Over the years I've gotten in the habit of bringing redundant items on trips, including 2 stoves. They are quite small and have been no trouble to pack. The Whisperlite is for cooking, and the XKG boils water and cooks crabs quickly. Brad Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Stove Oil >I concur with Dana. 3-in-1 oil has always worked for me. > > Last September I spent an hour or more in camp repairing my old > Whisperlite, > which had a weak flame. The first thing I did was lube the leather pump > cup, > which had always worked before. When that didn't work, I replaced all the > O-rings and then cleaned the jet and hose. Finally I replaced the pump cup > with one from a repair kit that was nearly as old as the stove. Bingo! The > original had lasted 20 years or more, but it had finally worn out. > > That experience made me consider carrying a spare stove next trip. A > repair > kit is lighter and more compact, but I figure I might not always have the > best conditions in which to disassemble and reassemble the stove or pump. > However, the Whisperlite stove is so basic and rugged that it seemed > pointless to buy a whole new kit. Instead, I bought a replacement pump, > which, because I carry it ready to use in a fuel bottle, takes up very > little extra space. > > By the way, the new pump uses a synthetic pump cup instead of a leather > one. > I hope it lasts as long as the old leather one did. Also, the new MSR pump > doesn't fit my old Sigg fuel bottles, so I had to buy a new MSR bottle. > > Chuck Holst > > > Any light oil should do, 3 in 1 for example. EVOO might work if you have > an > extra virgin along on the trip. I have used nose grease to lube the pump > leather. > > Peace be with you, > > Dana > > > Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:09:37 -0900 > From: Robert Carter <revkayak_at_aptalaska.net> > Subject: [Paddlewise] Stove oil > > I am getting my camping gear ready for this years exploits and I am > needing a tube of the oil lubricant for my MSR Whisper Lite stove. The > lubricant usually comes in a small white plastic tube. I just need two > tubes but the only way I can find to buy it is to buy the full > maintenance kit for the stove. I have enough spare parts I just need the > lubricant. Does any one know where I can buy the tubes separate or what > kind of lubricant it is so I can buy the equivalent at the local > hardware store? > > Bob *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
"Jim" <jimtibensky_at_fastmail.fm> wrote: <Snip> > For what it is worth, I always carry a spare stove that is a Trangia. > Tiny, foolproof, no moving parts, and I use stove alcohol to prime my > Whisperlite anyway, so taking a little more along is easy. Once used > the Trangia for the whole trip when I couldn't the Whisperlite to talk > to me. As a Swede I grew up with Trangia, but a winter expedition made me see the light, as at those cold temperatures the Trangia took hours to boil some water - some more experienced had modified their Trangias for kerosene use, by adapting an old Optimus stove so it fitted to the Trangia - their food got warm in a jiffy, while ours seemed never to boil (even with the winter adaptor to the Trangia burner). I then bought a small Optimus stove, but sadly it only ran well on white spirits, an unobtainable liquid in Sweden (quite odd, as Optimus is a Swedish company). I tried lead-free gasoline, and eventually gave the darn thing away to a guy in Ghana. Then I discovered MSR and the XKG and have been happy ever since - but I did like Trangia's expedition gourmet frying pan, but as with all things Teflon it survived a few years and then had to be binned. I did get a Whisperlite, but that often played bad tricks on me - I guess it also is made for white spirits, and had been mislabled as Kerosene version, even if it isn't! My XKG has been used for thousands of hours, so eventually it has become the backup to the Dragonfly, which is slightly bulkier, but you can regulate the heat very nicely, and is so nice with a decent frying pan. Most of my pans are MSR's, both stainless, and more modern models! When I bought the XKG MSR didn't sell their products in Sweden (they sure do now), so I ordered mine via mail, and somehow it went wrong, so some poor girl at MSR had to call me and tell me about the problem they had with the order. First call from North America to little me (the second came from Steven King, but that's another story)! While talking equipment we have two luxorious tents from Hilleberg: Stalon GT, a tunnel tent, designed for winter expeditions (very big alcoves), and made for three, but we are very comfy being just two! Sadly no longer made, but a bit like Nammatj 3 GT! The other is their amazing Atlas, that sleeps eight, easily! We have two vestibules to it, and in one of these we have our inner tent (borrowed from the other tent!). This tent is ideal when the weather is bad, so you can sit dry and comfy fiddling with your gear, reading a book, or what your pleasures are! Eight people can sit around a table inside, or sleep, if they have to :-)! It has no built-in stove, sad to say, but otherwise is superb! You can naturally buy Atlas inner tents for it, but those were not available when we bought our Atlas! The smallest is designed for six :-)! http://estore.websitepros.com/1764795/Categories.bok?category=Tents It has been very slippery here for months now, so another piece of equipment has become essential: IceBug shoes! Designed in Sweden, but made elsewhere, they look like ordinary jogging shoes, but with a difference: Their soles are filled with small studs, like those used in car tires here, so you can't really slip on ice! Waterproof as well, but naturally make a mess of wooden floors! All the best, Tord *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Tord, I'd like to hear the Steven King story, if you are talking about the author. I knew his agent, Kirby McCauley, slightly when the latter was just starting out. He was a fan of horror fiction from St. Paul who had looked up several of the old horror and fantasy authors who lived in the Twin Cities area. Then, one day, he told me he had decided to move to New York to become an author's agent. Big dream, I thought, but he did it. Sometime later he introduced me to SF author L. Sprague decamp and his wife Catherine at the World Science Fiction Convention. I've never met King, however. Chuck Holst __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4933 (20100310) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Chuck wrote: > Tord, I'd like to hear the Steven King story, if you are talking about the > author. I knew his agent, Kirby McCauley, slightly when the latter was just > starting out. He was a fan of horror fiction from St. Paul who had looked up > several of the old horror and fantasy authors who lived in the Twin Cities > area. Then, one day, he told me he had decided to move to New York to become > an author's agent. Big dream, I thought, but he did it. Sometime later he > introduced me to SF author L. Sprague decamp and his wife Catherine at the > World Science Fiction Convention. I've never met King, however. OK: I'm interested in aerodynamics and aircraft, so I used to frequent a rec group dedicated to some sort of aircraft,a long time ago. Then, one day, I got an email in halting Swedish asking about aircraft fuel prices in Sweden, signed Steven King. Had no idea, but found out that aircraft fuel here is tax-free (after SAS having threatened to move all refueling out of Sweden), and later found out that 'my' Steven wasn't Stephen at all, just a Bostonian bicycle fan, owning an elderly Piper Comanche (which has by now made a few visits to Sweden). Steven has been a programmer for various companies and banks, all over the USA, including for Boeing in Seattle. Steven once flew into a small Mid- West sleepy little city, where on the tarmac, when he rolled towards it in his aircraft, there were maybe a thousand people, and an orchestra, on a grand stand. Puzzled Steven asked who they were greeting, and somebody said smilingly: 'You, of course; all here love your books!' A hasty conversation ensued, and the crowd melted away quickly ... My Steven used to be skipper on one of those big windjammers up in Maine, till he tired of the whole thing, and switched to computer programming. He grew up in Maine, went, for some time, to the same school as Stephen, but being slightly younger, not in the same class. To avoid further mix ups he now calls himself Stefan (in line with his Swedish roots). ===================== I used to be a member of TTS, the Tolkien Society of Sweden, and through that met a few SF authors, both Swedish, English, and American, like the gentleman John Brunner, and Paul Anderson, who mentioned that one of his best friends had been Malcolm X, then recently killed, not the most common friend for a fat, old, white dude in those days :-)! Never met JRR Tolkien himself (he hated fans), but did meet the first Swedish translator of the LotR :-)! A female friend, who used to study at Oxford, had problems one day, at lunch, as there was no seats free at any of tables, but that of the infamous Professor Tolkien. She had heard various stories about the professor, but when in Rome ... She went up to his table, and asked, in purposely halting, English if the seat was un-occupied, and he looked up, somewhat irritated, from his paper, muttered something, and then looked at her squarely in the eye and asked her if she knew who he was, and she said yes, and then he looked at her even more critically and asked the even more pertinent question: 'Have you read any of my books?' To this she had to confess that she hadn't, which he greeted with a smile, and 'Then you can take a seat!'. They had many nice lunches, sometimes together with John's cronies, talking about a lot of subjects, but never about The Ring. Tord PS I have one L. Sprague de Camp book, his 'The Fallible Fiend' - love it! About as short, and nice, as John Gardner's 'Grendel', which is about a similar nasty creature. But otherwise quite different, of course. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Wow, someone else who has one of those little stoved. Also got mine years ago on the 'net. Still use it now and then. RE Kelly Kettle -- a friend has one. Ostensibly developed by & for Irish fishing guides to supply a hot cuppa to their clients during lulls in the fishing. It's good for wet stuff like tea, soup, or stew. You can't fry eggs in it. Nonetheless he very often carries it along on trips... Joe P. -----Original Message----- >>I've always relied on simply building a fire as a backup but a couple of >years ago Pam brought along a little fireplace she had purchased over the >Internet ($10 or so but I can't recall where she bought it) and we >experimented with that. The experiment was pretty successful and we both >felt that the little stove would serve well as a backup. It folded (or >disassembled) flat and boiled water using only twigs and scrap wood we >gathered up around the campsite. That seemed liek a worthwhile addition to >the kit with the only drawback being the possibility of rust. > >There is also a famous Irish cooker (Kelly Kettle - https://kellykettle.com) >which is not cheap (about US$100) but also burns sticks, pine cones, etc. >and is reportedly very useful on camping trips. Kelly makes aluminum and >stainless steel versions in several sizes and they claim they can boil water >in 3 to 5 minutes using natural fuels. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 7:54 AM, Joe P. <jpylka_at_earthlink.net> wrote: > > > RE Kelly Kettle -- a friend has one. Ostensibly developed by & for Irish > fishing guides to supply a hot cuppa to their clients during lulls in the > fishing. It's good for wet stuff like tea, soup, or stew. You can't fry > eggs in it. Nonetheless he very often carries it along on trips... > > When I think about it, almost all of the food I eat while camping only needs boiling water. Ramen, Cup'o'Noodles, oatmeal in packets, tea, coffee-press, freeze-dried, etc. I'm not all that big on cooking so even in the muthah-ship or the Princess I often just do ramen or noodles. Or sandwiches. So a Kelly Kettle would work pretty well for me. (Maybe not on the Mutha-Ship.) I don't like alcohol fuel. I'm sensitive to the fumes that fuel gives off when it's burning, the BTU value is low, and you can't see the flame well in bright sunshine. In fact, the worst burn I ever saw was while we were cruising in the Sea of Cortez in our sailboat. A gal was in a bikini and primed her kerosine stove (very common in those days) then thought the prime had gone out so squirted more alcohol into the burner cup. The sudden flash (the flame, it turns out, had not gone out) made her jump and she ended up with burns all over her stomach and chest and had to be rushed to La Paz and flown up to the States for treatmen So my ancient Optimus doesn't need alcohol for priming (you arm the fuel tank with your palm and then light the little puddle of fuel that squirts into the priming pan); only one fuel. But I do like the idea of using twigs and pine cones for fuel and not carrying any extra fuel at all. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Linda and I are one-potters, too. We've had many a ramen meal with added tuna, salmon, or chicken, freeze-dried peas, fresh onion, and maybe a little curry. I can't eat regular ramen now (too much saturated fat), but angelhair pasta and certain oriental noodles make a good, short-cooking substitute. Lately, though, we have been eating more and more freeze-dried meals, which we stock up on when they are on sale at REI. Especially after a hard day's paddle or when making camp late. So, not much simmering. BTW, Craig, is that an Optimus 8R you have? Linda and I each have one, but I prefer the Whisperlite for the relative silence it provides. Chuck Holst __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4933 (20100310) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Chuck Holst <cholst_at_bitstream.net> wrote: > BTW, Craig, is that > an Optimus 8R you have? Linda and I each have one, but I prefer the > Whisperlite for the relative silence it provides. > > Yup it's an 8R Optimus. I picked it up in Paris in 1972 when I was bicycling through Europe for a month and it's done yeoman service ever since. I agree that it's noisy but is just works and works with no trouble and is relatively small. I might get a Kelly Kettle for more quiet cookery. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking .net ' *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Craig Jungers wrote: > On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Chuck Holst >> BTW, Craig, is that an Optimus 8R you have? Linda and I each have one, >> but I prefer the Whisperlite for the relative silence it provides. > Yup it's an 8R Optimus. Oldstovegeeksters unite! Those old white gas units were simple and effective. Buddies used the 8R, and it was reliable and powerful. My fave was the Svea 123, which demanded no pumping, and could be had as a combo with a two-pot cook kit and integral windscreen/pot support. It all nested together and could hold all the odds and ends needed for stove control and upkeep plus a pot grabber. Going high, as we often did, the wind screen was critical. The cult of Trangia is alive and well in Victoria/Vancouver, BC -- just wave a white gas flag and bring on the Trangia-ites at West Coast Paddler. At sea level in mild temps with no wind, an alcohol stove makes a lot of sense, if you are just heating water. Becky and I are cooks, by God! And we want to be able to stir fry, simmer, etc. So, we like the old standby Coleman 442, which is a dual-fuel unit that accepts unleaded gasoline and white gas. It fits inside the double posts left over from the Svea kit, not going on its 40th year of use. BTW, hit WCP and check out the Daren-built folding stove some there use as a backup. A killer unit, and deals well with small sticks, twigs, etc. Packs up small. We take one of these as a spare. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com> wrote: > > BTW, hit WCP and check out the Daren-built folding stove some there use as > a backup. A killer unit, and deals well with small sticks, twigs, etc. > Packs up small. We take one of these as a spare. > > Darren's stainless-steel folding stove is a definite winner; and not just for standby. But deliver is not so easy (you have to find Darren or have him give one to someone who can find you). Worth it, I think. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dave stated, "My fave was the Svea 123, which demanded no pumping, and could be had as a combo with a two-pot cook kit and integral windscreen/pot support. It all nested together and could hold all the odds and ends needed for stove control and upkeep plus a pot grabber." Yup, that brings back good memories, Dave. Thanks! My Svea -- and my SIGG pot kit, as described -- served gallantly in winter ascents of Mount Adams in the New Hampshire Presidential Range fifty years ago. A good Svea turned a pot of snow to potable water in record, roaring time, and the windows in the huts at Gray Knob and others on the AMC trail were frosted over in no time as the long nights held us welcome captives. We burned Amoco premium gasoline, not the fuel of choice, but highly effective, and the only unleaded gas available in those days. The Svea 123 also worked real well during back-to-back blizzards in Maryland last month. Something very comforting about a piece of kit that works as well for your grand-kids as it did for you! Thank you, Sweden! Thank you, Switzerland! Joq *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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