Discovery posted an article on trail nutrition. It's worth a read. Personally I find their options to be great alternatives to the expensive and high sodium freeze dried products on shelves. Many home made trail recipes can be found at www.backpacker.com, under the "food & nutrition" tab. You can also refer to some of the recipies that have been posted on this site in the past.
My next in depth posting will probably be on bungees, campers, guy-outs, and other methods of withstanding high wind. And in case anyone is curious, yes it is from recent personal experience. Here's the aftermath. Of course it's all relative and pales in comparison to what Florida gets. Hold on to your britches FL.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wintering With Fuel Canisters (part 2)
Jetboil was kind enough to reply to my email concerning their Four Season fuel mix. According to their customer service the mix is 80% Isobutane and 20% Propane making it exactly the same as MSR's. Mr. Caffin responded to my email as well (quite quickly too) and stated that most of the companies which sell these outdoor fuels get the combustibles from the same manufacturers, so the quality of the fuel is probably the same. This makes MSR and Jetboil fuel pretty much equal. That is not to say that SnowPeak's fuel is poor quality, but it will perform more consistently and longer in warmer temperatures. Four days have passed since I requested further information on the canisters and still no word from Brunton about the Primus PowerGas composition.
Not everyone is going to use these stoves in -40F so for most users of these products none of this makes a difference. In that case price is probably the most important factor. For the few that will try to use these cans in extreme cold there are ways to continue to get good pressure from them. One way is to use an adapter that will allow the can to stay remote and that will allow one to position it upside down. That will allow access to the propane which is what you want to use in very cold temperatures. Another way is to reflect some of the heat from the stove back to the can to keep it at a temperature in which it operates at a reasonable pressure. This can be very dangerous to do and I don't recommend it. There are many articles online with pointers on how to do it somewhat safely, but I'm not going to get into it at all. This method should be avoided if at all possible. One could also carry two canisters. Keep one can in your jacket while one is in use. When the pressure drops on the can being used switch to the warmer one and continue cooking. Needless to say this is quite inconvenient. In my opinion the best thing to do if below freezing outings are a regular occurance is to invest in a white gas stove. If Brunton ever replies I'll add to this article further, but that's not looking likely at the moment. Until next time!
Not everyone is going to use these stoves in -40F so for most users of these products none of this makes a difference. In that case price is probably the most important factor. For the few that will try to use these cans in extreme cold there are ways to continue to get good pressure from them. One way is to use an adapter that will allow the can to stay remote and that will allow one to position it upside down. That will allow access to the propane which is what you want to use in very cold temperatures. Another way is to reflect some of the heat from the stove back to the can to keep it at a temperature in which it operates at a reasonable pressure. This can be very dangerous to do and I don't recommend it. There are many articles online with pointers on how to do it somewhat safely, but I'm not going to get into it at all. This method should be avoided if at all possible. One could also carry two canisters. Keep one can in your jacket while one is in use. When the pressure drops on the can being used switch to the warmer one and continue cooking. Needless to say this is quite inconvenient. In my opinion the best thing to do if below freezing outings are a regular occurance is to invest in a white gas stove. If Brunton ever replies I'll add to this article further, but that's not looking likely at the moment. Until next time!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Wintering With Batteries and Canister Fuels
First off let me start by apologizing for such a delayed posting. Homeinapack has been neglected as usual by work. I've come to the realization that regardless of how much subsistence living you think one can do, a few bucks will always be needed. Even most of the tribes here in Alaska partake in the cash economy rat race these days.
State of Homeinapack is getting a few changes. First off a "+1" button has been added. Also, the theme will be reworked to something a little more unique and appealing.
I've finished a season working as a tour guide for Exit Glacier down in Seward and decided to winter in Kenai. Nothing spectacular just working a job to keep alive with. As usual I'm outdoors although in a camper now. Still there is no hookup so it's fuel and batteries for everything I do. Here is the start of my next few posts as I'm waiting to conduct some experiments.
First is the issue of fuel canisters. Having spent most of my time in Alaska in Fairbanks, most of my outdoor cooking was done with white fuel. Now that I'm in warmer winter temperatures I've tried canisters again. To my surprise it still seems that performance is not as good as in warm temperatures. Temperatures here have been averaging between 20F-30F. According to Roger Caffin's site, I should be seeing better burns since propane boils at -43.6F. A resort I worked at last winter ran pure propane stoves, heaters, and lights at -41F with no problems. MSR ISO-Pro fuel is 20% propane so better results were definitely expected. That is not to say that it's not working at all, but I can definitely tell it's not up to par.
This can has been sitting around a bit so I'm going to purchase some new fuel from all the manufacturers that cooperate and run a comparison. Currently I'm waiting for replies from Brunton and Jetboil for numbers on what their "four season" mixes contain. Both MSR and Snowpeak post there mixes on their sites. MSR's ISOPRO is a 80/20 Iso-Butane/propane mix and Snowpeak's Gigapower is 85/15 Iso-Butane/Propane.
Next is a matter of batteries. My regular alkaline batteries that were used all last winter have finally died. These were on my Petzl Tikkinna2 headlamp. Since I was passing by REI I decided to buy the new Core battery for it instead of regular batteries. Petzel's Core is made up of a Lithium Ion Polymer which supposedly lasts longer in cold temperatures. Petzel has a pretty good explanation of some battery characteristics here. Again temperatures in my current location are averaging between 20F-30F, but I've already had to recharge twice. Now assuming the Core is able to hold charges longer than the lifespan of my old batteries it would still be worth it with the only inconvenience being to have to recharge. For longer outings it would still be beneficial to use the Core instead of regular batteries since carrying a solar panel or hand crank would be lighter than a few packs of batteries. Some investigation into other lighting sources was done, but that is a post for another time.
State of Homeinapack is getting a few changes. First off a "+1" button has been added. Also, the theme will be reworked to something a little more unique and appealing.
I've finished a season working as a tour guide for Exit Glacier down in Seward and decided to winter in Kenai. Nothing spectacular just working a job to keep alive with. As usual I'm outdoors although in a camper now. Still there is no hookup so it's fuel and batteries for everything I do. Here is the start of my next few posts as I'm waiting to conduct some experiments.
First is the issue of fuel canisters. Having spent most of my time in Alaska in Fairbanks, most of my outdoor cooking was done with white fuel. Now that I'm in warmer winter temperatures I've tried canisters again. To my surprise it still seems that performance is not as good as in warm temperatures. Temperatures here have been averaging between 20F-30F. According to Roger Caffin's site, I should be seeing better burns since propane boils at -43.6F. A resort I worked at last winter ran pure propane stoves, heaters, and lights at -41F with no problems. MSR ISO-Pro fuel is 20% propane so better results were definitely expected. That is not to say that it's not working at all, but I can definitely tell it's not up to par.
This can has been sitting around a bit so I'm going to purchase some new fuel from all the manufacturers that cooperate and run a comparison. Currently I'm waiting for replies from Brunton and Jetboil for numbers on what their "four season" mixes contain. Both MSR and Snowpeak post there mixes on their sites. MSR's ISOPRO is a 80/20 Iso-Butane/propane mix and Snowpeak's Gigapower is 85/15 Iso-Butane/Propane.
Next is a matter of batteries. My regular alkaline batteries that were used all last winter have finally died. These were on my Petzl Tikkinna2 headlamp. Since I was passing by REI I decided to buy the new Core battery for it instead of regular batteries. Petzel's Core is made up of a Lithium Ion Polymer which supposedly lasts longer in cold temperatures. Petzel has a pretty good explanation of some battery characteristics here. Again temperatures in my current location are averaging between 20F-30F, but I've already had to recharge twice. Now assuming the Core is able to hold charges longer than the lifespan of my old batteries it would still be worth it with the only inconvenience being to have to recharge. For longer outings it would still be beneficial to use the Core instead of regular batteries since carrying a solar panel or hand crank would be lighter than a few packs of batteries. Some investigation into other lighting sources was done, but that is a post for another time.
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