Camping – Page 17 – Clive's Blog

More Weight Saving

28 January 2014 / Camping, Outdoor Gear / Alpkit, lightweight backpacking, lightweight stove, outdoor gear

I packed some of my lightweight backpacking kit for this trip – to use whilst walking – and to review with the idea of saving some more weight for this year’s backpacking trips.

Wind shield, chopping board and stove board

My current stove wind shield is a commercial aluminium model that I cut on half. It works well with my meths stove but was useless for my MSR Pocket Rocket as it was too short and not quite tall enough for my new Alpkit Kraku stove.

I decided to replace this wind shield with something taller and ideally something lighter.

I bought two platters, made from heavy duty aluminium foil from a pound shop (2 for a £). Once I had cut off the lip I could flatten one of them out and I cut a 15cm x 30cm panel. To make it a bit more rigid I folded a small lip around the edge. I then folded this into a four panel wind shield.

Weight saved
Old wind shield 81g
New wind shield 26g

I use a small wooden board under my meths stove. When I originally cut the board I also used it under my Crusader stove, which is larger. It was time to cut the board to the right size.

Weight saved
Old board 38g
New board 23g

I was using a cut down plastic wall tile as a cutting board, I swapped this out for a plastic lid from a pot of fruit. It is about 9cm in diameter and the lip is useful to stop bits rolling off when I use it.

Weight saved
Old cutting board 18g
New cutting board 4g

I am no longer going to carry the case that I used to store all three items in – another 9g saved.

Total weight saved 93g – every gram counts.

Alpkit Kraku Backpacking Gas Stove

20 January 2014 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Travel / Alpkit, Alpkit Kraku, Aviemore, Craigellachie National Nature Reserve, lightweight backpacking, lightweight camping, lightweight stove, MSR titanium mug, outdoor gear, Scotland

First use of the Alpkit Kraku Backpacking Gas Stove

It was my first opportunity today to use the new Alpkit Kraku gas stove. It is very small and I carried a small gas canister to make it a very portable unit. The small size of the burner unit does mean that some care must be taken when fixing it to the gas canister, it can cross thread very easily and if over tightened the shoulder of the valve can jamb on the lip of the gas canister. Once together and the pot supports are set up it does make a very stable stove. I used my MSR titanium mug with lid on it and it sat very well. Once lit, it only took a couple of minutes for the water to come to a rolling boil – I had the stove set up in a very sheltered spot and I was using a wind shield. In the photos you can see the pot support glowing cherry red.

The actual flame head is also quite small, especially compared with my previous MSR Pocket Rocket, it worked well under my mug and I am sure it will work under my Alpkit MiTiMug but I expect it will struggle with a larger pot. It probably will not deliver enough heat for group cooking. When I go camping later in the year I will try it out with the small frying pan I use when static camping. However I bought this as a personal backpacking stove where weight is everything and it is considerably lighter than the MSR stove and when camping on my own it should still be sufficient.

Overall (so far) I am very pleased with the Alpkit Kraku stove – it is very small and light. Well made and efficient – boiling a mug of water significantly quicker then if I had used my meths stove. Because it is so light I may be changing my backpacking habits and using a gas stove more than the ultralight Vargo titanium meth stove I currently use.

Here are some more detailed photos of the stove – More is less.

Here is the post about the walk where I used this stove.

Alpkit Kraku Backpacking Gas Stove Read More »

Walking today – Craigellachie National Nature Reserve Aviemore

20 January 2014 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Photography, Travel, Walking / Alpkit, Alpkit Kraku, Aviemore, backpacking food, Cairngorm Mountains, Cairngorms National Park, coffee, Craigellachie National Nature Reserve, food, hiking food, iPhone photography, IT Support for Lincolnshire, MSR titanium mug, Octagon Technology, outdoor gear, Scotland, tea, walking

With the weather forecast for the day being reasonably good, I decided not to waste any time driving but set off to Craigellachie National Nature Reserve – with a plan to go up onto the ridge and walk along the top.

The weather was great and relatively warm (for January in the Cairngorms), I did not need my gloves, hat or jumper nor did I need to zip my coat up until I got out into the wind on the exposed ridge and summits. One thing I did have on though was the new Helly Hansen Lifa Dry base layer Diana bought me – and it was excellent, it kept me warm, was comfortable to wear and did not absorb any sweat when I was warm so when I did need the insulation on the top, it worked.

Have you ever wondered who puts the rock steps in the footpaths? Well I met two of them today.

Rather than get my stove out to make a coffee, I took hot water in a thermal mug, for the first stop. I had a number Octagon Technology emails and texts to deal with – if there is one problem with the titanium mug I normally use is that on a longer break, like this one, the drink would get cold too quickly. But not when using a thermal mug. I had packed it for this trip having recently read a blog of a backpacker who used one to keep water hot for his late night hot chocolate. He boiled the water when he made his evening meal so it meant he could pack his stove and pots away for the night and still have a hot drink later. I bought my thermal mug a number of years ago but it has had little use but I am going to try it out on this trip and if it works out I may pack it for subsequent trips.

Lunch

Lunch was soup and crackers. I really like the “Squeeze and Stir” tomato soup but I have found it difficult to stir in and dissolve all the paste when I have been making it for lunch when walking and backpacking. I tend to use cup-a-soups which are really easy to make on the trail. But today I had a thermal mug. I put the paste in the mug and half filled it with boiling water. Then making sure the lid was on firmly I vigorously shook it. After about a minute I topped the mug up with more boiling water and I had perfect tomato soup – and once I was finished no messy mug to clean up, I just put the lid back on and packed it away.

click on the above image for a larger version

Walking today – Craigellachie National Nature Reserve Aviemore Read More »

More is less

7 January 2014 / Backpacking, Camping, Outdoor Gear, Photography / backpacking, iPhone photography, lightweight backpacking, lightweight stove, outdoor gear, Photos 2014

In my quest to carry a lighter backpack I have changed another piece of my lightweight backpacking kit.

Alpkit Kraku stove

This gas stove from Alpkit weighs just 45g plus a few grams for the bag – my previous MSR Pocket Rocket weighed 108g.

To show how small the stove is, Alpkit has a photo on their website comparing it to a AA cell battery (like above) however when I got the stove I was still surprised how light and small it really is. I will easily be able to pack this stove in the stuff sack that I carry most of my backpacking cooking gear in – the MSR stove was to big to fit.

The next thing to do is get out and test the stove – which I plan to do next Sunday morning.

Website updates

5 January 2014 / Backpacking, Camping, Outdoor Gear, Photography / backpacking, iPhone photography, lightweight backpacking, outdoor gear, Photos 2014

Today I have added a page for this year’s backpacking gear to the site. It includes the good, the bad and the ugly of last year’s gear, and the changes to the kit for 2014… so far! See the page here.

Website updates Read More »

Christmas Backpacking Gear Update

1 January 2014 / Backpacking, Camping, Outdoor Gear / backpacking, lightweight backpacking, lightweight camping, outdoor gear

I got a selection of new outdoor kit for Christmas – which has lightened my backpack even further, taking nearly 500g off the total.

Blacks Camp Pillow

I have hopefully got the solution to my pillow problems. Having used three different types of inflatable pillows over the last couple of years I think I may now have a durable, lightweight solution.

It is not inflatable so it cannot fail like the other pillows, having tried it out at home it is very comfortable.

Although it looks large it compresses well and rolls back into a fitted pocket. If I then pack this with my spare clothes and sleeping bag in a compression sack it takes up far less room in my backpack than the previous Vango pillow. This pillow is also much lighter then the Vango pillow – something lighter is always a good idea.

Craghoppers Kiwi Convertible Trousers

I needed a new pair of trousers for outdoor use and having looked at a variety of lightweight outdoor trousers I still went back to my favourites the Craghoppers Kiwi Convertible Trousers. I have several pairs of these, in various states of repair – good ones for work and two battered pairs that I have been using for camping and backpacking for a number of years, one of these I had to repair in the summer where the cloth had frayed through use, hence the new pair.

One improved feature of the latest design is a larger second pocket in the cargo pocket that will now hold my mobile phone.

Unfortunately Blacks offered these trousers in only two colours, as I use dark blue ones for work I bought the tan ones – I would have preferred something a bit darker for outdoors use.

Blacks Turbo Gas Lighter

This item is a bit heavier then the refillable Bic lighter I was using, but this lighter has a very strong flame that does not blow out in windy conditions – that’s why it earns a place in my cooking kit.

The webbing strap I thought was useful, but it was secured to the lighter with a bit of useless Velcro, so I have stitched the strap onto the lighter.

Gadget Gloves

I had been planning to buy some lightweight gloves this winter to wear under my larger thermal gloves and to use in the summer when the winter gloves are a bit extreme. Diana bought me these, the light coloured finger tips work on the screen of my iPhone so I do not need to take them off to take a photo or check the map.

Helly Hanson Lifa Dry Thermal Underwear

Diana had bought me a Helly Hanson under shirt for my birthday – and completed the set for Christmas and added a second set (usefully in another colour).

This underwear is state of the art in keeping people warm. Having tried it out, it is very comfortable and warm.