>> I have two questions. In your own humble opinion based on your experience, what stove and sleeping bag do you like best for use while canoe or kayak camping during the summer months? >> ************************************************************************** * I have three stoves: an Optimus 111B for winter camping, a 25-year-old Optimus 8R that I bought new (for $13.50!), and an MSR Whisper-Lite, which is a white gas, not a butane, stove. The Optimus 8R is sturdy and reliable, and is protectected by an integral steel case, but it has a small fuel tank, the cap for the accessory pump is expensive to replace when the gasket crisps, and it is noisy. I sometimes carry it as a backup, but years ago I replaced it with the Whisper-Lite. I bought the Whisper-Lite because it is quiet. It folds up fairly compactly, yet the legs and arms when set up provide a very stable platform for pots. Assembly takes a few minutes: you have to slide a bottom reflector over the fuel hose and legs, spread the legs out, connect the fuel hose to the pump on the fuel tank, and unfold the windscreen and fit it around the stove. Like other white gas stoves, it has to be primed first. The fuel tank is an external Sigg bottle with a pump. I took both a 1-liter and two .6-liter bottles of fuel on my last camping trip, but used no more than 3/4 liter in five days. However, we conserved fuel by cooking only quick one-pot meals, and by filling our vacuum bottles with hot water at each meal for hot drinks, washup, and emergencies, which meant we needed to restart the stove less often. It doesn't simmer well, but the way we cook, it doesn't matter. The wind screen is very effective. One reviewer complained that it looked cheap and flimsy, but it folds up very compactly, and mine has held up for ten years so far. My favorite summer sleeping bag is a Thaw Snowline down bag that is also about 25 years old. It's my favorite because I share it with my wife. It is a barrel-shaped bag that can be unfolded flat. A few years ago, I made a bottom bag that zips together with it and has pockets on the bottom into which our Therm-a-Rest pads fit. The only problem with it is that the opening tends to gape a little, but that's not very important in summer. The bottom bag, made with a couple layers of polyester fill, stuffs to about the size of a loaf of bread, and uses the drybag I made for my old solo summer bag, but since that's home-made, too, I don't think describing it will help you any. :-) Favorite accessories: Well, one is the stainless steel vacuum bottles we each carry. Besides using them to conserve fuel, we carry them filled with hot water or Tang in case we need to treat a hypothermia victim. Another is the tow line and hardware on my rear deck, which, in previous incarnations, I have used a couple of times to tow incapacitated paddlers. A third is a good, waterproof headlamp. The Princeton Vortec I am using now is bright, light, and comfortable -- handy for late night cooking as well as kayaking. A fourth is a Polartec pillowcase that I made for myself. Basically, it is a tube that slips over my pile jacket and keeps it from unrolling in the night. It goes into the same drybag as my sleeping bag. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 15 1998 - 11:18:48 PDT
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