What homemade gear do you take with on every outing?

I wired two small pieces of ridgerest sleeping pad together that I use primarily as a cozy but also as a sit and kneeling pad. It weighs 1.25 ounces.

I always take it with me.

David, how big are the pieces of pad? good idea.

heres a video of a recent burn:

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y120/cadyak/fire%20mug/?action=view&current=may2010001.mp4

I take my 4oz titanium wood stove, my pot cozy, my 3.5 oz camp sandals and my mintyboost rechargeable 5V USB supply for charging my MP3, GPS, Camera and Phone. It also powers my stove fan when I use it.

If outing means overnight:
pack
pack cover/gear hammock/water bag
hammock, bug net & fly
quilt
cook set(windscreen, lid, cozy/storage sack, burner when using alcohol. sometimes Heinie pot, otherwise boughten)
pullover vest
gaiters
sometimes hiking pole from painting stick

If outing means day trips:
day pack
gaiters

This does not count boughten items heavily modified.

Windshirt from thru-hiker, penny alcohol stove, hiking poles made from golf club shafts, stuffsacks…

Garrett,
Pack, camp chair, ti wind screen for SP GP stove, all stuff sacks, and tent (partly myog). Am working on a completely MYOG tent, a lighter pack and a sleeping bag.
Sam F.

1 oz pot cozy sewed from fleece. It is sized for my boil in a bag meals.

camp sandals made from shoe insoles and kelty triptease cord, 0.9 oz each sandal.

Both are indispensable on every trip. Will be using them tomorrow night.

My SUL Ti multi-tool. It's a spoon, a shoe horn, and a potty trowel. Weighs 0.24 ounces.

Pack (one of several, depending on the trip). Shell pants. Every snow trip – insulated jacket/pants, booties and overbooties.

I take my homemade fleece balaclava and fleece fingerless gloves. Also my Ray Jardine bomber hat. I haven't decided if I like it better than my balaclava or not.

– homemade pot cozy (if using esbit)
– homemade pot lid
– homemade gaiters
– homemade bowl (most times)
– homemade stove
– homemade windscreen
– modified Chacos (and if my homemade hiking sandals work out, I'll use those instead. As my pimary shoes!)
– homemade pouch for holding maps and "office" things
– altered clothing (I like to make modificiations)

Brent –

The cozy/sit pad is two pieces of 1/2" Ridgerest pad cut to 7"x10" and wired together at the corners.

Works really well and is very light.

Thanks David.
I have one that is cut up for use as a pack frame.
I was trying to think of a way that I could re-attach them together at night to use as a full length pad.

Hey Brent… Any thoughts of mass production and distribution?

Always thinking about it. Just havent figured out the best way to do it yet. I have had some success locally through my friends traditional archery business. Hunters seem to love them. Thanks for asking.

Pack
Tent
Jacket
Vest
Shirt
Shorts
Pants
Windscreen
Sleeping bag
Hat
Pillowcase and pillow
Fingerless gloves
Gaiters
Insulated booties

Off the top of my head, I use my cat food can stove, which fits into my MSR Titan Kettle, which fits inside the homemade stand/pot holder Timo came across from Ikea (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=27176)

I've been using the holder in a dual fuelmethod: I can place the can stove at the bottom, with lowered titanium tent stakes to hold the kettle, or I can raise the stakes (no pun intended) and use it to burn small twigs to warm my food, then let the twigs burn out in the bottom safely. I take about 1/3 the fuel as I used to (denatured alcohol).

Dug
http://thf2.wordpress.com

I use myog stuff sacks made out of .60oz/sqyd cuben fiber for most of my gear. Food, clothes, ditty bag, stake sack. . .the green one is a zpacks. I also bring a simple esbit stove and stand. A wind shirt and quilt from thru-hiker are next.

My Hammock and rigging system
Heiny Pot cook system
Gravity Filter

There will be more DIY gear that i bring as soon as i get my lazy ass in gear and make it!!!

1.5oz volcano kettle. 12 oz of boiling water in 6 mins with 10g alcohol under freezing windy conditions.

.

Wish I'd had David's sit mat with me.

My Make Your Own Gear

Pack, Tarp, Bivy,

Top quilt, Bear/Food bag,

Stuff sacks for clothing, food and cook kit.

Party On,

Newton

I love the Ikea and the coffee mug wood stoves.

I use something very similar. My latest version is made out of stainless steel and rolls up so it fits in my evernew narrow bottom 700 ml. I honestly don't use it much for cooking though. While it's great as a backup stove I usually just use it for the joys of campfire without having to gather and process large amounts of firewood or scorching a lot of gorund. After I'm done there's litterally no trace.

I like to think of mine a glorified burn barrel or a glorified fire ring. While I have experimented with forced air and wood gas. Bottom line I just love the simplicity of a single piece wood stove.

The key thing to these wood stoves is the incredible efficiency of the round designs at reflecting heat and moving air. This is what makes them burn really hot and clean.

Other factors are the

1) the cone shape… which gains some efficiency and intensity reflecting heat back down and focusing it, especially for cooking.

2) height, the more height the more convection the quicker the burn and more heat. It's that simple. Rocket stove concept. Of course the taller the more unstable, but a titanium stake or two works wonders for stability.

3) holes / airflow: Honestly i don't think one can have two many airholes. I thought about putting this to the test and making it out of mesh just to try it. Would be more suseptible to wind but it just might work awesome and would be very lightweight.

4) diameter: the bigger the diameter the bigger the sticks the longer the burn, but the less efficient

Personally I have one big idea I'm thinking about.

I'm planning to just get a nice long coil of thin titanium sheeting about 7" wide, perhaps to thin for a stove, but thick enough for a windscreen and make cottage cheese out of it. I can then double layer it and put bobby pins or titanium stakes through it thereby adjusting the diameter of the stove and making it extremely solid. It'd be able to go from 3 or 4" up to perhaps 8" across. This would allow me to vary my stove diameter based on how I intend to use it. Wether that be a narrow / efficient cooking fire or a extra wide fire.

It will also be able to accomidate virtually any size pot. Right now my fav is the Evernew 700, but I also have a kmart pot I love and I think in the future I may get an MSR Titan for winter use.

Perhaps we need to spin this off into a new wood stove thread again. ;)

BTW, I also cary a lot of MYOG. Favorite items are

1) my bicycle frame bag that fits in the main triangle of my touring bike. It's my equivelent of an UL backpack: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/5152657635/

2) wood stove, as mentioned above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/5153270894/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/5069282169/

3) my $18 DIY wing tarp: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/5154616683/

And I'm sure there are a half dozen other things, but those are the big three.

I looked at your wing tarp, nice

What are you showing us with this piece of wood?