Backcountry Boiler Stopper Project

Nothing is perfect. My wife would probably say that I can never leave well enough alone. Either way, I've been fiddling with solutions for my Backcountry Boiler to improve the pour and replace the relatively heavy stock stopper.

The stock silicone stopper weighs 3/8oz (14g). It isn't earth shattering weight but it is a touch portly for its function in life. I started this project as a simple way of cutting the weight down while still plugging the boiler. I've changed scope after deciding that I'll probably never use the boiler to transport water. The new plan? Make the boiler's pour friendlier.

I made the (less than stellar) video below to show a few different solutions I've explored. I'm less than overwhelmed by any of them but I'd say they're a good start. I like the concept of the snap in style spout but the current evolution doesn't perform well when the boiler is full and isn't particularly heat resistant. For the next experiment I'm considering a MYOG stopper spout like you see in the olive oil dispensers at Italian restaurants using the stock plug trimmed way down and some lightweight aluminum tubing. More on that later. Without further delay...

Backcountry Boiler Stopper Project from Don Meredith on Vimeo.

Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid (cuben) & MYOG Firestarter

My birthday rolled through Saturday. I expected a good day and it was. Just to add a little bit extra I was treated to a pleasant surprise in the mail. Mountain Laurel Designs got my Duomid & solo inner to me two weeks early AND on my birthday. NICE!

Duomid set up with my LT4 and solo inner... tons of space in there and a bomber pitch

You really have to see it in person to appreciate it...

 I also took a little time to try out a project to MYOG your own fire starters that JERMM posted not too long ago. We don't have any candles to donate so I used parafin wax instead. It melts easily on the stovetop set to low and they set quickly on a sheet of aluminum foil (wax paper would probably work better but we didn't have any). They're light, weatherproof and burn like mad. Give it a whirl & thanks to JERMM for the tip.

Simple Trekking Pole Monopod

Here's a simple solution for mounting your camera on your hiking pole to use it as a monopod while you're out on the trail. A video is more appropriate than a step by step photo session for this one.

Apologies for looking rough in the video. I just had spinal surgery to fuze my C6 & C7 vertebrae. You all know I love custom titanium but this surgery was probably a little over the top just to get a plate and four screws in my spine.

Anyway, enjoy and please leave comments if you have alternate ideas or potential improvements to this one!

I updated the video to be directly embedded from YouTube for (smart) people that don't install Flash. Please let me know if it still doesn't work.

New Product Tease

The dog couldn't be more wrong on this one... long live the FedEx guy! More details will be coming soon but until then here's a little teaser.

Bear Bag System

There are a few commercially available bear bag systems out there for mind boggling prices. Please don't pay $80 for a bear bag system. You can pull together a simple system for a fraction of the price.

I normally bring an 8L Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil dry bag, 50ft of reflective line, a rock bag and a small carabiner. I'll add a LokSak bag if I really feel the need to hide the food odor. Typically I'm only trying to keep my food dry and out of reach of racoons and other curious critters. You should be able to pull this together for about $40 at full retail. You can easily cut the price down even further by using a simple stuff sack already in your closet and run of the mill rope. Reflective rope and a fully waterproof bag are both nice but not necessary.

The 8L bag keeps my meals organized in my pack as well. Its larger than I need for food storage but I like to throw my mug, toothbrush, towel, etc in there when I call it a night. The less inviting I make my camp site the better. Keeping the aromatic pieces of gear that invite the critters in for a closer look out of reach just makes sense.

My rock bag was lovingly sewn my my mom who is my inspiration for all of my MYOG projects. Its a nice element to have when you're out in the woods. Every time I use my bag to huck a rock over a limb I smile because I know that my mom made this for me. By the way, my rocks go over the limb perfectly the first time - EVERY time.

I keep the rope packed in the rock bag so its contained and easy to find. Having 50ft of line for bagging food is overkill but I frequently use a length of the line for this or that while out on the trail - usually to help someone else that is less prepared. I really like the line that Lawson has over on LawsonEquipment.com. Remember, support the cottage guys when you can. REI is great but nothing beats doing business with a guy that is actually out in the woods doing the same thing as you. Good stuff.

Failure = Success

I took a solo bikepacking trip this past Saturday night. It was a short local trip that covered 30 miles start to finish. To make a long story short, I pulled the plug around midnight for a few reasons. The interesting part is the amount of feedback I've gotten from friends and family implying that the trip was some sort of failure. I've given that reaction a lot of thought and here's why I think they're wrong:

1. I had lots of fun. It was probably more fun than if I had hung out and left in the morning.
2. I learned a few things about an unusual situation in the relatively safe local environment. I'll bail on a trip somewhere else without a doubt and I'll be better equipped next time around.
3. Just like my rule for riding: If you don't crash now and then you're not riding hard enough, you're not getting better and you're not growing. Similarly, if you don't push your gear list to the point of determining that a certain piece of gear won't work you will never know where limits are.
4. Did I mention that I had fun?

 Headed out... bike lanes in Lexington. Nice.

 My favorite spring board bridge... the return trip in the pitch black of night was fun. This bridge deflects 8-10 inches as you cross. Every time I go over I'm braced for it to let go and drop me in the canal.

A little off trail exploring on the way there... I'd pay for that on the way back out with an under-powered head lamp.

 The gear... it doesn't take much.

 

 Home Sweet Home

 

 A table for one... ramen & miso is a favorite of mine lately.

 

 I just can't stop staring at my bike... Molly was made for this.

 I keep coming back to the MSR HyperFlow filter for a reason.

I decided to call it a night around 9:30pm. I planned on staying up and out later but the bugs were driving me batty. I quickly learned that my bivy (even with the large mesh window around my head) was WAY too hot for a July night in South Carolina. Even with my quilt kicked to the bottom of the bivy I was baking alive. I zipped out and took a nap on top of the bivy for an hour or two. I eventually woke up to the familiar crunch, crunch, crunch of a campsite visitor. I flipped on my headlamp to find a fox about 10 yards from the edge of the tarp. Clapping, yelling and even throwing sticks didn't get him any further than 30 yards away at any given moment. OK, that's it I thought... I'm going home.

Packing up was easy but I was worried about visibility on the ride back. After some brainstorming I was able to hook my Kelty Triptease from my bear bag kit onto the back of my Camelbak to make me visible to cars coming up on me from behind. If you've pointed your headlamp at Triptease at night you know that its unnaturally reflective. I ended up choosing to take my Petzl E-Lite headlamp in favor of my Zebra mainly due to to the fact that its lighter and more comfortable. Unfortunately, its a notch below functional for effective off trail pathfinding and the following bike ride home in the middle of the night. It got me by and that's all it was designed for but I spent 15 miles of riding on the way home thinking of how much better the Zebra would be.

 I took a break on the ride home at a side of the road bait shop. The break was more to take in the night than to take a rest. Good times.

So what did I learn?

1. Save the bivy for cool weather.
2. Bring a decent head lamp. The e-Lite is only good around camp, honestly.
3. Think about heading off trail and what that means if you have to get out in an odd situation. I'd do the same thing again but it worked out because I was lucky, not because I gave it good thought.
4. Keep pushing. This was a good trip. How do I know? I'm smiling while I write this.

New Balance Minimus Shoes <=>

When I was a kid I always had to show mom & dad how fast I could run when I got new shoes. As I got older, it was a little tougher to find shoes that caused the same excitement. I have picky feet so fit is VERY important and I'm not very tolerant of breaking shoes in. I've always preferred trail runners over traditional hiking boots. I pack light and I hike with trekking poles so there's really no need for bomber boots in my opinion. Trail runners are more comfortable, lighter, dry faster if you poke your foot in the river and they're generally cooler.

I've been keeping an eye on the barefoot running fad for awhile now. The Vibram Five-Finger shoes are in every outfitter I visit. Most of the large running shoe companies have some variant of a barefoot running / free running shoe. Unfortunately, most of them have been relatively uninteresting to me until recently.

I was excited about the looks of the Merrell Trail Glove ... until I tried them on. The fit was just odd with a very tight midsole & enough room in the toe box that I wouldn't need a bivy anymore. That's only a slight exaggeration. If your feet fit in these shoes I'm not saying you're weird - I'm just saying you have weird feet.

Ultimately, I tried on the New Balance Minimus and liked the fit. They have a minimal sole without being moccasins, the construction appears to be durable and well thought out and best of all... they're actually comfortable.

So, what's the best test for your maiden voyage with new minimalist shoes? The rockiest, sandiest place on the AT - the Grayson Highlands, of course! This was my first experience hiking in the area. I know from mountain biking that trails in the Virginia mountains are famous for their rock. These trails took it to an extreme, though.

!

Caution - shoe & foot torture zone ahead!

I was honestly surprised. The trail left my feet a little fatigued at the end of the day but it wasn't significantly worse than when I hike in my favorite Brooks Adrenalines. The grip and stability was fantastic and water shedding was better than anything I've worn. The combination of the Minimus shoes and my rusty, trusty WrightSock CoolMesh II socks made for the fastest drying footwear I've ever had on the trail. I have a knack for stuffing my foot in water where ever I find it so its a feature that doesn't go unappreciated.

My feet are still dry here. Just give me a few seconds... I'll have a wet foot in no time.

I've been wearing them around town as well with similar results and I'm looking forward to my next hike on normal trails! Recommended!

Gossamer Gear Ceramic Coated Stakes

I tested a lot of new gear on my latest hike in the Grayson Highlands. One of my favorite gear additions is my new set of Ti V-stakes in ceramic hi-viz yellow from Gossamer. Its really  simple when you're looking at stakes:

1. Light & durable
2. Good hold & able to work in various soil conditions
3. Easy to find in ground cover / hard to loose

Bright, light & durable finish (no batteries required for day-glow finish)

Prior to this stake set, I used a pair of MSR Groundhog stakes to stake out the tarp ridgelines, four MSR Needle stakes for the four tarp corners and four generic Ti J-hooks to stake out my bug tent inner when I use it. This system has worked fine for a few years. I already had the yellow ceramic coating on them prior to Gossamer's commercial offering. My only real complaint is that the Groundhogs pack a little on the bulky side since they are y-stakes.

Ti V-stake taking on the Grayson Highlands concrete meadows

The V-stakes did very well in rock hard soil of the highlands and loamy soft soil that I found in the grassy meadow our second night out. The coating is day-glow bright - you would have to go out of your way to loose them. The ceramic coating is holding fast even with the hard, abrasive soil the first night out. The same coating on my previous stake set looks fantastic. It's significantly more durable and easier to see than typical hi-viz coatings.

Conclusion: GREAT STUFF!

The Boilerwerks Backcountry Boiler

I recently had the chance to test Devin Montgomery's Backcountry Boiler. His new system is the first truly backpacking worthy boiler on the market. Boilers like this are an interesting alternative to traditional backpacking stoves because you don't carry fuel with you. Boilers burn small twigs so in most circumstances the next campsite will have the all the fuel you need.

The Boilerwerk's Backcountry Boiler

The boiler comes with the fire bowl, the boiler, a neoprene insulation sleeve, a silicone stopper and a stuff sack. The entire system weighs 9.7oz (277g) on my scales and is only roughly twice the size of a SnowPeak 600 mug.

Fire bowl, boiler & stopper

 

 Size compared to a SnowPeak 600 mug

So how does it work? Water in the boiler is heated by a small fire in the base of the unit. The heat is transferred to the water via the conical chimney (see illustration below). After getting a fire started, you place the boiler on top and feed the fire through the chimney as needed until you reach a boil. I was able to bring 2 cups of 50F (ish) water to a rolling boil in about 6.5 minutes. The Boilerwerks website states that a skilled operator can get a boil in under 5 minutes. 

Anatomy of a Boiler. Courtesy of Devin Montgomery 2010.

The design and construction quality of the Backcountry Boiler are very good and far better than you'd expect on a first production run. It includes thoughtful features like hard coat anodization for increased durability. Devin even chose to laser mark his logo and a safety warning on top of the boiler. Nice touch.

 

 A view of the inner surface of the boiler

 

Laser marking on top of the boiler

Naturally, burning wood creates a coating of creosote on the surfaces exposed to fire. With the boiler's design none of this is on exposed surfaces meaning its unlikely that you'll get the mess on your hands and other gear. It does carry a heavy woodsmoke smell after use so I'd want to carry the boiler on the outside of my pack to prevent soaking my gear (bag, quilt, tent, spare clothes) with that campfire smell.

Fire bowl after a good scouring

The neoprene sleeve does a good job of insulating your hands from the heat of the boiling water. I expected it to offer very limited hold time based on the thin neoprene that Devin used (approximately 2mm). This turned out not to be an issue at all, fortunately. Pouring the boiling water into a typical boil in a bag meal pouch was a learning process for me. If you commit to the pour you won't have problems. Pouring slowly was a little problematic as the water tended to run down the side of the boiler making the process a bit messy.

As mentioned earlier, this is well thought out gear. It works as advertised and will last a lifetime. Getting water to a boil is dead simple and it uses fuel that is typically very easy to find. Devin should have a second round of boilers available soon. You can keep track of his progress on Facebook or Twitter. BackpackingLight.com will let you know when stock is available to ship if you sign up for the notice.

Remember, support cottage gear manufacturers!

Adventures to come...

I'm already looking forward to taking Friday off to take a two night walk in the woods with dad this weekend. I'll apologize in advance to everyone at work for being distracted.

More kayak fun planned this year...

Whitewater Falls

Thompson River

SC Foothills Vista

SC Foothills Vista