I built a chimney stove

Well, it took me two tries, but I managed to make a chimney stove just like the one on Zen Stoves. I think mine came out a little shorter. On the first try, I put the top part on before I punched the holes. Oops.

I filled my pot and put it on the pot stand and put the wind screen around it. It boiled water and seemed to be capable of holding enough fuel to boil enough water for noodles.

It's lighter than the other one I made and it smelled a bit like raspberry candy as it burned. That is because of the Red Bull that was in it. I poured that nasty stuff down the drain rather than drink it.

My stove cost me $5.25 to make since I used two Red Bull cans and bought them from a gas station. I had hoped someone at work drank Red Bull and I could fish some cans from the recycling. No luck.

Making stoves

I took a stab at making an aluminum alcohol stove today. It did not work very well.

I'm going to try again with smaller cans like the tiny V-8 cans. I compared the one I made today with the stove I made a few weeks ago and the weight difference is large enough that I would like to try again.

I bought a poncho

So, I decided to buy someone's used poncho. I am going to practice setting it up as a tarp tent in my yard and hopefully on some overnight trips, too.

I have a large tarp that weighs as much as my The One tent, so I can't see any advantage to bringing my large tarp just for myself. It's only a plus when Tony will be there and we need to sleep two under it.

I couldn't see any advantage to using a poncho tarp instead of The One, either. The One is well-built, comfortable, spacious, easy to set up, and keeps me dry and warm. But for a mere $35 I can at least have a little fun with a poncho.

The poncho system has some advantages over a tent. It appeals to me to have the option of either having roof or not, adding a bivy (for rain or added warmth) or not, using the bivy without the sleeping bag when it's hot (I remember some really hot nights when even having the bag next to me was uncomfortable) and using the bug net without any of the other items when conditions fit. It is hard to justify carring two shelter systems when one or the other will do. So I kind of see this as having to decide between a system with many options vs. a system with fewer options.

Fun with my gear is part of what I enjoy about hiking anyway. A friend was telling me about a trip where everyone carried some of the cooking gear and food, but the trip leader did all the cooking. I would rather play with my own stove than have someone do my cooking.

So even though I really love my The One, I think it will be fun to play with this other system, too. We'll see what I end up liking the best after giving all this a try.