Camping stoves and heat/light packs - Bug Out Bag Stuff

I forgot to show you what else is inside the plastic case in my heat and light pack. So I took another picture.

interior of plastic case

So you have the candles, 8 hour white, and 9 hour beeswax. They go in the candle lantern.

The green plastic pack thing is a heat pack, that heats when you break the little metal disk in the sack.

It creates a lot of heat.

Then after it is no longer hot, you can activate it again by boiling it for 5 minutes.

So its reuseable.

The other packages and there are two of them, are hand and feet warmers, and in a pinch, you can put one in a sleeping bag.

The metal thing is a reflector to reflect the heat and light from the candle lantern. It was only a couple bucks so.
It might be useful. It is made for that purpose.
You cannot read by the light of one candle with that lantern. But your ebook is backlit.

And if you still want to read a paperback in your tent, then it has an led light on the bottom that is detachable,
and it has a strap for use as a headlamp even.

You hang that lantern in your tent and it will keep you warm, in 30 below weather, providing you have a reasonably good sleeping bag. And you can use the emmergency blanket for added warmth.

Even the duct tape is useful.

The plastic bag is a special camping bag made by coleman, with folding sealable top, and I attached a carbiner to the string. Because you never have enough carbiners.
shown here

I know I am not being a minimalist. But I have been out in the cold. 30 below, 40 below, in a blizzards, walking. Looking for a barn or anything. Once stuck in a snowbank, in my pickup, with a dead battery, off the highway, 40 below, using road flares in the cab, to stay alive.
I know about the cold.

So this is the pots and pans cooking setup I ended up with.

I went with the modified, Trangia..

image gallery

And it can use methyl hydrate outdoors or the canned heat indoors.

But the thing is, when you go to the outfitters and ask about pack stoves, they reccommend propane/butane types because they can boil a liter of water in 4 minutes.

But, do you need a full liter of water?

You see in that little stainless cream jug there I can boil a cup of water, and a dry food pack, might need a cup and a half but maybe a cup. And a coffee only needs a cup. If I was making a soup from powder, I would only need a cup of water. If I need more, than I can boil 2 little jugs full. They boil in no time since they are small.
The canned heat is not like normal sterno. It is a very hot flame. Thats why you need those pot holders with a way to turn down the heat even. It slides over the top to regulate the flame.

reply to post by Rocketman7


If I was going with gas.. I'd go with one of these.
shop.jetboil.com...
And eat right out of the pot.. Clean it out by hand or any flowing water I could find.

Originally posted by Rocketman7
I looked at eneloop batteries, but I went for these instead...
Ultrafire

15 years they will hold a charge. Take 20 minutes in a usb charger. One of them for each of the flashlights I bought.
And I bought a few spare batteries.

Now I haven't road tested them camping yet, but if they live up to their warranty claims, then I am a happy camper.

Ultrafire is decent, the AW18650's seem to be considered the best 18650 battery along with the pila charger, although they cost a bit more. My laser uses the 18650, they hold a tremendous amount of energy so just be careful. Most of these 18650's have a pcb protection circuit attached so that makes it a bit safer. I have read about people getting their thumbs blown off by the explosion of these batteries, so just be a bit more careful with these particular cells. Eneloop only seem to make nimh cells in AA/AAA, but perform very well.

reply to post by Rocketman7


www.itstactical.com...

Why I put so much emphasis on the canned heat for cooking and heat is because you may not want to be found.

Granted, it might not be bad to have company in the woods, or under a bridge, while the city is on fire in teh winter, as long as they are not carrying some kind of disease.

But you just know, everyone you meet probably will be carrying some type of disease. Maybe just a cold, maybe the plague, who knows. But the more people you come into contact with, the higher the risk that you will get sick.

So you might want to be covert. Which means maybe no smoke from your cooking set up.

You will have light from the candle lantern, but I have been told stories where a person used a tarp inside their tent, to lower the ceiling and provide more heat when it was really cold. SO one thing you would need to consider is the light that the candle gives off.

A flashlight or lantern would be like a beacon. A tarp over your tent, might mean less light showing.

And if you can get by without it, but how can you? You know you need to find things in your pack.
Even a flashlight in a tent can be seen for miles under the right circumstances.

You see I think that you are safer, in the back, of a 5 ton truck. Even if it was up on blocks.
Even if it was not running at all. At least the box is not giving off light. And you can pitch a tent inside it.
Then you just have noise to consider because sound travels too at night.

Originally posted by Ox
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

www.itstactical.com...

reply to post by Rocketman7


I agree with you about being covert. I am in no way disagreeing with what you're saying. I am all about keeping a small heat source for cooking. If need be, I'll risk a small fire but not if I don't have to.

You see this is a bit silly because of course if you put a metal cup on the bare Trangia it will go out.



So I don't know where they bought their's but what they bought was just the replacement part of the stove.

This is what it comes with.

trangia


You see if you cover that container the alchohol goes in, you will extinguish the flame.

But you know, it would take 2 minutes more than the propane/butane anyways. However thats not the issue.
Methyl hydrate is poison. And you should not use it indoors because the fumes are poisonous.
Nor in a tent. But you know people still do when it is cold.

It burns anti-freeze. And it is poisonous.

But the canned heat is safe for indoors, so thats why I substituted canned heat. Its safe, gives off a higher temp heat, almost equal to propane/butane. But where it blows them all out of the water, is it lasts for 8 hours, when the propane/butane canisters shown in that video, last one hour.

So carry 8 cyclinders, or one little can of magic heat.

You know how much I paid for magic canned heat 8 hour at the grocery store?

Its about $2.50 a can. It is in the section where the chafing dishes are for buffet setups and commercial cookware because this grocery store is a wholesale food club type giant store.

But probably you can get it somewhere I don't know where though. The thing is that I found it there otherwise I would not have even known about it. I came across it by accident, looking for that stainless steel creamer to use as a little pot. It has a spout. You know and if you pour boiling water its good to have a little spout.
Otherwise it drips down the side of the can and can burn your hand. Or leg or waste water.

And I found a lid that fits it. Oddly enough. A little metal butter dish cup. Fits the hole perfectly.

I will take a picture.

reply to post by Rocketman7


You're a crafty one.. I'll give ya that. Critical thinker!.. Good man.
And please do take a pic. I'm intrigued.

reply to post by Rocketman7


SO I went to the local outfitters, MEC, top class outfitters for mountain climbing etc, and looked at light weight pack stoves. They all want to use the small butane propane mix cans. And a small stove rack for one pot that screws on the can usually. One can = one hour of cooking.
But it will boil a liter of water in 4 minutes. Whats the rush???


OK many of us that actually go into the mountains, like to cook things quicker than over an open fire and taking 20 minutes or longer to just boil water doesn't do it for me... I very seldom have a fire anywhere near the tent, dangerous and fumes.... so with it being using a butane stove...I can set my tent up and boil water in less than 5 minutes...I can set tent while water is boiled. 2 things at a time...I set up camp, eat and climb into bag. All warm, fed, in the am when I want coffee...I can have a cup before noon...with your stove...it would take forever to heat up a cup of joe...sorry.

Ok I am back. I did the water test with the canned heat. Notice the can says 8 hours on it in image one, on left.

So in this image gallery, test one. Cheap and dirty with a few small items. 14 minutes to boil, but not rapidly boil.

gallery one


So then I used the tomato can, to get the pot up where the flame is hot, so it licks the bottom of the pot.
And I put that little metal cup in there as a lid. 7 minutes to full boil.

gallery 2

So that is what I will end up with, and I will just modify that can, so it has a grill of some kind that fits on top.
And maybe put a few air holes on one side near the bottom.

8 hours of cooking time? Yeah that works for me. I will wait 7 minutes to boil water.

reply to post by Rocketman7


What do I have for heat,light and cooking??

A 5 man military arctic bell tent with a woodstove in it that we can cook on.
I don't even have to carry it because it is already at our bugout location ready and waiting.

In the meantime until I get to the location,I have an arctic sleeping bag with a bivy sack that should be good til about minus 40 at least.
For cooking...we have a portable hobostove.
Light...I am not worried about...my eyes will adjust and I also have a night vision device.

I have been preparing and practicing for a few years now.

The bell tent and stove is also great for ice fishing trips.

I have used a wide variety of stoves over the years and always go back to my MSR Whisperlite because it can run on a variety of fuels readily available i.e. white gas, unleaded and jet fuel. For short backpacking trips I have used small and light alcohol stoves with good success and have made a couple of my own out of old soda cans.

As for the canister stoves... They are pretty cool but you are limited to only canister fuel and have to pack out your empties.

So, that leaves us with wood power for complete versatility. Wood stoves come in all shapes and sizes but for a base camp type of situation I have a growing interest in getting a Rocket Stove.

You can make one of these or buy one. They are used around the world for heating and cooking in all sorts of climates and environments.

www.rocketstove.org...

www.ecozoomstove.com...

I enjoy fabricating my own equipment but, this little eco zoom stove is certainly on my short list of must haves this spring. Just small twigs and splits of wood is all it takes to keep this thing burning hot and very efficient
www.thesurvivalistblog.net...

OK now a test with a pot of water. So first I tried it as is.

gallery one pot of water

And there was not enough fresh air. All there was was a small blue flame.

So then I put some holes in the can with the multi-tool...
holes in can

but the flame was still not strong enough, so I made the holes larger. And then it worked.

So with 3 times the water, it took twice as long to boil. So 14 minutes.
holes larger

and here is the normal unobstructed flame...that will burn like this for 8 hours...
normal flame

Flame looks yellow on top and about right
yellow flame

and in the background thats the sweet and sour pork and rice that most people
rave about. I haven't tried it yet. You dump water into the pouch, wait 7 minutes or so
and then eat hearty. $6.50 a pouch. Thats still a reasonable price to pay for
dinner I suppose. You would be glad to have it if you were somewhere cold and hungry.
And a 6 year shelf life.

So then here is a Trangia vs home made trangia test, and the Trangia has a wicked large flame.



But you know what? It burns one ounce of methyl hydrate in 13 minutes.

So 13 minutes as opposed to 8 hours with the Magic canned heat.

His home made unit burned 1 oz in about 16 minutes with a moderate flame.

interesting thread

in the really cold many fuels like propane won't flow or vapourize properly, so watch for that
not to mention they run out eventually

I would recommend a good little pencil sharpener..
you stick your little twig in there and give it a little shave
then tee pee stack up from there

make sure the fire gets air

carefull of Co inside an encloseure as well as fire hazard.
without good ventilation you get CONDENSATION
getting wet is BAD news...

so consider the type of long underwear that wicks the moisture off of your skin..its superverywell worth it

So, one more thing that is handy to have for this Trangia like set up using the Magic heat and Trangia cookware set, without the methyl hydrate, is one of those inexpensive refillable butane lighters.

Basic lightweight cookware set w/ lighter

Lighter detail

And the reason it is so handly for this, is it shoots a 3 inch blow torch flame into the can, and lights the wick,
without you having to put your hand into the can.

Lighting wick

but you have to carry the butane can in your bag, but one more source of fire, and good quick strong fire, is a good idea. When I was a kid, I turned one of these on some sand, just to see what it would do, and it made glass. Must have been the right kind of sand or something.

A Ronson refillable butane can is small, And I also have a flip top metal lighter fluid old style lighter.
And I will carry a can of lighter fluid for it too. Just like lots of flashlights, light, heat, and lots of ways to make a fire. I am a smoker too so, I need lighters.

Originally posted by Danbones
interesting thread

in the really cold many fuels like propane won't flow or vapourize properly, so watch for that
not to mention they run out eventually

I would recommend a good little pencil sharpener..
you stick your little twig in there and give it a little shave
then tee pee stack up from there

make sure the fire gets air

carefull of Co inside an encloseure as well as fire hazard.
without good ventilation you get CONDENSATION
getting wet is BAD news...

so consider the type of long underwear that wicks the moisture off of your skin..its superverywell worth it

edit on 20-1-2012 by Danbones because: chemistry notation aint my long suit also dried mullien which sticks up all over in the winter makes excellent wicking

Good tips.

You know I thought about what might be the best kind of pants to get. And I ended up getting some fishing pants from China. This climate here on the Wet Coast of Canada, means I need waterproof breathable lightweight and durable. In winter I could wear long johns underneath. But I was really impressed with the fishing pants I ordered. And not too expensive.

I will show you what they look like. I bought black.
fishing pants

And large actually was the right size but I caution anyone else when it comes to shopping in China, because it takes too long and cost too muchy monEY! (Thats what I tell them ) A month at least for delivery and often the size is too small.