I’m determined to get my total camping load on my bike for a month away below 10kg if I can. No idea if that’s reasonable, as I’ll still want some basic tools and bike spares, not to mention camera.. and a little bit of comfort for a month long trip, so we’ll just have to wait and see. So.. for this next trip don’t want to carry my Primus Himalaya multifuel stove and fuel bottle. Don’t want to be a slave to finding gas canisters for my MSR PocketRocket, and don’t want to be a slave to finding meths for a Trangia either.. I’ve decided I’m happy with cold food and whatever I can find at food stalls along the way, but I must be able to have a fresh brew before hitting the road in the mornings so I treated myself to a titanium ‘Pocket Stove’ from Backpacking Light. I’ve just been playing with it and I have to say I’m really (really really) excited about it.. in part simply because it is such a wicked little bit of design. Most of the time I’ll use it as a woodburner but a Trangia burner will also slot inside perfectly (as will most homemade ‘coke can’ burners), and it can burn hexamine tabs too though that is probably irrelevant when travelling by bike for more than a few days..
I like my coffee in large volumes, especially when cycling, so I had to do a realistic test.. which meant filling the kettle to around 0.7l, a decent mugful. It reached a boil in about 10mins, which of course is not fast by the standards of a more conventional backpacking stove but I like those quiet moments by my tent in the mornings before packing my bike and hitting the road so I have no issue with the time. No doubt it’ll be a heap quicker if using a Trangia burner. So.. not only ideal for a brew it’s also going to be great for making some noodles, soup that kind of stuff. Really excited about this little widget :-)
mmmmm ………………….. still prefer my pizza oven – salt crust baked lamb this weekend!! not sure which wine yet!
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but it’s not titanium…
backpackinglight are a great family company. Bob tried very hard to get this built in the UK – sourcing a Ti company almost sent him to the grave. Have fun there Mike.
and yet it is such a brilliantly simple thing :-| Best bit of kit I’ve bought in a while!