BOREDOM… Pictures:Gear (14.8 lbs)

"nfortunately now that I'm back in school it is going to be harder to get out."

i was gunna say if you're that bored go do an overnighter! i think theres an article on bpl about 24hour trips.

Okay, some of the pics are big (try resizing to 450 pixels wide), but I's sure glad you were bored. That's very instructive to see the gear all contained and then set out.

Had to revert to my high school years of html, thankfully I remembered a little bit and got the giant pictures resized to a reasonable width.

For a while I took pictures of my kit all spread out just because I found it amazing that I could stuff all of it inside my pack.
Most of those pics are gone but this is the ULA AMP and HH 3 day kit :

The AMP is a 10 oz something pack…

Franco

Is this all the gear you own? Or just what you take?

Why on earth do you have so many stakes?

I own a lot more gear than what is shown, but this is what I take with me. In the summer I subtract some clothes and if its just a quick over nighter I usually only bring the boiling setup for FBC, but typically like cooking on trail. These reductions put me in the 12 – 12.5 lb range but I'm perfectly happy < 15 BW. I have so many stakes because I am very particular about my shelter setup. I like it to be 'rock solid'

Heres the run down on the stakes

10 ti Shepard's Hooks:
4-Corners of Polycro Groundsheet
4-Corners of YAMA bug net tent
2-Mid guylines on spinnshelter

4 D-Vac Stakes:
4-corners of spinnshelter (have not had pull in high wind loose soil like ti hooks)

2 Coghlans ultralight 9"
2-Ridgeline Stakes

2 Wooden Skewers
2-Mid section of bug tent (shock cord and stakes help hold the walls out giving more elbow room.)

Cool looking baking setup. How well does it work? Does it work similar to the bakepacker?

This baking setup works well and is decently efficient to boot. It uses the exact same steam baking principle as the bakepacker.

The only thing that I do not like about this particular setup is the pot size. I've tried baking in a plastic bag but the pot gets too hot and the ziplock freezer bag melts where it is touching the side walls. I've also tried parchment paper once and it wet out and fell apart due to the batter. Finally after searching all over I found some silicone muffin molds at Kohl's and these seem to do the trick. However you are limited to cooking only a small amount of batter at once (one muffin), which is kind of a PITA!

Thanks for the info, I'll have to give it a try some time. Searching online, I see some "jumbo" muffin cups that might work with a larger pot.

I was looking into making a baking set up when i found this perfect single muffin silicone mold in the back of a drawer in my kitchen! Its a perfect size for a large single serve muffin and fits nice in my EN 900. All i need to do is put a small flat rock in the bottom of the pot and it balances well. Only downside is it weights about .9oz.

travis, how much do your silicon cups weigh?

Jason,
My silicone cups are these ones

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/foodnetwork_new/bake/PRD~965974/Food+Network+Reusable+Silicone+Baking+Cups.jsp

I paid $10 for 6 at Kohls, a little steep but couldn't find them anywhere else. They weigh in at 8.3 grams or .3 oz a piece.

Its hard to tell how deep yours is, but mine are only the size of a normal paper baking cup.

mine is 3 1/4" tall and 4" wide at the top and tapers down to 2" at the bottom.

Its perfect for solo use for one hearty sized muffin. obviously just one at a time

Hi Travis,

I noticed you have a Led Lenser H7R headlamp, it's a nice bright lamp.

Yes it is very bright, 196 Lumen for 4.4 oz! Plus I like that you can adjust intensity as low as 3 lumen to save on battery life when you don't need a SPOT light.

Do you use any kind of simmer ring/cover on the stove to bake or is the heat deflector sufficient enough?

Why do you bring the water funnel? Could you use a piece of panty hose over the bottle openings instead?

Ben,
I do not use any kind of simmer ring on my alcohol stove. I simply put 3/4 oz of fuel in my stove and use it in combination with the caldera cone and the bottom of a pie tin cut out for a bottom deflector and let it burn full force. When the fuel is gone I wait about 5 minutes before removing the lid and wa-la, a perfect biscuit!

Raquel,
Panty-Hoes would have been a sufficient prefilter, and lighter. But I liked the ease of filling a water bottle with the funnel. It fit both a water bottle and a wide mouth nalgene perfectly. However I just bought a sawyer squeeze, and this is will be the only filtering device I will carry. The reason I am doing away with the chemical treatment is because I prefer to drink at the source immediately upon collection. The 5 minute mix time and 15 minute wait time is a little annoying.

I have one myself which I have been using for a year or so, I was surprised when you said it was 200 lumens, I looked up the Led Lenser site and it said it was 150 lumens, still great.

Stephen,

Mine may be a little different than yours. The one I have is made by coast not led lenser. Other than the brand name I don't think the lights are any different. Cant believe one is marketed at 150 and the other at 196…
Here is a link to the light that I have http://www.coastportland.com/hl7-led-headlamp.htm

I'm making the move to chemical treatment from UV to save on weight and was curious how your aquamira bottles work. I read everywhere that part A is photo sensitive, but for the life of me I can't locate opaque 15ml dropper bottles. Had any issues so far?

Travis,

Bored? There is a hammock hang set for October 12, 13, 14 on the Manistee River Trail. Should be close to you and would be a good opportunity to see that subset of backpacking, even if you have no interest in going down that road. If interested, go to hammockforums.com and look under Forums / Trip / Michigan Hang 'em High. You might even be able to catch a ride; there are some folks from Midland coming.

Paul

Jacob,
I keep the AM dropper bottles in the back pocket of my pack, so they are out of the sunlight most of the time. Sometimes when I get camp setup I leave them out laying around and I have not had any issues what so ever. Even after being left out in the sun at camp a couple of times when mixed the solution still turns yellow. While I am not certified to comment on it's effectiveness after long exposure to sunlight I would assume that it still works since I've never been sick.

Paul,
Thanks for the heads up, I might have to check that out. In fact I just made a DIY underquilt! The MRT is a nice area and I'm sure the fall colors will be extravagant.

Jacob, US Plastics has a great collection of mini-droppers for your pre mixed AM drops. I have found that my pre mix solution stays bright yellow for well over a day in a black mini-dropper bottle. I love the AM method for shaving weight and treating my water. I have got a system down that when I have drank one water bottle down to near 1/4 – 1/3 full I will scoop more water and treat and by the time I am done with my partially full bottle, the next one has had over 30 min of treatment time. I just repeat the process throughout the day. I pre mix enough AM first thing in the morning to last all day, and keep the little dropper in my hip belt pocket for easy access.

Travis,
Thanks for sharing! As much as I make fun of every 'john doe' who starts his youtube video with (and make sure to read this with a nasally, goofy voice) "ok, uhhh, so uh today we're gonna take a look in my pack that I'm uhh gonna take on my three-day ridge hike…", I REALLY enjoy getting a peak into everyone's gear!

couple of questions:

What are the two different jackets in the clothing shot?
And how do you like using an umbrella? Especially in MI?

Thanks!