It looks as though we are faced with a decision: slick and hip, or cheap and old school? Yes, there are more factors involved, but I think that's the basic essence. The Jetboils look pretty sweet. Half the comments mirror Eric's in that all the other campers were jealous and sent their stoves home. One guy on EMS.com said it was "the shiz." It looks to me like there are two main drawbacks: price and food flexibility. Online I saw the single unit going for $64, fuel for $3, single with coffee press for $72, and spare cups for $26. Of course you have to add shipping to all of those. I say if we did the Jetboil, get 2 units and 1 coffee press (aaah suddenly I like coffee, this is bad). If you can only cook w/ 2 cups at a time, there's no point paying $30 each for 2 more special ones (though I admit, it would be fun to eat out of a camo mug). I say if we want to have separate vessels, we can just bring 2 other lightweight mugs. And I s'pose, if you insist, I can do without pancakes.
If we wanna go cheap and old school, though, we could do the coke stoves. How much extra weight are we talking for pots n such? And though we can carry more fuel than the Jetboil at the same weight, it USES a lot more fuel, which the tree hugger in me doesn't like. So I guess we're back to "living eco" versus "living simply." Who wants to calculate the energy costs that went into producing the Jetboil??
ug. I don't know what I think...maybe we'll just decide to go simple on some things and fancy on others. I'm not sure how much God really cares what we use to boil our ramen. On that note, I think I'll go boil some ramen.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
STOVES (inspired by my trip to EMS)
The fates seem to have smiled on my AT aspirations in so much as an EMS store opened up not two miles from my house! I stopped in yesterday and thought some thoughts about... Stoves. And other things, actually, but I'll keep this post limited to stoves.
I must tell you, I love the design of the jetboil system. If you haven't seen it, it's a sweet looking, self-lighting fuel canister unit (6 oz) that clips into an insulated cup (9 oz). It boils two cups of water in two minutes and Eric and EMS man say it can do four cups. The design is brilliant for a solo hiker in that you do not need any other cookware, bowls, cups, hot pads, etc, at all, just add instant whatever to the cup. It would be hard to burn yourself. How would it work for four? We could 1. buy one combo and boil water back-to-back, 2. buy two seperate units or 3. extra cup/s (Red, Blue, Green and Camo) ($30) w/ or w/out extra unit. Part of me says we should splurge on two stove- as it will allow us to split up as needed and keep cooking prep time (waiting for water to boil) to a minimum allowing us to all have hot water ready at the same time. I cannot help but think that it would be fun if we each had out own insulated cup. Drawbacks are expense, $90 per unit, $30 per cup. Also you can only boil water, no pancakes in there- but I think we can deal. Prices can be lower online.
One alternative is the whisperlites, of which my family already has two. I think after a $15 gasket-replacement kit they would be ready to roll. These stoves weigh 14 oz. w/out fuel. But we'd need at least one pot and then additional bowl/cups for all. While I am afraid of them, I have been thinking that is because I never learned how to use them. They are better at high altitudes and cold as you can pump up the pressure in the fuel bottles. The price is obviously nicer. Also we can decide to take one or two, I still like the idea of two in case one doesn't work or we end up splitting up for any reason. Major drawbacks are the trickiness of starting them, which I might reevalute, and weight, if we take two. They are still highly efficient, boiling 1 quart of water in 4 minutes and can be used to cook other stuff, not just water, but don't expect souffle or anything.
Other alternatives not at EMS: The wonderfully free coke can stove weighs in at less than 1 oz. They are less efficient in fuel burning and run on denatured alcohol, diffficult to find. However, we could carry up to 30 oz. of it and still be lighter than the other options. Additionally, you can carry the fuel in any sort of lightweight container, no need for a special fuel bottle which can be heavy. According to one study, it was the only AT stove with zero percent failure rate. There is the risk of disturbing the stove and setting something on fire, but that seems not too high. The big drawback is inefficiency and finding fuel. We'd certainly want at least two along, as it takes 6-7 minutes to boil 2 cups of water, requiring additional cooking pots.
The Esbit pocket (pellet) stove. The stove costs $10 and the fuel packs ($6/12pk). It weighs in at just 3.25 oz, pellets are just 0.5 oz each. I can't say much as I haven't seen one, but it seems light and cheap.
My gut instinct based on what I have seen says buy two jetboil systems. They are so easy and well-designed and will only cost $45 each, perhaps less if we get them online (I saw them for $75 there). I even saw a nice deal where you can get their sweet coffee press, fuel canister and some free coffee with the unit for $90. Fuel goes for about $4 per unit which lasts 1.75 hours. When you consider not having to buy (or carry) any other cookware, it also seems cheaper. I think cooking should be as easy as possible, who wants to fiddle around with complex stoves, pots, etc after a day of hiking? Having 4 seperate cups seems a trifle luxurious, perhaps unneccessary and expsensive. It would require carrying at least two bowl/cup things- but they are light and cheap anyway. If two seems like too few, we could always order more en route. BTW, does Eric or anyone else we know, want to donate his stove to us? Lastly, jetboil does have a cooking pot and skillet even, but these aren't as handy-dandy efficient. Considering the gernerally sub-stellar quality of trail food, it seems not worth the extra weight and expense of pots. Just for reference, the jetboil pot unit is $120. We could buy one pot unit and one water unit... But I just don't like the pot, I've seen it and it looks not cool.
Others, please respond!
Lastly, campmor has a "light my fire" spork value pack with four (yes, four) sporks for $9.99- red, yellow, green and blue. Isn't that cute??! Are we into these or what?
I must tell you, I love the design of the jetboil system. If you haven't seen it, it's a sweet looking, self-lighting fuel canister unit (6 oz) that clips into an insulated cup (9 oz). It boils two cups of water in two minutes and Eric and EMS man say it can do four cups. The design is brilliant for a solo hiker in that you do not need any other cookware, bowls, cups, hot pads, etc, at all, just add instant whatever to the cup. It would be hard to burn yourself. How would it work for four? We could 1. buy one combo and boil water back-to-back, 2. buy two seperate units or 3. extra cup/s (Red, Blue, Green and Camo) ($30) w/ or w/out extra unit. Part of me says we should splurge on two stove- as it will allow us to split up as needed and keep cooking prep time (waiting for water to boil) to a minimum allowing us to all have hot water ready at the same time. I cannot help but think that it would be fun if we each had out own insulated cup. Drawbacks are expense, $90 per unit, $30 per cup. Also you can only boil water, no pancakes in there- but I think we can deal. Prices can be lower online.
One alternative is the whisperlites, of which my family already has two. I think after a $15 gasket-replacement kit they would be ready to roll. These stoves weigh 14 oz. w/out fuel. But we'd need at least one pot and then additional bowl/cups for all. While I am afraid of them, I have been thinking that is because I never learned how to use them. They are better at high altitudes and cold as you can pump up the pressure in the fuel bottles. The price is obviously nicer. Also we can decide to take one or two, I still like the idea of two in case one doesn't work or we end up splitting up for any reason. Major drawbacks are the trickiness of starting them, which I might reevalute, and weight, if we take two. They are still highly efficient, boiling 1 quart of water in 4 minutes and can be used to cook other stuff, not just water, but don't expect souffle or anything.
Other alternatives not at EMS: The wonderfully free coke can stove weighs in at less than 1 oz. They are less efficient in fuel burning and run on denatured alcohol, diffficult to find. However, we could carry up to 30 oz. of it and still be lighter than the other options. Additionally, you can carry the fuel in any sort of lightweight container, no need for a special fuel bottle which can be heavy. According to one study, it was the only AT stove with zero percent failure rate. There is the risk of disturbing the stove and setting something on fire, but that seems not too high. The big drawback is inefficiency and finding fuel. We'd certainly want at least two along, as it takes 6-7 minutes to boil 2 cups of water, requiring additional cooking pots.
The Esbit pocket (pellet) stove. The stove costs $10 and the fuel packs ($6/12pk). It weighs in at just 3.25 oz, pellets are just 0.5 oz each. I can't say much as I haven't seen one, but it seems light and cheap.
My gut instinct based on what I have seen says buy two jetboil systems. They are so easy and well-designed and will only cost $45 each, perhaps less if we get them online (I saw them for $75 there). I even saw a nice deal where you can get their sweet coffee press, fuel canister and some free coffee with the unit for $90. Fuel goes for about $4 per unit which lasts 1.75 hours. When you consider not having to buy (or carry) any other cookware, it also seems cheaper. I think cooking should be as easy as possible, who wants to fiddle around with complex stoves, pots, etc after a day of hiking? Having 4 seperate cups seems a trifle luxurious, perhaps unneccessary and expsensive. It would require carrying at least two bowl/cup things- but they are light and cheap anyway. If two seems like too few, we could always order more en route. BTW, does Eric or anyone else we know, want to donate his stove to us? Lastly, jetboil does have a cooking pot and skillet even, but these aren't as handy-dandy efficient. Considering the gernerally sub-stellar quality of trail food, it seems not worth the extra weight and expense of pots. Just for reference, the jetboil pot unit is $120. We could buy one pot unit and one water unit... But I just don't like the pot, I've seen it and it looks not cool.
Others, please respond!
Lastly, campmor has a "light my fire" spork value pack with four (yes, four) sporks for $9.99- red, yellow, green and blue. Isn't that cute??! Are we into these or what?
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
random thoughts
you know how when you are supposed to be doing one thing, your brain sometimes decides it wants to focus on just about everything else? well that's how my brain is behaving right now. here are some thoughts i'm having about the trail.
a) Laura, how did the REI sale go?
b) what should i do about health insurance on the trail? i'm on eastern's through june, and part of me doesn't really want to be paying for those 6 months of no income, but another part of me thinks it would be a good idea and also knows it's a pain in the butt to go without insurance and then have a 3 month waiting period when you go back on. so i guess i'll have to pay for another cheap individual plan? thoughts are welcome.
c) i just want to say i'm so excited. perhaps it's the death of the boy prospects, but this is the main thing i have to look forward to these days, and i'm living for it.
peace out,
Hambone
a) Laura, how did the REI sale go?
b) what should i do about health insurance on the trail? i'm on eastern's through june, and part of me doesn't really want to be paying for those 6 months of no income, but another part of me thinks it would be a good idea and also knows it's a pain in the butt to go without insurance and then have a 3 month waiting period when you go back on. so i guess i'll have to pay for another cheap individual plan? thoughts are welcome.
c) i just want to say i'm so excited. perhaps it's the death of the boy prospects, but this is the main thing i have to look forward to these days, and i'm living for it.
peace out,
Hambone
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