New Gear for the newly single...

“For some odd reason, when my husband and I separated I looked at our backpacking equipment and left it thinking of it as "his." Strange. (A chick in definite need of enlightenment).

The BONUS is that I went shopping! :)
Here's what I picked up after some research and reading a lot of threads here:

Tent: Black Diamond Lighthouse
Bag: Marmot Sawtooth
Pack: Ula P 2
Shoes: Montrail Hurricane Ridge
Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket

I'm so happy with this stuff and just being able to hit the trail alone (well, I do have my German Shepherd keeping me company!). This is a great site and I want to thank you all for all the great info and the opportunities to hook up with groups and hike.”

“Good going, Indy!



Everyone single should have a good Pocket Rocket!

That's why I have one fer sale.......






j/k!”

“Good for you! Lot's of people up your way too!”

“don't count on the pocket rocket working in the dead of winter above 5,000 feet. Actually, I really like the pocket rocket but it doesn't work when the temp falls below freezing. I found out the hardway.”

“Sounds like a great set-up that you can really call your own. I like my Pocket Rocket, and my Montrail trail shoes have become my favorites.”

“Remember what Nashvillehiker said, Indy Hawk, when headed for those Indiana peaks.”

“LMAO. Well, I'm just a 3 season hiker - it'd be a surprise snap that would catch me at freezing...
:) (wimp)”

“bah, it's fun to freeze every once an a while. The smokies aren't all that far from indy.”

“Single gal... new backpacking equipment... you should be attracting new guys in no time :)

I can't stand my pocket rocket. For $10 more my Gigapower packs down MUCh smaller and is much more stable then that POS.”

“DeoreDX, does the shape of the fuel container make any difference in stability? I haven't opened my pocket rocket so I cooooooould check in to the Gigapower..... Hmmmmm.....”

“Fuel canisters for both are pretty similar it seems to me. Pot supports' shape/size/design seems to be an issue for some folks. Guess the thing that matters is how your pots match up to the supports. My anodized aluminum solo set didn't seem unstable on my Pocket Rocket.”

“congrats Indy - enjoy the trail”

“NIce choices Indy! New gear is soooo good. Enjoy it.”

“I think what effected stability on mine was that the pot stands do not fold down all the way and only the very tips of the pot stand touched my 30oz pot.

AYCE pretty much summed up my opinion and all my concerns on his review of the Pocket Rocket.”

“Well, as he notes in the review, there is a significant price difference from the Snowpeak -- made much more so when I got mine from Global Mart on sale for $25 or so. Case problem apparently was addressed by MSR, and I wanted to avoid a piezo igniter because of numerous reports of their unreliability -- plus extra cost and weight. The wind issue at simmer doesn't bother me because I don't simmer anything, just boil.

That leaves the pot supports, and I can see that as a deciding issue if your particular cookpot doesn't fare well on those three contact points. I think that polished stainless or another slippery finish might slide more than the anodized aluminum on the points.

I looked at the Alpine Micro at the time, was interested, but it wasn't on sale and I was pinching pennies at the time (the PR was my fourth stove in my gear horde).”

“why not jsut set the forrest on fire and use that to cook with? [eyeroll]

indy, don't let them suck you into their vortex....there is no return from this dark place of geeky gear ho's and cold loving maniacal hikers....

the pocket rocket is good enough for me, so it's good enough for you.

if you get married in the future, i'd make him sign a prenup on the gear though.....”

“Enjoy your gear and enjoy the mountains!

A very dear friend of mine recently divorced from her husband...all she wanted was her motorcycle (a Hog), truck, skis, caving/climbing gear and her backpacking stuff. Thats my kind of woman.

Next time, toss the guy...keep the gear ;-)”

“and if you go looking for a new guy, make sure he's got his own gear stash so he won't be trying to mooch of your stuff.”

“You guys are cracking me up. Thanks for all the encouragement. MtnSteve - you are so right.
Strat - I'll definitely keep the prenup in mind, but I think marriage is too much work to go at it again. I've given it enough years, I think I'll just enjoy getting to know myself again. Roam - got it. Only guys with gear ... ;)”

“I like the Primus Yellowstone Classic Trail stove.

Its a whopping 9.3 oz but has excellent pot stability and costs about $25....no piezo.

I'm not crazy about the Pocket Rocket.
One of the pot supports bent and a four-quart pot full of rice pilaf landed on the deck one time.
We were on our knees with spoons eating that which wasn't in contact with the dirt.

I guess it would be OK for a tiny pot.
It won't take the weight of a meal for three or four.”

“I have the pocket rocket and I'm looking to upgrade sometime before next winter, but I am not familiar with any other stove.”

“If I was going to be cooking with a 3-quart pot (although I don't think I own one other than maybe a Revere Ware in the kitchen), I'd definitely use something with a bigger pot stand than the Pocket Rocket. I got my PR strictly for warm weather solo use - maybe for a duo that is just rehydrating freeze dried food with boiled water. For a group of three or four doing larger entrees, I'd take my trusty Peak 1 white gas. Weighs more, but I'd be sharing gear weight with two or three others.”

“I'll give you $20 for your pocket rocket and $3 to ship it. I've been watching the prices on eBay to snag one cheap and try it out. I think I'm gonna buy a Primus Yellowstone Technotrail w/Piezo.

I have a Whisperlite Internationale and boy is that thing heavy and noisey. I use it for meals that require a lot of heat to cook...not to great on simmering though.

I was wanting to try a canister stove to see how they simer. Can someone tell me if the burn-time of one hour for the pocket rocket is on high or low? I need a good stove that's cheap, can burn a long time, and can simer well.

For most of my cooking I use the Pepsi-can stove which is my favorite. But it can't cook for more than 20 mins or so, maybe 40 with a simer ring but it doesn't simer too well.”

“Yea a 4-quart pot on a pocket rocket isn't a good idea. I have one but I only heat water with it in a titan kettle, which is only .85 liters. I don’t cook on the trail. If you like to cook or boil large pots of water then the pocket rocket isn’t the stove you want. I guess they redesigned the valve on the PR because there is no problem whatsoever getting it in and out of the case.”

“As with other gear, there may be no one "perfect" model stove that suits every situation. The PR has its niche.

Dub, the PR does simmer quite well, but I couldn't be sure on which setting that 1 hr. time is for. My guess, though, is that a canister will simmer for a good long time, longer than you should need for cooking one trail meal. When used on high to boil water, a canister will last more than most weekend trips need it seems. Haven't really been timing that closely, and haven't had it out for quite a while.”

“For high and/or cold, I've got to go with the Thunderchief, er.... WhisperLite.



(what's that buzzing sound?)”

“The Primus Yellowstone thing simmers well and is about as cheap as it gets.

It is no good in FYAO weather.”

“I remember years ago, when selling stoves, my list of questions sometimes included...Do you have problems operating the choke on cars or lawn mowers? If they said yes, I would recommend a butane stove, if they said no, a white gas.”

“I can understand that the pocket rocket is $10-15 cheaper then the Snow peak, but geeze it's only $10-15 more for a much much nicer stove. Also the way the burner is designed on the pocket rocket (blow torch style, straight up) it has a tendency to blow out when you try to simmer when it's windy. The Snow Peak's doesn't have this problem, I've never had it blow out. Sorry, the only stoves in my gear box right now are about 10 pepsi can stoves, the Gigapower, and a Whisperlite International.”

“You're going enjoy that new gear Indy and now you can go backpacking when ever you want to because you got rid of the hubby.”

“New Gear for the newly single...

Condoms~!!!!


LOL, sorry, sorry, baaaaaaaad thread degeneration


But I saw the easy one-liner and had to go for it!

OK, now back to stoves...........”

“there's a pocket rocket in my pants and he does a dirty dance..


seee its lizs fault.”

“Back to the subject;), If you do find your canister stove wimping out at colder temps and higher elevations, a simple trick is to warm the canister in your Parka/Jacket before cooking with it:)

Enjoy the new gear it seems you made some good choices:)”

“The reason I need to know how long the 1 hour burn time is, is because I plan on cooking something that takes an hour to cook. I'm not sure if I'll need high or low heat, but it'd be nice to know. Guess I'll just have to buy one and try it. Trying to avoid using my Whisperlite Int'l. Probably get the Primus Yellowstone.”

“I've got that stove and it works fine I guess, I've just been disappointed with the lack fo control over the flame. It's almost as if you either boil like crazy or nothing. Really hard to get a simmer.

Still it works well enough, even in real cold weather. Seems to me to need pumping way to often though.”

“i have two of these stoves, one of them i've had for over 25 years....dead reliable....never, ever had any problems with them....they have a nice wide base for your pans and a built in windscreen....if you can live with 9.6 ounces i would highly recommend this piece of equipment for $21.84....

http://www.greatoutdoorsdepot.com/camping-gaz-turbo-270.html”

“Dub -- the hour time for the Pocket Rocket is for maximum flame. To see the full specs, go to the REI site and click on canister stoves, then look at each model. Specs for packed size, weight, boil time, burn time at max, water boiled per 100 grams of fuel, etc.

Very easy to then compare models -- for example, PR has a few minutes longer burn time at max, weighs a tad less, costs 20% less, boils water a tad slower, boils a tad less water per 100 grams than a Snow Peak Giga Power manual.

Considering how close they are in performance, the type of pot supports and flame distribution as needed for your particular pot(s) and cooking style (and budget - $10 or $20 is critical to some folks on tight incomes, such as students, the newly divorced, the underemployed, etc.), you should be able to come to a happy resolution.”

“I will be the first to offer to spank Lizs for being a bad girl.”

“I'm telling on laqtis who started this... Cracked me up.... :0)
Liz and Maple are just bad, bad girls (I think I need to meet you).

:) :) :) :) :)”

“ok deoredx, here's your chance . . . I think she’s ready . . . lol! :)”

“I had the gigapower with auto iginition. It's performance was eratic at times and the auto ignition worked about 50% of the time. I gave it to my nephew and replaced it with the Markill Hot-Rod Titanium . . . much better stove imho.”

“i use a small pot, it's tall but not big around, so it stays on the pocket rocket just fine. they have windscreens that act as a pot holder as well. i've seen homemade ones that work great. i just like it cuz it's small and easy and has a naughty sounding name....”

“Markill Hot Rod Titanium Stove

I picked mine up for $39 when Killer deals had them.”

“I'll second gonzo's recommendation about GAZ butane/isobutane stoves. All canister stoves semm to look and perform about the same; most look like they're only made for small pots and small meals, so go I'd recommend going with this inexpensive brand. I've got an older model (burner stays on the canister until its empty) and its always worked great. The newer model allow you to take the burner off for more efficient packing.

An added bonus since you're single: If you ever want to go BP-ing in Europe, canisters for the GAZ stoves available in almost any sporting goods store on the continent & UK (though I'm not familiar with availability in Eastern Europe).

Enjoy whichever one you get.”

“Shock and confusion!!!

GFORCE!!!!!

lol.... (you had your chance... phhhhtt!! LOL)”

“An hour on high...now that's a good burn time. That should work....now to order one.”

“I used my pocket rocket to cook lobster in a one-lobster pot on Isle au Haut. It was stable, but after running the stove for an hour and a half (we had 4 or 5 lobster) the legs were red hot and one bent...monkeyboy bent the leg back while it was still hot, while I chased down the lobster that was getting away.

Anyway, I don't think it's meant to run that long.”

“you also have to be careful what kind of windscreen you use.”

“I think I'm gonna go for the Pocket Rockets cousin, the Primus Yellowstone. Maybe its legs will be stronger? Either way I'll be sure to let you guys know.”

“I imagine no matter what stove you get, if you run it long enough the legs will weaken.”