Merry Christmas

Hope Santa was good to you!

Super lite paper towel

My wife found these in Wal-Mart today. Cost $1 per package of eight. They weigh .1 ounce each. A whole package of them is less than one ounce. Once soaked in water, it produces an almost full size paper towel. Perfect for after dinner clean up. And they are biodegradeable to boot.

~Happy Trails

Home made oven

Quick Tip - Condiments

No need to load your pockets with packs of ketchup from your favorite fast food joint anymore. Now there is a great place to get almost any condiment that you can think of. They have everything from fudge frosting to A-1 Steak Sauce. Be sure to check them out.

http://www.minimus.biz/

~Happy Trails

3 Day Menu

I am getting ready for a 60 mile trek on the North-South Trail through Land Between the Lakes. I wanted to post my menu for any new hikers so they could get an idea of what they might carry. Weight will be my biggest concern since I want to complete this trail in just 3 days.

~Happy Trails

Brownie Mix

My wife sent me to the grocery tonight to pick up some items for her holiday baking. While scanning the isle, I came across this brownie mix. Once I removed it from the packaging, it weighed 3.6 oz. Will try it out in my backpack oven in the next couple of days and report the findings. Looks like it could be tasty.

Followup:

Got to make these for a midnight snack. Let's just say that I have found a quick and easy dessert. I was a little worried since the package said "Important: Do Not Bake". After 20 minutes in my small oven, I spread the fudge topping on and enjoyed a wonderful treat. This has earned a place on my next trip!

~Happy Trails

Quick Tip - Noodles

I dehydrate a lot of my own meals for the trail. Several that I make need noodles. Now I could cook regular noodles at home and the dehydrate those for my meals but find it easier to just open a pack of Ramen noodles. Set the seasoning to the side and use the noodles for my meal. They are ready to eat within five minutes of touching the water. Most of the time they are done before the rest of my meal is ready. Noodles quick and easy.

~Happy Trails

Granola Cereal

Purchase:

Low fat kroger brand granola cereal w/out raisens 18oz box $2.39
Frozen Rasberrys $3.35
Powdered Milk Kroger brand $2.19
Oatmeal - $1.99

Dehydrate frozen rasberries.
At home mix in Ziploc bag:

1 cup granola
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup powder milk
Rasberries

On Trail:
Mix with scant cup of water hot or cold. Let stand for 5 minutes. Enjoy

Alcohol Stoves vs. MSR Pocket Rocket

Well, I spent several hours of my Sunday afternoon testing alcohol stoves. Two that Craig had loaned me and two that I had made in the garage. I am on a quest to lighten my pack load as much as possible before an upcoming 60 mile trek through Land Between the Lakes.

You can see the test results here.


After the tests, I am convinced that you cannot get lighter than the MSR pocket rocket. I have read claim after claim that alcohol is the very lightest that there is. IF you are comparing just the stove, this is true. The Pepsi can stove that I built weighed in at just .6 oz. However, then you have to add the pot support and windscreen to the mix. The pot support that I tested with weighed in at 1 oz. and .5 oz for the windscreen. This brings you in at a weight of 2.1 oz for the stove. That seems to beat the Pocket Rocket weight of 3 oz by almost an ounce. But then you have to compare the fuel.

A Jet Boil canister weighs in at 6.8 oz. when new. I haven't had a chance to test how many cups of water you can boil over the life of the canister but I can base my results on many years of trail experience.

Using one ounce of alcohol per cup of water seems to be the norm and is what I used for my tests. With the Pepsi can stove the boil time was 7:10 and the total burn time was 10:48. One ounce of alcohol weighs ~1oz. So with a 7 oz bottle you could boil enough water for just 7 meals assuming each meal only needs one cup of water. So with fuel weight figured the Pepsi can stove weighs in at 9.1 oz.

MSR Pocket Rocket with fuel weighs in at 9.8 and I can boil more than 7 cups of water. Not to mention a boil time of 2:15.

Conclusion:

Ounce for ounce the Pocket Rocket wins hands down. Try your own test and see what you find! I would love to debate alcohol stoves vs the Rocket with anyone willing but I will be sticking to the Rocket for now.

Trail Coffee

Who can do without their coffee in the morning? Well....this isn't Starbucks but here is something that I hit on recently. For the last year I have been carrying a Jetboil stove. I broke down and purchase the java press to match. Best thing I have bought in a while. Be careful with this. During the test at home, I managed to boil it over and create a real mess not to mention the boiling water going everywhere.

Using the Jetboil, add a scant two cups water and a heaping tablespoon of coffee. (I use the same coffee that we use in our coffee maker at home.) A five finger pinch = 1 tablespoon. Bring water to boil and reduce heat. Simmer for one minute. Be careful not to boil over! Use java press. Enjoy!

Backpacking Oven

Made from simple disposable baking pans that I picked up at the grocery. Cooks for two and weighs 1.6 ozs.

Chicken and Dumplings

I purchased canned chicken at the grocery and dehydrated. Place dehydrated chicken in ziploc bag. In separate ziploc bag, place dry ingredients of Bisquick or similar mix. Follow directions on box to figure out how much you need. I used 1 cup mix + 1/6 cup milk powder.

On the trail:

Place chicken in pot with ~2 cups water. Bring to boil. While waiting on this to boil, add water to Bisquick bag, close, and knead until well mixed. Cut one corner from the bag to form a make shift cake decorating bag. Once water is at full boil, squeeze Bisquick mix out though the corner into the water. When all dumplings have been added, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season to taste.

Happy Trails!

Diffucult to Find

It seems difficult to me to find good food for backpacking. Yes you can buy it pre-packaged at any hiking store but it is expensive and tastes like cardboard half the time. So I will use this site to help collect and organize meals and recipes.