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CAMPING AND HIKING ADVICE
It seems that when you make the gear more important than the experience, you've already lost part of the experience. Your outdoor gear is because of the experience - your chance to connect to this amazing natural world around us in observation of nature. Your choice of camping gear should be determined upon practicality, safety, basic needs and cost efficiency. If you're choosing gear because it's cool, high-tech, better-than-someone-elses or it costs a bundle, then your outdoor experience is for reasons other than connecting to our natural environment and you're missing out on one of the best experiences for the improvement of your life.
Following are the essentials to pack along on your trip in nature and some tips to make your choice:
STOVES FOR CAMPING
Even if you want to cook over an open fire, it's very difficult to do for all
your meals. It takes longer and produces some burnt food no matter how skilled
you get at it. You're encouraged to try some foods on the campfire - it will
definitely add to the adventure. The product list at the bottom of the page shows a couple of different products to assist with campfire cooking - but practicality comes into play for your cooking needs, so a stove is a pretty strong necessity. Camping and backpacking stoves are best categorized into fuel types. Once you get an idea of the difference the fuel makes, the rest is personal preferences for the stove that's best for you.
BUTANE
Good choice for car camping or weekend backpacking since disposing of
canisters doesn't pose much of a problem in these situations.
Pressurized canister attaches to stove and is punctured to let loose
vapourized gas.
Pros
- Clean burning
- easy to start - light match and turn burner on
- commonly found
Cons
- doesn't work well in cold temperatures or high altitudes (above 15,000')
- empty canisters need to be disposed of in appropriate recycling centres
- cannot easily determine how much fuel is left
PROPANE
Pros
- better then butane in cold temperatures
- produces one of the cleanest flames
- flame is easy to adjust
- easy to use and start - light match and turn on fuel
- easily found
Cons
- have to carry empty cannisters and dispose of appropriately
- not very compact
BUTANE/PROPANE
This one is a blend of fuels which offers a higher octane, resulting in the ability to run at lower temperatures (as low as 14F/10C)
Pros
- generally more compact than propane stoves
Cons
- empty cannisters need to be carried to dispose of properly
- replacement cannisters hard to get
- higher cost for stove and cylinders
WHITE GAS
Most popular for the backpacker
White gas is a highly refined gasoline
Coleman fuel is the most common white gas brand which is widely available at most hardware and sporting goods stores
These types of stoves need to be primed which involves pumping the stove to pressurized contents of fuel bottle; preheating fuel cup with a bit of gas or priming paste; once flame starts going down and fuel cup is hot, open valve for gas and the stove is ready for cooking.
Pros
- superior heat output, especially in wind and cold
- no cannisters to buy
- gas is inexpensive to buy
- can buy models that run on various types of fuel like unleaded gas (will clog up stove eventually), kerosene and diesel; this is especially useful if travelling to areas where white gas isn't available
Cons
- higher priced stoves to buy
- requires priming to start
MORE INFO TO COME!
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