In last week’s post, we started to make an alcohol stove, and got as far as finishing the bowl and burner ring. Today we’re going to make the inner wall, put everything together and seal it up.
Category: Outdoors
Camping, hiking, backpacking, boating, fishing, snowshoeing, and whatever else we do outside for fun.
I love the outdoors. I enjoy fishing, hiking, camping, gardening, hanging out enjoying a book in the shade with a cold drink….but I don’t like to mow the grass. We have over ¾ of an acre, and I spend two to three hours a week or more mowing and trimming, about 8 months a year.
I have used a variety of camping stoves, from the old suitcase-style Coleman gasoline stoves to the most modern butane burners. But for several years I have been mostly using alcohol stoves (sometimes called spirit stoves) for backpacking. Let’s talk about what’s great about them, and what isn’t.
On a recent backpacking trip, my air mattress sprung a leak. It was entirely my fault. I was using it outside the tent to lie on while I propped my feet up, and apparently didn’t clear the ground thoroughly enough. At bedtime I discovered that the pad would slowly deflate, bottoming out in about 5 minutes.
In part one of this post, I covered how we came to doing more of our own dinners on the trail. I shared some my favorite ingredients and resources for making gourmet food on the trail. Now I will share some of what we enjoy.
We took a few favorite dishes from our dinner menu and tried to make them with freeze-dried and dried ingredients. I cook some pretty gourmet food, and have been thrilled with how the dinners have turned out.
So without further ado:
We do a lot of camping, going out as often as we can work it into our schedule. While we enjoy the convenience of freeze-dried dinners, we have found that there are sometimes things we don’t like about them.
• They may not have enough food to satisfy after a long day of hiking. I suppose we could each eat a dinner, but that gets bulky and expensive.
• They may be too bland or too spicy for our taste. The former is easy to fix, but the latter offers challenges.
• They can be bulky. The size and weight for the calories is uneven, and a long trip means a full pack.
• They can be expensive. Compared to a restaurant, it’s not too bad, but on a long trip it can be prohibitive.
So we have experimented with a variety of do-it-yourself options.
Why hello there, amazing person! I must compliment your amazing powers of discernment in visiting our humble web abode.
Relax, read a few posts, and enjoy!