minimus.biz makes it easier to stock up without feeling like a thief - or running the risk of having taco sauce bust in your purse and anoint your wallet. (My mom can be so annoying, swiping packets to take home because she liked their sauce. Now that you can buy it in stores she still swipes!)
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
I confess to not being so saintly and proper. I re-use disposable cups until they die, usually quick when there's a kid running around the camp with his cup of cocoa in hand. Less quick when used and rinsed by adults. And as I said - I don't use them backpacking. I don't see why you'd have a problem with recycling, but as jim says, YMMV.
I have three travel mugs and they gather together at work in a corner until I remember to take them home. Sometimes having a few extra stand ins is handy.
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
Personally, I can't aford nice new gear and found that the trade off's when using disposables are unacceptable. So I first look around the house for things that I can take and then think of the weight. After going "lightweight",by making much of my own gear, I'm much happier with the load that is on my back. I also find it fun to make gear, test it and if it doesn't work, well I've learned something anyway. I would love to own a new Clark hammock setup but my DIY hammock works fine. My popcan stove and heine pot have served me well. I've learned so much from this site and from most of those that post on this site. I'm certainly no expert and have respect for those that are experts here. Namely Jim S. Jason K. Phat and on and on. On another note,FYI, I was walking with a group the other day and met some people that get to bpack way more than me in places I dream of being able to go someday. The converstation migrated to sites like this. Some feel that there is too much picky disagreements and banter on sites like this. I'm guilty of it myself and have regreted it to the point of making ammends thru a P.M. Everyone should take all this info with a grain of salt. It's easy to hammer someone that you've never met. But I think once you met them you would probably find a lot in common. My point, Let's play nice in the sandbox.
I thoroughly enjoyed Jason's "free gear" video. As always, he presented some great ideas in saving weight and money. This may not be for everyone, nor would these ideas be utilized each and every time a person goes backpacking. To me, that's the beauty behind going UL. You don't always use the same kit. You make it fit the situations that you expect to encounter on the trail at that specific time and place. For instance, if its summer and no rain chances, you leave the raingear at home. You don't have to go prepared for every possible situation. What UL hikers learn is that you can do more with less and use the best piece of equipment that you can take on any backpacking trip, YOUR BRAIN. As far as UL equipment being less durable, I take exception with this notion. Sure, the material that UL equipment is made of is lighter and won't stand up to excessive abuse, but it will stand up to NORMAL wear and tear quite well if you treat it with normal care. Again, you take the equipment necessary for the situation at hand. Oz
I see a lot of people with tea light stoves and stuff like Jason was talking about. I have homeless friends who live in tents near here all year round, and they heat their tents with candles and heat water on them as well. They like to set up a dome tent then put a refective layer and a couple of woll blankets over it, the add the rain cover. They say they burn candles all night long. They drink coffee out of what ever cup I bring them, but they use metal spoons so they won't melt in the fire.
There are olde timer get togethers, and all kinds of ways of camping and I think we should each Camp Our Own Camp COOC. I have gone native, camped with just a fork and a sleeping bag, camped with nothing, nothing but a knife and 2 matches, etc. I consider these to be special fun camping challenges.
What I was wondering in the original post is - Is there a New Thing in the UL community to camp with "found" gear? I meant for it to be a harmless question.
Jim YMMV (your mileage may vary)
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
What I was wondering in the original post is - Is there a New Thing in the UL community to camp with "found" gear? I meant for it to be a harmless question.
Well, I'm hurt. Just kidding! Hopefully no one has taken offense to any of the postings here.
In regard to the question, I don't think there's a new desire in the UL community to camp with "found" gear; I think it's an old one. In attempt to be more innovative, you must look at all that surrounds you (including "found" gear) in a different light. Then you post your ideas to great forums such as this one, and it just might snowball from there. Also, perhaps one persons "found" gear is entirely new to another - right?
Did you read the story in Back Packer a few years ago about two guys who hiked the Lost Coast? Maybe wrong name - along Vancouver island where all the ships used to go down going into Puget Sound. I think they took matches sleeping bags and tarps and found everything else including pots and pans and food? Maybe they took food, but the point is - they did without until they found something useful beach combing.
As one who has spent considerable time hitch hiking around the world, not completely around. I have learned that within 100 yards of any place along a road you will find any number of useful items including wire, bottles, cans, and just a whole bunch of unexpected useful items like nails, dead cats, and steel street sweeper bristles - the locksmiths favorite. Often a digital watch, calculater, pen, ski pole, who knows. Kind of a scavenger hunt camping trip along civilised byways - like my homeless friends.
I guess my style is more to take a few pieces of indestructable gear and expect them them to be there and work when I need them, but then thats just my $.02.
Climbers are always playing with doing something new. Like being the first one to climb everest in a day solo naked while shunning all fixed ropes. I could see someone claiming a prize like - the first one to hike the AT with no gear at all and never took a bath!
How bout a new idea then - the "SIX" things camping list.
You can add anything actually found along the road or given to you on the way to the trailhead. I suggest locating a water bottle early on and filling it. You might start the search for food early on. Perhaps some road kill wrapped in a bisquick dough and baked over low coals? Pygmys like to collect tadpoles and slugs and steam them in a bannana leaf! Jim P.S> Actually isn't a lot of this about the concept of Do It Yourself camping? Made it or found it somehow perhaps being a connection to deeper Native American ideas?
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
Yes but, did the Native Americans have bisquick? Just think what they could have created!
You're right about finding 'road treasures'. Thru my biking, I have come across all sorts of things. Found a pair of jeans once that were my size! I had those jeans for years.
P.S> Actually isn't a lot of this about the concept of Do It Yourself camping? Made it or found it somehow perhaps being a connection to deeper Native American ideas?
It reminds me of wilderness survival or bushcraft ideas.
This bush pilot and inuit woman crash and have to walk out because they weren't on their planned route. He is dependant entirely on western stuff. She keeps getting everything from the land. Really cool. There is this scene where they discover a crashed plane and he goes a little nuts thinking they need and could use alot of the stuff, most of which would be much use unless they needed to change a tire. She makes him bury it all with the dead pilot, so he will have his tools in the next life. Way cool movie.
Jim, Interesting about the homeless. I've thought about it myself. I haven't experimented with candles much but I guess as long as there is some ventilation for air you should be o.k. I think there is gonna be more of this in the future and people need to get over the Disneyland mentality. Don't get me wrong. I liked disneyland when I was able to take the family on vacation. But now a vacation would be out of the question. As far as found gear, the survivorman show, (when I had cable), would utilize whatever he had on hand. And that's exactly what the homeless learn to do pretty quickly or not survive. So, even though I like my few pieces of highly engineered gear. I'm happy with DIY.
Yikes guys! There are so many things going on in this thread that I'm getting sensory overload and don't even know what to respond to! Lots of great comments, ideas, and opinions.
Jim, I think your idea of "found gear" might be more appealing to the majority of people. Someone mentioned buying a cup of coffee on the way to the trailhead and using that in camp and I like that idea--clearly not stealing and also recycling (or at least re-using). Using stuff from home that you already have is good too. There are many resources you can draw upon to get free or nearly free gear if you're not comfortable with the idea of sneaking into a Starbucks to grab a few sugar packets.
_________________________ Gear Talk There's no such thing as having too many sporks!
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
OK, Jason, forget my post above. I really enjoy your videos and have recommended them to others. I started using "free" stuff from home, such as margarine tubs for cups and bowls, back in the 1980s. And of course there are all those "free" bottles (although in Oregon it means foregoing the 5 cent deposit) that can be used as water bottles.
I have a question about your tea light stove ("Klasslite"). How tall is the hardware cloth pot support? I am really tempted to switch to an alcohol stove for shorter trips. I did a comparison--for 8-10 day trips, a canister stove plus fuel is lighter, but for anything less, alcohol is lighter. The "Klasslite" certainly looks a lot easier to make than such stoves as the Super Cat (I still have two cans of cat food in my pantry, but no cat-=my dog is allergic to most kinds of dog food, so I don't want to risk giving him cat food). Anyway, if you could give me an idea of how tall the pot support should be, I'll try it out. Thank you!
Edited by OregonMouse (02/05/0904:34 AM)
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
It's 2". But honestly, a lot of people have complained that the tea light runs out of fuel before reaching a boil so you might want to reconsider. It's good for less than 2 cups of water but in some conditions, you'll probably want something with a little more capacity if you're planning on boiling more than 2 cups of water. Wedding tins work well. A friend of mine just uses the same cat food can that you would use for the Supercat as an open burner and he's happy with it.
_________________________ Gear Talk There's no such thing as having too many sporks!
Unreal expectations. eg. Gortex, Hummer, people that are misinformed but believe what they are told and put their opinion on you as fact. Disney land is not bad in itself. Just look at the smiles on the childrens faces.
Jason, I have experimented with several different types of alcy stoves and have found that the open type burn about as good as the popcan types. I don't have hard data to back up my experimental wasting of fuel. What is your opinion on this?
Jason, I have experimented with several different types of alcy stoves and have found that the open type burn about as good as the popcan types. I don't have hard data to back up my experimental wasting of fuel. What is your opinion on this?
Hi Chaz, Well, you've just opened Pandora's box. There are a lot of variables to consider. But, to generalize, I have found that open burners can be quite efficient--they just take forever to boil. If you're patient and don't care about speed, they're great because they're so simple to make. Stoves like the Pepsi stove that are pressurized tend to be faster. Everyone seems to have their own opinion. Some like their stoves to burn hot & fast, others are willing to sacrifice boil times for the sake of efficiency. Today, there are so many alcohol stove designs out there that I'm sure there's one to fill almost every niche. Which one is your favorite?
_________________________ Gear Talk There's no such thing as having too many sporks!
I slipped an additional tealite over the top of another, sealed the edge with silicon and then cut a hole in the top. This gives me an oz of fuel in a very light burner. But for some reason the tea lite set up seems too fragile for me.
I found a fluted tin at Bed bath and Beyond that holds an oz of fuel and, though not as light as a tealite, doesn't weight much. Best thing was the price...29 cents!
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We don't stop hiking because we grow old, we grow old because we stop hiking. Finis Mitchell
I have been happy with the popcan stove but I will try an open style and see what the diff. is for myself. I'm usually not in a hurry but am afraid that the open one will burn out before I get a boil. that is of course using the same amount of fuel 1oz. thanks...
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