith, plans for the
Micro are (were?) available at one time somewhere in Google-land). The
stove is teeny, weighs about an ounce (+/- ?) and burns alcohol (the
uber-available yellow-bottle HEET at a buck a bottle). Rock-solid
reliable, smell-free, and silent -- but the 'sits-to-grits' time is a bit
longer than with the PR, due to a somewhat more hmmm... 'esoteric'
fiddle-factor. Takes two cups of water from 60 degrees to a boil in five
or so minutes. Great stove. A fine example of a smart design.

I also have a coupla no-longer-used Esbit burners of varying designs. Good
system, except for the horrible stench (don't believe the 'virtually
odor-free' propaganda -- these things STINK) and the 'goo' they leave on
your cook pot. And, at about 50 or 60 cents per use, they're a bit pricey.

In addition to these, I have made a few (5? 6?) different stoves from this
site: http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html. Fun. Michelle wonders
exactly why I save various cans, and why I've bought cat food when we
don't have a cat. Making stoves is sorta like tying flies -- doing
something you enjoy with something you made.

If the latter, the light weight and
small size are real strengths but it doesn't look all that stable for a
large pot.

I guess 'large' is relative here. I usually use a .9L Evernew Ti pot.
Never had any issues with stability, but I have heard of some folks using
3 or 4 liter pots and having tipping issues. (Personally, I think it's a
case of an 'ID 10 T' error, but whatever, some folks blame the stove.) For
a solo-sized pot, no worries.


If the former, it's just right.....but it's another stove.

And that's bad because??????

Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I already have a lot more gear
than I want or need;

Need is relative. Do you need it to perform some kind of actual function?
Probably not. Do you need it to satisfy an urge to have cool toys? That's
between you, Becky, and your support group. ;-)

packing for a trip is more a matter of making lists of
things to leave at home rather than those to take.

Amen! My basement looks like an REI threw up. Kayaks on the wall, rods
hanging from the ceiling, various Rubbermaid tubs full of lord-knows-what
on shelves, waders hanging from the rafters, a general pile-o-**** in the
middle of the floor, and let's not even discuss the tools...


My current stove, the MSR dragonfly, is a lot more expensive but it packs
up into a pretty small package. Even with a small fuel bottle it isn't
very large or heavy.......certainly doable for a day trip on a stream.
What makes it even more appealing for me is the very precise control over
the flame......it's the first stove I've owned that will do both jet
blast and a low simmer. If you aren't familiar with this one, it's worth
checking out.

Looked at it quite a bit before I became a stove alcoholic. Great stove in
terms of heat output and reliability (like all things MSR), but it's
liquid fueled, which requires a heavy bottle and pump assembly, priming
time, nasty stench, loud.... If you actually 'cook' on a trip, rather than
just boiling water, then a liquid- or canister-fueled stove with flame
control is almost required. I don't cook that way -- 99.9% of the time
it's boil two cups water, add to Mountain House bag, stir, wait, eat.

O.k., I've got a lot of gear........you're sick. Aside from that, all that
separates us is a minor philosophical difference with regard to cooking on
the trail. Mind you, in practice I do much as you do.......but I always
like to THINK that I'm going to whip up gourmet delights at days end. Yeah,
it's Knorr soup or Kraft mac and cheese, but if anybody ever happens to
wander by with a bunch of fresh herbs, garlic, tomatoes, cheese, pasta,
heavy cream and a bit of meat.......well, me and my stove are ready.
:)

Wolfgang

On the subject of backpacking...
 

"Wolfgang" wrote ...

"Daniel-San" wrote

"Wolfgang" wrote ...

"Daniel-San" wrote...


much snipping


O.k., I've got a lot of gear........you're sick.

Yes. Undeniable. Guilty, yerhonner.

Funny story that I swear is true. First time my brother-in-law-to-be saw my
gear pile, he asked, with a level of sicerity that had to be seen to be
appreciated, why Michelle hadn't mentioned to him that I'm a Scout leader. I
still crack up at the look on Michelle's face. Mix two parts incredulity
with one part 'see, I told you that you're insane'.


Aside from that, all that separates us is a minor philosophical difference
with regard to cooking on the trail. Mind you, in practice I do much as
you do.......but I always like to THINK that I'm going to whip up gourmet
delights at days end.

I did the same thing for a while -- carrying a stove that 'could' do a lot
of things. But after lugging around four or so extra pounds (stove, fuel
bottle(s), fuel, heavier cookpot) for a bit too long, becoming an alcoholic
just made sense. In the sense of stoves, anyway. It's always made sense in
terms of drinking.

Yeah, it's Knorr soup or Kraft mac and cheese, but if anybody ever happens
to wander by with a bunch of fresh herbs, garlic, tomatoes, cheese, pasta,
heavy cream and a bit of meat.......well, me and my stove are ready. :)

I just offer some whisky in trade. Gets me the food without the trouble of
carrying the stuff or doing the cooking. Couple good pulls of Single Barrel
is as good as, if not better than currency in the backcountry.

Wolfgang


Dan

On the subject of backpacking...
 

I have a JetBoil which might not win in the ultra lightweight
catagory but is really handy. They have a French press attachment for
it, as well. I really like mine and a canister of fuel seems to last a
long time.

http://www.jetboil.com/

Snoop