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The Various Musings of Don Wing
Submitted by Don Wing, USA.
We have recently received a spate of four entire musings from a Mr. Don Wing.
He tells us he is not so bothered about winning any of the prizes in our current competition, because he's already sorted for that kind of thing, thank-you-very-much.
In the email that came with the submission, he also threatened that what we were witnessing were a mere four pages out of a possible total of 4,637. Should that eventuality arise, we are not quite sure how we might deal with it. A long holiday, for administrative reasons, is high on the list of possibilities.
He tells us he is not so bothered about winning any of the prizes in our current competition, because he's already sorted for that kind of thing, thank-you-very-much.
In the email that came with the submission, he also threatened that what we were witnessing were a mere four pages out of a possible total of 4,637. Should that eventuality arise, we are not quite sure how we might deal with it. A long holiday, for administrative reasons, is high on the list of possibilities.
1. Stoves and Things
It is quiet time here at Casa Del Indebt-o. A friend came over and gave me a gallon of Methyl alcohol. This got me to thinking about stoves and long term use.I have a lot of Coleman stoves and alcohol stoves around here. 9 gas and several of the 5 different alcohol stoves, I have made or bought. Now of all these stoves none are really practical for long term use. The weight of fuel and the availability of fuel make them unpractical for a 30-day or longer stay out in the wilds of Suburbia, unless you have somewhere to restock.
Methyl alcohol weighs in at 7 lbs. a gallon. That is 128 oz or about 100 uses. Figure 3 or 4 uses a day and you run out before the month is over. 7 lbs is a lot of weight if you have to carry your home on your back. Weight that would better be used to carry other things. I have long been a fan of the ease of a Coleman stove and the stealth of an alcohol stove. Both are good for getting the job done. But when you can send up a bit of smoke and you do not care who knows you are there. Wood is the only way to go.
Now I have visited 28 countries so far. The only places I have been, where you could not find something to burn were the Arctic and Antarctic.
I just ordered a Sierra Zip Stove. This is not what I'm talking about. I mean wood is the cheapest to get. You do not have to carry it for long and it does the job. The weight of cooking and heating with wood is lessened by the fact you do not have to carry fuel. You can pick up sticks along the way, so weight is not carried for long periods of time.
None of us plan on our outing when we know rain, sleet, hail, or snow is in the forecast. We only go out in bad weather if we happen to get caught in it or we plan on short-term indulgences. I do go out in cold wet weather, but I plan for it and use it as a testing and training time. We may not be the brightest bunch but we try to think! (I hope)
Now I am not planning on going with just wood in mind, with a back up Trangia in my pack. It just started thundering out! At this point I would be looking for somewhere to hide from the coming rain. Here would be where that backup would come in handy. I would want to spend my time getting a place that will allow me to stay dry and not have to worry about heat or cooking.
If by chance I'm caught out in the rain for days on end. Once the shelter is up, I can then spend my time getting dry fuel to burn or drying it.
Just to let you know how silly one can get! I have 3 Coleman heavy ass 502 stoves! I also have one Coleman Apex II and a 2-burner Coleman 425 model. There are 2 MSRs and 2 Optimas as well. I have gathered my alcohol stoves together. In all there are 27 of the little buggers. I am looking at 11 coal oil lamps. There are 3 candle stoves and 4 candle holders ready for use. One Ronson butane one burner stove. The charcoal grill and the gas grill outside.
Page 1 of 4 Next [Top of Page]
Page 1: Stoves and things
Page 2: Stealth and things
Page 3: Wood, cold weather and things
Page 4: Axes and things
Page 2: Stealth and things
Page 3: Wood, cold weather and things
Page 4: Axes and things
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