[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
RE: [pct-l] Bic Stoves
I completely agree with what you said in this mail.
Svein
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Bedichek [SMTP:robertb@transmeta.com]
Sent: 9. mars 1999 23:01
To: pct-l@backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Bic Stoves
On Sun, 7 Mar 1999 Montedodge@aol.com wrote:
> Butane stoves are just glorified Bic Lighters with grills on top.
These are
i realize that the poster likes to bait people here. i'd like to
add some
facts to the excellent responses already made.
1. propane and butane have significantly higher energy density than
white
gas, about 35 btu's per gram as opposed to about 25 for "coleman
fuel".
that means that you don't have as much weight on your back for
the
amount of potential heat energy you are carrying.
2. everest expeditions use propane/butane (i've seen their used gear
for
sale in namche bazaar at 12,500', about 15 miles from the west
buttress,
and along with a lot of other sturdy high altitude gear are left
over
propane/butane stoves and canisters.)
so along with the "good for girl scouts, etc.", please add
"everest
expeditions".
3. the hottest burning backpacker stove that i know of is the
titanium
primus. i have one and it is much hotter than any MSR i've used.
in
fact, i sometimes boil water w/o full throttle. with a small
pot, the
flames are so hot it can make it a little difficult to handle the
pot.
4. as others have pointed out, temperatures on the pct may-octover,
even
in the worst conditions don't prevent propane/butane stoves from
working.
let me add that i have nothing against all the other stoves. i'm
not
telling anyone what kind of stove they should take. "hike your own
hike",
etc.
some general comments about people giving advice:
1. when someone says "you are crazy to do X", i turn off. if they
instead
say "i've tried X or seen someone do X and the outcome was Y"
(where Y
is not good), i take it more seriously.
2. different people have different levels of acceptable risk and
that
will results in different decisions.
3. people who cast blanket criticisms on ray jardine's book haven't
read
it. people who have read the book realize that jardine was not
making
an unqualified and simple statement that all hikers should carry
eight pound packs. he was showing how he and his wife did the
trail
and how others might learn something from it.
4. people who have hiked the whole pct in one season tend to favor
light
packs.
5. people who take a lot of gear (perhaps for the good reason that
they
need it to achieve their safety/goal/comfort tradeoff) have an
emotional
investment in their decision. this leads a few of them to
criticize
others for making different decisions. i recall climbing three
fingered jack (in oregon) w/o helmets and getting "attitude" from
some group climbers who were all wearing helmets. this was a
climb
where there was minimal exposure to rock fall. it wasn't crazy
to
either have or not have helmets. it was a personal decision.
and for a group it made more sense to use helmets.
i have seen plenty of people unprepared for extreme situations
(e.g. winter
camping in upstate n.y.) and i've only made a (friendly) comment
once.
that was when a father was using unsafe rock climbing technique
with
children. the children were correctly terrified. other climbers
were
also distressed by what they saw. together, we gently suggested
to the unsafe leader/father that he not do what he was doing.
6. just as there is a risk of needing something you don't have,
there is
also a risk in taking something you don't need. jardine makes
this
point well.
personally, i found ray's book interesting. like a number of people
who
have read the book, i have lowered my pack weight, but i don't go
nearly
as far as jardine himself does. i'm sure jardine would say "that's
great,
glad you found my book useful".
i'd like to thank folks on this list for some great advice.
rob bedichek
http://www.arctic.org/~robert
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List |
http://www.backcountry.net *
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List | http://www.backcountry.net *
==============================================================================