Fire Safety -- Alcohol vs. ESBIT?

Currently, there are three active wildfires burning within a one hour drive of where I live.  None of these that I know of were caused by a hiker, but here's one that was:  The Hewlett Gulch Fire (you might want to turn the sound down if you're at work; he cusses under his breath).From a newspaper article:The U.S. Attorney's Office ... announced that Fort Collins resident [individual's name withheld] has been cited for causing timber to...

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Blog Status, 1 May 2013

Personal News Out of work again.  Sigh.  In my industry, IT, it seems that most work these days is project based work.  I just completed a four month contract where I was working sometimes seven days per week, sometimes to midnight or even later, but now I'm unemployed.  Such is life.  At least the project was successful.I'm ready for a break, but I hope I'll find work soon.  The extra time will hopefully help me get...

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Canister Gas Stoves -- Recommendations and Efficiency

I got a note recently, below.  I responded individually, but there were some good questions, so I thought I'd expand just slightly and turn it into a blog post. Hi Jim, It was great meeting you at the GGG at Henry Coe [State Park].  Just wanted to ask - what's your current best (good fuel efficiency, low CO emissions, low weight, etc.) sit on top canister stove, and your current favorite remote stove (the Kovea Spider or other)? ...

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The Epicurean Ti ESBIT Stove

ESBIT is a common backpacking fuel.  ESBIT consists of hexamethylenetetramine, which is usually just called hexamine.  ESBIT is generally acknowledged to be the lightest weight method of cooking for backpackers.  In other words, if you want to lighten up, ESBIT might just be the fuel for you.A typical 14g cube of ESBITBut cooking with ESBIT is typically either all or nothing -- it's either burning or it's not -- unless you have an...

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A Little (Reactor) Levity from MSR

The MSR Reactor is of course a serious stove for those who travel into difficult conditions -- but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with it -- as shown in the humorous video from MSR, below.An MSR Reactor Watch as supposed stove czar "Randy" compares the Jetboil to the Reactor. Fortunately for that poor intern's sake, this video is mainly humorous and not real -- but there's some real content there. In winds that will blow out...

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Canister Stoves and Wind

I got a note from someone recently: Hey Jim, I'm really enjoying your adventures in stoving website. I'm new to canisters, obviously, so I'm trying to play catch-up. I'm sure this is answered somewhere on BPL or on your website. But would you mind answering these 2 newbie questions? 1) Can the flame on a canister stove get blown out by the wind? 2) In your experience, is a windscreen valuable on an upright canister stove? This is assuming the windscreen...

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Blog Status, 4 April 2013

Things are going reasonably well here at Adventures in Stoving.  We just passed half a million site views in early March, about 2 years after starting.  Readership was over 40,000 site views last month which is the highest it's been since I had to put the blog essentially on hold April 2012 - January 2013 while I worked a job that required me to commute 100 miles a day.  I'm now working closer to home, and I'm able to get back to blogging.Speaking...

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