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New gear?

• Leica CRF 1600 rangefinder
• Black Diamond Contact crampons
• Black Diamond Whippet
• Sawyer Water Filter
• Vargo Ti Hexagon wood stove (might be returning, nice idea but I'd prefer it were twice as big)
• Vargo Ti Decagon Alcohol Stove (returning, ineffective POS, alcohol stoves are nearly worthless in the backcountry.)

The Vargo Hexagon brings water to a simmer *very* quickly on not much fuel. In my testing, I couldn't get it to bring water to a boil though. If that even matters.

Don't know the Vargo alcohol stove, but I couldn't be happier with my Trangia alcohol stove. Haven't used a liquid fuel or canister stove outside of car camping since I got it.

Look forward to the crampon + whippet report after the season.

Evan,

You should give one of the new Jetboils a try. Wickedly fast. Yeah, the stove itself weighs more than a pop can alcohol stove, but the fuel consumption seems to be a lot more efficient in comparison. All that stove fuel adds up over 5-10 days.

I cleaned some "barely there" manufacturing related stuff out of the jets after the first burn at my house, so that's not the problem. It worked reasonably well at my sea-level house and I was able to get almost 15 minutes worth of burn with a little "bloom starter" assistance. Unfortunately, with a fair amount of consternation, I used an entire 4 oz. bottle of alcohol and couldn't get the same amount of lukewarm water to boil at 4700' with that alcohol stove under perfect 75 degree blue-bird conditions. The exercise turned out to be a source of amusement at the rondy. As it turns out, Randy's built a dozen or so different stoves and eventually gave up on them.

Anyway, I rapidly came to the conclusion that if it couldn't do that under "easy" alpine conditions, there's no way in hell I'd trust it to reliably, efficiently and safely get the job done in cold/windy/wet conditions.

Allen

First Lite Top/Bottom
Icebreaker Top
BA Copper Spur UL1
Sawyer Water Filter
Jetboil Sol Ti
Neoair xTherm
Kuiu Attack Pants
Kuiu Spindrift
Rock River AR

Fortunately (I guess), I have a lot of sporting goods, so I've been able to sell some old stuff to upgrade to the new stuff purchased this year.

what the heck... it's kind of a "drift thread" to start with.

I like the Trangia because it is arguably the most reliable stove made. No moving parts, nothing to clog, easy to check the fuel level. Buy fuel in just about any convenience store you walk into in a pinch. It's not a weight thing, it is a simplicity and reliability thing. Works great at 9,800 ft / 50 degrees. Also burned it at timberline in OR in 30 degree temps, and colder than that lower down.

ETA: My GPS tells me that if I stand on the desk I'm sitting at, I'll be at 4700'. Just saying ;-)



Just to keep it legit with new gear this year:

- Finally got a lightweight puffy jacket. It had a mysterious burn on the arm as it sat in Fred Meyers so I talked the salespeople out of it for $20. Patched it up and I'm off and running. Complements nicely the other layers I use.

- Would like to get some arrows and properly tune them for my recurve. We'll see if I've got time to make all of that happen before archery season starts here.

Going through lots of different packs and pack configurations, but that's a constant.

I think so for the most part. Much of my gear is "budget" stuff, but I haven't been miserable too often in it...

Course this guy only invites me because I'm luckier for him than any rabbits foot! Since this will be my 4th or 5th hunt with him without a tag I hope I start drawing some soon so he can repay the favor.

Bush, try a Caldera Cone alcohol system. I've used mine on windy 40degree wet days when I was concerned about the pot and cone blowing out of my reach until I got water in it

The Trail Designs Ti-Tri is the single best backwoods cooking system going, especially if you have a tipi/stove back at camp. You can't really "cook" on an alky stove, they just heat water, but having the ability to use it as a woodburner opens that avenue.

I forgot to mention the HPG tara and runners kit bag. I've used the Tara extensively on day hikes, and I suspect the kit bag will be getting a lot more use in the next couple months as the seasons get under way.

For shorter trips, I try to steer clear of a cooking stove, and a little alcohol stove is fine if I need to make a cup of tea. I find it simpler, easier and more enjoyable to just eat , instead of cooking and cleaning up. I've boiled water fine with mine at elevations to 10k. It should boil easier, since the boiling point is a lower temp at altitude.

Poncho vs. Rain Jacket. Above treeline I prefer the jacket, below the poncho, unfortunately or fortunately I'm often in both.

If it is warm enough to hike all day in shorts, go with a poncho. If not, you may need the shell for a windbreak and for warmth.

i bought 30 yds. of fabric, 2 zippers, webbing and cordura, and nylon thread and built myself a new tent.

Just got back from a "test run" backpacking trip in the North Cascades.

Recent gear purchases that have proved to be awesome:

an old Svea 123 stove
brand new Katydyn water filter
Marmot EOS 1P tent

Need lighter cookware, lighter boots, and a lighter pack.

AND I need to finish my lighter rifle, too.

Evan,

I probably should have phrased my review/use of the alcohol stove thing differently. I really wanted the lightweight alcohol stove approach to work for me. Still do. It looks good on paper in comfortable summertime conditions. Unfortunately, at least with that particular stove (and about a dozen different designs that Randy has tried) it failed a pretty simple test under what should have been optimal blue-bird conditions. Especially when compared to the new Jetboils that people were using at the Rondy.

Sure, it eventually got the water up to something resembling a simmer. But only after inefficiently burning 4 oz. of alcohol! That's more than a small 100 gram fuel canister that I'd ordinarily get at least 3- 4 days worth of 2 cup x 3 meals per day out of in hunting season, more in blue-bird summertime conditions. That's a pretty big weight disparity.

The heart of the issue for me comes down to this...the heating process was analogous to "letting" something happen, vs. "making" something happen.

After I've just climbed back up 2000' to my camp in the dark through freezing fog that's blowing 40 miles an hour with meat on my back, I want to make boiling hot water to reconstitute dehydrated meals for myself and my hunting partner NOW, not whenever the pathetic little easily wind-blown bloom of an alcohol stove gets around to getting the water up to a simmer.

Until I can be shown otherwise in nasty real-world conditions, I'm sticking with my tried and true SnowPeak Ti Giga setup or the new Jetboil Sol Ti. When the temps dip further, the ol� Whisperlite Intl. or a wood-burning stove gets the nod.

Allen

Hey Brad

I used my best google-fu and found a reputable retailer with a good price in the UK:

http://www.adventure-spec.com/default/msr-hubba-hp-tent.html

Despite what the ad says, it came up �199.96 in the "shopping cart" with an additional �20.97 for delivery via DHL.

All that works out to $345.46 US.

All prices shown (in the UK) include VAT at 20%, if the product goes overseas it becomes tax free.

Hope this helps

This has been an expensive year for me:

Kifaru Longhunter Rendezvous and Standard bag on an EMR frame. Cargo panel has come home as well.

First Generation Seek Outside 6, and TiGoat Vertex 5.

Katadyn Hiker, to replace the Vario that is getting sent in on Monday for repairs/replacement.

Have gone the Merino route on some of the clothing as well, which will be a good upgrade over the Under Armor Cold Gear that I have been wearing.

I have also sold quite a bit of stuff. My gear is in a constant state of upgrade and improvement.

Just messing with you Allen. I've heard that the vargo alky sucks from someone else who tried it as well. Your only mistake was blanket condemnation of all alky stoves. FWIW -- after this past weekend, I'm starting to think that the Trangia I use actually pressurizes more quickly and burns hotter at 9800' than it does down lower. It's almost too much stove. A little scary.

Interesting thing I picked up from running sled dogs: the dog drivers ALWAYS used yellow bottle HEET in their stoves. That was a mystery to me until I learned that methanol has three times the vapor pressure of ethanol at 32*F, ten times at 14*F, and they just keep diverging. Not as much heat content in methanol because fewer bonds, but heck of a lot easier to light and get up to speed in the cold. Prolly not a good idea to run methanol in the stove inside the shelter though.

Yellow bottle HEET is all I've ever used in an alky stove, I figured that was common knowledge. You CAN go dual purpose and use Golden Grain but that would be spendy, no fumes though. At least none you'd mind.

I'd only ever used denatured alcohol before my dog-driving phase. Not so spendy as the dual purpose stuff. Not sure if there's enough methanol in it to harm you, I've always used it inside the shelter, but then I don't claim my mind hasn't suffered, LOL!

great info huskyrunnr. thanks for passing along. I just reposted with accreditation over on our forum.

Vargo alky stoves do suck, but Trangia and White Box don't. Neither do a few how-brewed designs. Allen's point about forcing a boil vs hoping for a boil (rough paraphrase) does have some validity though, depending on how high-strung the end user is. I used to marvel at how quickly I could boil a pint of water with my alky stoves--------silently and simply. Then after using my JetBoil for a while (boils in about 2.5 minutes), it seems like my alky stoves are sitting up on blocks on the freeway of meal prep. It's all about perspective.......