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JETBOIL cooking system – update

UPDATE 2 – The Winehiker did some research into the much acclaimed JETBOIL stoves. His conclusion:

Until JetBoil and other campstove manufacturers adopt product policies that incorporate zero waste and a more open design approach to fuel type, canister reuse, and fuel distribution systems, I cannot in good conscience buy or endorse their nonrefillable products.

Dropping the eco-ball: camp stove manufacturers – Winehiker

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UPDATE 1 – after a couple of trips with my new Jetboil Personal Cooking System my experience is “thumbs up”. It’s the easiest stove I have ever used.

A couple of cautions though. Do NOT fill the pot above the “fill line”. If it boils over you are in trouble since the pot is physically attached to the stove.

Also, I found it very difficult to find fuel canisters, even in large cities. And since I was flying between destinations I had big problems. You need small canisters with valves made to the EN417 specification. Only JETBOIL and Snowpeak canisters fit, so far as I know.

The JETBOIL website is not exactly up front on this point. Bad JETBOIL.

=== original post July 14, 2006

Upstart JETBOIL took the Backpacker magazine award for best stove in 2006.

I went to order their Group Cooking System with 1.5 Liter Cooking Pot from Amazon. Built-in igniter, 1.5 liter pot, weight 1lb 3oz. Packed size: 7 x 4.5 inches.

Ultra-efficient, it looks great. (Note: it still suffers the same decrease in performance in cold weather as other propane / iso-butane canister stoves. You are advised to keep the fuel in your sleeping bag at night.)

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Problem. Amazon will not ship this product to Canada. When I contacted the manufacturer they told me they have not yet found a distributor.

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Ready to fly to Fiji? – update

The adventure begins.

So far, 937 people from 28 countries have signed on. The first have arrived in Fiji.

Wish I was there with them.

Video clips on USA Today.

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First posted May 30, 2006:

This is not reality TV – this is real life. Be part of a real adventure. Join the tribe.

TRIBEWANTED is looking for 5000 people from around the world to camp on an island, building a sustainable eco-community.

Cost: Flight plus memberships — Nomad ($220), Hunter ($440) and Warrior ($660) — entitles you to 7, 14 or 21 days on the palm-fringed 200-acre oasis. Fees cover food, lodging and local airport transfer.

Details at tribewanted.com

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hygiene & sanitation on the trail

I carry a container cut from a 1-gallon milk jug when I hike. The container is about 5 inches high and weighs about an ounce. I use it and a small bandana (along with a few ounces of water) to get a sponge bath in the evenings. It is truly amazing how much trail dirt can be removed with just a few ounces of plain water and a bit of effort. …

I also carry a 2-ounce bottle of Isopropyl alcohol and some cotton balls. When I finish with my “bath” in the evenings, I apply some alcohol to a couple of cotton balls and clean and deodorize the “obvious” areas of my body (underarms, groin area, area between my buttocks and my feet).

Rainmaker’s Suggestions For Hygiene & Sanitation On The Trail

Even better, warm the water for your sponge bath.

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Out-of-context photo is the open air “throne toilet”, a breezy design eventually abandoned by Parks Canada. I could not resist throwing it into this post.

: )

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update – want to kayak Baja?

The best destination is Isla Espiritu Santo, near La Paz. As a bonus, there are some good day hikes across that pristine island in the Sea of Cortez.

And Kayak season starts in October. It is tempting …

The best “how to” website is IslaEspirituSanto.com.

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More photos from Rick’s Jan. 2006 kayak tour.

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mountaineering clothing on Nanga Parbat

Patagonia sponsored Steve House and Vince Anderson climbed Nanga Parbat in six days in “pure alpine style. It was a new direct route on the Rupal Face, a wall with the largest relief of any wall in the world (14,000 feet)”.

For this they won the Oscar of Mountain Climbing — the Piolet d’Or (French for The Golden Ice Axe).

Patagonia posted some great photos, video and a detailed shopping list of Steve’s clothing. (All Patagonia, of course.)

Nice use of the internet! I like this company.

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UPDATE: For a terrific article about the controversial Steve House, check The Devil Wears Patagonia – Outside magazine

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Geared Up – gear, gadgets & expeditions

UPDATE: Besthike.com got a post on the the Geared Up blog.

This is the perhaps the best laid out multi-contributor hiking blog on the web. Excellent design. I love the prominent tag cloud navigation.

There is a ton of great content. I have subscribed to their RSS feed and will certainly be linking more in future.

Geared Up Blog – home page

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language translation – now on this site

Just added a small widget (bottom of right hand side navigation) which can translate this page into 8 different languages.

Translations between European languages are surprisingly good. But to and from Asian characters is more hilarious than helpful.

Babel Fish is a web-based application developed by AltaVista (now Yahoo!) which machine translates text or web pages from one of several languages into another.

It takes its name from the Babel fish, a fictional animal used for instantaneous language translation in Douglas Adams’ novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. …

Babel Fish (website) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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planning for the Continental Divide Trail

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Continental Divide Trail map – GORP

Southbound Or Northbound?

The choice between nobo and sobo may depend on snow conditions in a given year, and some experts feel sobo gives the best chance of completing a linear thru-hike. It’s important to know that there will be snow in Montana in May so sobo hikers should check with area rangers and land managers to see how deep the snowpack is before choosing this option. …

Backpacker

Now is the time to organize for 2007.

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hiking bloggers “meetup”, Shasta California

BuddhaShasta-c.IMG_0434.jpgThanks to Tom Magnan’s excellent Two-Heel Drive blog, I am now booked to attend the first ever “Outdoor Blogger Ho Down Oct. 6-8, 2006“.

Strange name. But what could be more natural than those who blog about hiking getting together in the wilderness to scramble a peak and exchange notes?

I expect to learn a lot.

We are tentatively scheduled to rendezvous at Horse Camp in the Mt. Shasta Wilderness about 6hrs out of San Francisco.

This is what blogging is all about. Using the internet to enrich the lives of online communities — in this case hikers.

See a larger version of the photo of Mt. Shasta by Vicki Brenner on Blooming Rose Press.