Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

Let us know how the igniter works. I am always unsure about stoves with built in igniters.

 

Built it ignitions are nice while they lasts... and easy to remove they dont.... stove will still work fine and will weigh a bit less

 

So I played around with it today and the igniter is very solid. It's a much wider band of metal and low profile so it won't get snagged or take damage as nearly as easy as a JetBoil. The wire for it runs up through the shaft of the stove so it's not exposed and won't also get snagged/broken as easily. Very good design for the igniter overall. It's a strong spark every time.

The flame adjustability was pretty darn good and allowed me to simmer very low or turn it up to a rocket. I didn't do a boil test yet, though. But, based on the flame size I could get at even a very low setting, I'm sure it will boil very fast.

Pros:

1. Great igniter. Nice wide but low profile piece of metal for the igniter, and the wire is protected very well.
2. Just barely fits sideways in my Toaks 650 pot along with a 110g fuel canister, folding spoon, scrubby pad, and Mini Bic but the lid won't quite fit (it's really close). I just used a small DCF stuff sack to hold everything in, since I rarely use a pot lid anyways.
3. Its design is to be more wind resistant than other canister stove designs that don't have a heat exchanger.
4. Advertised as the lightest stove on the market with a built-in igniter.
5. Mine came with the larger/stronger 4-arm pot rest as well as the normally included 3-arm pot rest. With just a couple practice runs, I was able to quickly attach/detach them. The clip onto the stove rim very solid.
6. Built very solid. It doesn't flex at all with a pot full of water resting on it.
7. There are 2 fuel canister seals - the normal smaller one for the threading of the canister, and another larger one that seals along the outer rim of the canister threaded area.

Cons:

1. It's a taller stove so it may not fit in some smaller pots, and it also makes it feel a little top-heavy but obviously it's designed that way to keep the heat away from the canister for safety.
2. When I turned it off and went to unscrew the canister quickly, a bunch of gas burst out and was wasted. I spun the canister as quick as I could to get the valve to close as fast as possible but still got the fuel waste.
3. The pot rests detach which means that they could be lost. I hate extra parts that I have to keep track of. The 4-arm pot rest is pretty bulky and heavier than any I would want to carry, but it's big and can support a much larger pot.

Sorry for the crappy pics. I was in a hurry so no tripod and bad lighting/shadowing.


Stove without pot rests



Stove and the 2 pot rests for scale



Igniter head



Double seals



3-arm smaller stand (included with all Windmasters) - stows flat but you have to pry it apart to get it to lock onto the stove head



4-arm stand shipped with the Massdrop promo (normally sold separately) - much more robust spring-loaded mechanism to expand it so it clips onto the stove head



Showing scale alongside my Toaks 650 pot



Burner on medium-low. The raised metal rim around the recessed stove head is what's supposed to make it wind resistant



650 Toaks pot, 110g fuel canister, scrub pad, spoon, stove, 3-arm pot stand, and Mini Bic



Contents listed above just barely fits but without the pot lid



Still works great in a stuff sack without the lid

 

Anyone before I put it on eBay or something?

 

Anyone have recommendations on light weight packabke tripods for camera? I was looking at those ones with a ball Arms but was wondering what else is out there.


Edit. Gorilla pod or he manfrotto are the ones I’m looking at. Both about 6.4oz.

 

This video deserves a bump.

Mainly because I had to comment...

When you first posted it, we already knew we were moving to Zion NP, it just wasn’t public info yet. We had known for a few weeks and I was still coming to terms with how I felt about it. I was excited to see and discover new places. I was slightly saddened. I knew I could leave all this ugly disaster behind. I didn’t want to leave the Yosemite I have loved for almost three years.

I watched the video. Three times in a row. I was in tears every time. I realized then and there that Yosemite would no longer be my ‘backyard.’ That was a gut punch. So... I’m a very good way, your photos brought me to a place I could release all the emotions I had bottled up for the last five months. It was the first time since the fire I could do that...

I hope 2018 is another banner year for your adventures. And I hope we get to cross paths again on the trail.

 

I can't even begin to comprehend what you had to go through emotionally this past year with the loss of your home and also having to be uprooted from this amazing region. While I'm sad for you, I'm pretty jealous about your new home base and the opportunity for adventure that it brings. You can count on me planning a trip to Zion in the very near future since it's so close to me and it's a new frontier of exploration that I haven't had the chance to experience yet. I'll be waiting here patiently while you settle in so I can selfishly hear firsthand what areas are best to check out!

Your advice regarding my trip planning for the JMT was invaluable and 100% contributed to my success of finishing that trail, and your generosity for offering to help me with rides and resupply help won't go unforgotten. I'm glad that you enjoyed my slideshow video, and I hope it's some sort of inspiration to get you to go back to the Sierra soon and have a similar trail experience as I did. You won't regret it.

Here's to a whole new year full of all new badassery.


Oh, and this happened...

 

I'm in Durango and Silverton if you need a pickup or drop-off.

 

My tentative plan is to do the northern half of the CT this summer, then do the southern half next year. Unfortunately I can only take off work for up to 3 weeks before they'd probably fire me, otherwise I'd shoot for doing the entire trail. I'm not fast enough to put on 30 mile days and finish the whole thing in one go. I thought about doing the southern half first because I used to have a cabin near the Durango area and it has sentimental value to me, but then I thought it would be a much more suitable place to end the entire journey and celebrate.

Thanks for the offer, however. I may take you up on that when the time comes.

 

Friends, former employees did it in 30 days for their honeymoon. She's a professional outdoor educator and he's a multi-finisher of the local Hard Rock 100. YMMV

 

Thanks for bumping that, hadn't seen that post before. Looks like you had a fantastic trip Adam. Beautiful job on the video. One of these days I will make it out there, that trail is 100% on my bucket list.

 

In spring we were there, and we were going to do that RR ride, but the weather was overcast. I want to do that when it is clear.

Ken in NC

 

Anyone used or had experience with the Flame King refillable propane tanks?

https://www.rei.com/product/113711/flame-king-refillable-propane-cylinder-with-refill-kit-1-lb

 

Works just like the non refill/non recycling green Coleman canisters.

I’ve gone one step further and got an adapter hose for a 20# tank. Last far longer and I can fill them cheaper at the propane station. And I can run multiple things off it.

 

Flame King just had a HUGE recall of their canisters. I am sure it is fixed now. I had 3 canisters, never got to fill them, and am now waiting for the replacements.
You can look up the recall information.

They are legal to refill and transport. Not so with the 'regular' canister.

Ken in NC

 

It used to be illegal to transport 1# tanks if they had been refilled.
Won't work! 20# tanks have a valve inside that won't allow liquid propane to pour out! I bought the small adapter from Cabela's ($15) and had very limited results refilling 1# tanks.

 

Read the glowing reviews. I would still be very leary.

 

I have a 20# to 1# adapter (think I got it at Cabela's too) and have great success refilling the 1# tanks.

I probably don't get a full 1# in the tank (I don't mess with the safety valve) but the refill process works great.

And, I have never had a leak or problem running a stove with a refill.

 

Seems like a solid little stove, good buy! Also, I like the little stuff sack for the pot, I always wrapped a rubber band around mine to keep the lid secure when its in my pack, but I am always worried about the sharp edges of my pot handles snagging on my quilt. I have some leftover cuben from my last project. Might need to make a little sack.

 

I would like to learn to make little ditty sacks and stuff like that, maybe out of DCF. My mom just got a sewing machine....time to learn!?!?

Also, I am *this* close to ordering an EE Revelation (got 1st and 2nd in Fantasy Football leagues his year, woohoo money!). I am considering other brands, but it seems the only other one that makes them as wide as I want is UGQ, and the Bandit XL almost as expensive on its own and is actually more so if you add-on all of the stuff that you get with the EE standard (stuff sack, storage bag, draft collar, multiple pad straps, treated 850FP down vs untreated 800FP, etc.).

Any other ideas? I am 6'3" and a broad shouldered, side sleeping, big dude. A 60" wide would probably work, but a 64-65" would be better I think. I have read all sorts of stories of people wishing they would've bought a bigger one and I don't want to have that happen to me!

Quilt brand width in their widest size:

Katabatic - 58" (and expensive)
Loco Libre - 55"
Hammock Gear - 55"
UGQ - 65" (also have a 60")
Enlightened Equipment - 64" (also have a 58")
Nunatak - 66" (also have a 60"), but available on the Arc UL only which is expensive.
JRB - Looks like 52" unless you get one of the big heavy ones