Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Lunch on the trail

I'm tellin ya... Pemmican...

True. I remember people using ZipZtoves where they burned wood chips and twigs years ago. Wonder if they still make them? As long as you are in a wooded area fuel is theorhetically unlimited and free.

I don't think I could make due with a wood burning stove with high sierra hiking. There is just too much time spent above 10,000 feet.

I once met a guy in the hills of West Virginia who made dew with a wood burning stove.

Dale B. Dalrymple
http://dbdimages.com

...and did you get a taste of that "dew"?

saltydog mentioned the Zip Ztove a while back, so I looked it up. Here's the link with pictures and videos included:

    Pressure Cookers on WhitneyZone

Two big improvements over the Zip now available. Wood gas stoves burn cleaner, steadier and longer than the Zip. The second one is really cheap, light, no batteries, motor or fan. Pack your lunch in it and cook in your cup. Plenty of fuel for these above treeline including your accumulated paper and plastic trash or previous night's charcoal.

http://www.woodgas-stove.com/

http://cgi.ebay.com/BACKPACKING-CAMPING-...#ht_1160wt_1051
(also available without the pot set)

I'll take my Dragonfly with 22oz of fuel on a 10 day trip over something like the wood burning stoves anytime. I just can't see the advantage of them. What if it rains??

To each . . .Rain, shmain. I'll take a little reliance on wilderness craft over two pounds of metal and gasoline. Advantages include weight, space, and absolute dead simple mechanical reliability. Silence. Renewable free fuel. Hot lunch. The simplest one I have is the size of a quart paint can and weighs 8 or 9 ounces. Since it runs on gasification principle, fuel burns in two stages: the wood (or pine needles, pine cones twigs, duff etc) gasifies and burns to charcoal, then the charcoal burns. Put it out after stage 1 and keep the char to get you through that shower or next cold camp, or find plenty of dry stuff under the top layers of duff. Or enjoy a mini camp flame* and make enough char for the next day or two or three. Carrying it with a full charge of fuel adds only a few ounces, less than that 22oz Sigg bottle empty.


*Its a stove, so I don't consider it a "fire" for purposes of wilderness regulations.

I'm sure that if you carry all your own fuel for your trips, the rangers might consider it a stove too.

In some of the fire restricted areas of the High Sierra, it will take a few centuries of global warming for duff to form.

Dale B. Dalrymple

Without helmet, goggles and ice: zoom in on the far, far right.
http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/11610/
or for both the bio:
http://dbdimages.com

Dale B. Dalrymple

Favorite lunch: tuna in the pouch, mustard packets from mcdonalds, pita bread from trader joes. Light, flat, not dry, and the tuna pouch is an excellent "trash bag" for mustard packets and any other trash.

Fancy dijon mustard is also a good variation as is salmon and some of the pre seasoned fish in a pouch.

Might be too simple for most on these boards, but I find it really great for spur of the moment hikes. Plus I can eat it almost every day just by changing the condiment.

(Hate mayo so my bias is always towards mustard)

Cheers!

Wow, dbd, you look like an entirely different person standing on the pier. What an amazing transformation. Your avatar reminds me of a character in the movie, "Around the World in 80 Days".