In my opinion, at least here in the Ozarks, the decision to leave the stove, fuel, and some clothing behind to save weight is not necessarily going too far, and actually makes sense. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that hasn't the skills and experience to understand the risks that may impose and how to deal with them safely, but I actually do this myself.

If I did not do that I'd have to carry, at the very least, my down jacket to stay warm when it gets dark around 5:00pm, or wear my sleeping bag. That's way before I'm ready to go to bed and I don't like the idea of dragging my sleeping bag around before I settle into my hammock for the night. Instead, I add a layer or two of clothes and huddle over a small fire and enjoy the evening for several hours. I love this particular part of the experience.

I have to point out that I am never cold as a result of doing this. That is never a trade off I am willing to make.

I will add that I don't think that many backpackers actually practice making campfires that are designed to LNT, and that is really an issue that might need to be addressed and it leads me to some interesting questions, like, How do you do that?

Which leads me to this one:

What if you had a piece of gear that did most of that for them?

Which reminds me of this:

Jason Klass has a video review of a wood fueled cook stove on his site. The stove is light and could certainly be used to maintain a low impact source of wood heat. That's certainly something that has interesting possibilities.

What if that stove were optimized for heat and LNT?

  • It could eliminate the need for a "Fire Ring".

  • It could eliminate the need for a big fire.

  • It could only use small sticks for fuel.

  • It could burn fuel almost completely to ash.

  • It could be duel purpose (cook/heat).

  • It could potentially reduce the risk of starting wildfires (spark arrestor?).

  • It could reduce scaring of the ground.

  • It would be carbon neutral. wink


Since it already meets several of those goals, starting with the stove Jason reviews, I think it would be interesting to consider how to modify it to better meet them all.


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"You want to go where?"