Hiker KEN KNIGHT missing on Appalachian Trail

Ken Knight is missing on the AT. (@ BPL, membership NOT required.)

Another note in favor of wood stoves

Much has been written about fuel consumption: here and here. (@BPL, membership required) These two articles are a few of my personal favorites there, and are worth the price of membership alone. I too have agonized over the concept, especially with canister and white gas stoves.

In substance, the articles attempt to answer a seemingly simple question: For any cooking system, how much fuel do I need initially (or per re-supply) if I need to boil X units of water per day? Add this fuel to the weight of the cooking system, and you have initial carry weight. The articles are focused on the lightest models in each stove category (Esbit, Alcohol, top-mount canister, remote canister, integrated canister i.e. JetBoil and white gas), but the concept is easily extrapolated to any stove. The study measures the initial carry weight as a function of fuel consumption plus the stove, windscreen, empty fuel bottle and heat reflector, if any. Initial carry weight does not include the weight of any pot, because they are may be vary with the trip.

With the BushBuddy and other woodstoves, these articles are useful for comparison only. The BushBuddy's initial carry weight is varied only by the minimal weight of the firestarting tabs you use. A wood stove's initial carry weight without fuel is less than all the stoves in BPL's study except the alcohol and Esbit stoves. When the fuel weight of the stoves are added, the initial carry weight increases above and beyond the Bushbuddy's initial carry weight (5.1, stove + 1.13, sparker + .25, tabs + 1, sack, estimated = 7.48) once you are boiling more than 10 pints for an alcohol stove or ~12 pints for Esbit tabs. (See Table 8). These numbers become easier to meet as the distance between resupplies increases, the number of hikers increases or the amount of pints required per day increases, naturally. For initial carry weights for boiling less than 10 or 12 pints, we are dealing with but a few ounces. This is probably negligible in all but the most stringent gear requirements.

And you get bonus points for style.

Quick notes from the morning

I spent the morning with a friend from BPL at Afton State Park this morning: here's some quick gear notes.

First, I got a good look at the Bushbuddy Ultra, a wood-burning stove made in Canada by Fritz Handel. In short, it is simply an amazing piece of work. The stove is double-walled, with air vents on the bottom of the outer wall and the top of the inner wall. Thus, air enters the chamber between the walls, pre-heats, and dumps into the burner area. Wood sits on a durable grate, and because of the stove's venting design, it burns cleanly and leaves little ash. It does leave soot on pots, but does not kick off smoke. One note: the stove must be protected inside your pack because of its thin walls. The best option is to nest it in your pot: place a bandanna over the top of your pot. Put the Bushbuddy on the bandanna and push it inside the pot. Your firestarter and tinder tabs can go inside the stove's fire pot and then the lid can go on. Simple, efficient and beautiful.

Second, a great method to make fire-starting tabs involves Vaseline, cotton balls and a double boiler. Most outdoor guides note that Vaseline mixed with cotton balls is a great fire starter, but few mention the mess. Here's a simple method to make rockstar fire tabs. First, cut your cotton balls in half. Then melt Vaseline in your double boiler, and then dip your cotton balls in the Vaseline. They will soak up the petroleum-based Vaseline, and you can put them in a waterproof sack, such as an Aloksak. To start, hit them with some sparks from a sparker. (Hat tip: Dan Cunningham @ BPL.)

Third, the DWR on the shell fabric of my MB Inner Down Parka is more than sufficient to ward off a brief rainstorm or misting.

Finally, I got to put my BPL Stix to a brief test. As expected, they are a joy to walk with and hardly noticable in my hands. They are solid enough to plant hard on an uphill or brace on a downhill. In addition, I could put my weight on the straps and not need to grip the handle. I removed the mud baskets, too. (The poles come with mud and snow baskets.) So far, so good.

If trekking poles could be sexy...

...then BPL's Stix would definitely be sexy. I recently picked up a pair of lightly used 115 cm poles from a BPL forumite. They ring in at 8.75 oz with mud baskets (I removed the mud baskets last night with the assistance of a pliers, and have not weighed the baskets themselves to account for the difference). This is far less than than the weight of my bombproof BD Spires, which ring in at 20.74 oz i.e. both Stix weigh less than one Spire!

As one of the few sets of poles out there that are marketed to ultralight hikers, they are designed with utter simplicity in mind. Also out there for options are Gossamer Gear's LightTrek series and Titanium Goat's Adjustable Goat Poles. The BPL's are heavier than other poles, but they do have a traditional wrist strap. Andrew Skurka uses them, although sans baskets and straps.

I haven't tested them, yet. More later when that comes.

Finally, I may be getting a pair of GG LightTrek 3 soon; if so, I'll do some comparative product testing and report back.

Midwest Mountaineering - best place to meet men?

Seriously. Midwest Mountaineering was voted the best place to meet straight single men by the Twin Cities' alternative weekly, City Pages. (They also rate the best place to meet single gay men, so no discrimination there.) The honor (?) came as part of their annual "Best of the Twin Cities" edition.

Stereotypes aside, it is analogous to boys in junior high taking home economics to meet girls.

What think?

(In redemption, they were also voted Best Sporting Goods)