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RE: [pct-l] going stoveless?

At 10:20 AM 5/5/98 PDT, Robinson, Brian A wrote:
>In '97 I asked Wolf why he doesn't go stoveless.  (For those who don't
>follow this list too closely, Wolf is an extremely ultra-light thru-hiker.
>His "pack" weighed about 10 lbs including food and water when I met him in
>southern California.)  He said that you really couldn't save  weight going
>stoveless because edible cold food has more water in it than most foods that
>need cooking.  The extra weight of the food cancels the weight savings of
>the stove and fuel.  He chose a VERY light alcohol can type stove to cook
>Mac Cheese and other light weight dinners, so this might not be quite so
>true for those of us who carry heavier stoves and lots of extra fuel so we
>won't run out. ;-)

My longest hike is about 85 miles, so this technique might not scale to a
multi-week trip, but I find I do very well with one hot meal a day.  At
breakfast, I usually just want to get some calories in and start walking.
Home made "energy" bars and peanut butter are particularly good.  Lunch
starts after breakfast and continues until dinner.  Dinner is often at a
convenient place for eating (by a stream), but not necessarily where I'll
spend the night.

I think the main reason I like the one hot meal is variety.  There just
seem to be more good combinations of things that involve cooking.  Even
when you stick to "bring to a boil" one pot meals the way I do.

For a stove, I've been using a Trangia westwind.  To bring my two cups of
water to a boil I find I need less than one ounce per day.  I keep fuel
consumption down by letting stuff sit instead of simmering (I use a pot
cozy made from "reflectix", a foil covered bubble wrap).

-- Jim
 
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