Scoutmaster

The Trangia Camping Stove

A review of the Trangia Stove from Cool Tools:

I’ve used the Trangia 25-7 UL/HA for a year now, and it’s as reliable as sin. Since I got it, I no longer use my MSR Whisperlite stove. This model comes with a frying pan lid (which doubles as a pot lid and serves as the top to the kit when it’s all packed up) and two pots; the pots and burner combine in a neat, self-contained package. The stove itself is basically an alcohol burner (think Sterno can) with a custom top by which you semi-regulate/extinguish the flame. The stove sits in a two-piece extremely stable wind screen (picture two pots bottom to bottom, with a hole through the middle for the stove).

The Trangia uses denatured alcohol, which is easier and quieter than white gas. Easier because you don’t have to prime the stove or pressurize the fuel canister. To start the Trangia, you set up the windscreen, put the stove in the middle, add fuel and light the top. To turn it off, you slide the lid on the custom top, cutting off the oxygen. And it’s quieter because there’s no hissing or roaring -- again, think Sterno.

Another advantage the Trangia has over the MSR stove is the windscreen design, which makes a far more stable cooktop than the MSR’s three-wire tripod. As for weight, since I usually pack stove and cook pots together, the combined weight and size of my MSR and REI cook pots is about the same as the weight and size of this Trangia kit (around 2 pounds).

Negatively, you can’t regulate the Trangia's flame very well. The Trangia is a little slower, too: it takes a few minutes longer to boil a couple of cups of water for tea. Without a stopwatch, both the Trangia and the MSR take about the same time to boil a pot of water for dehydrated dinners, always too slow for whoever isn’t cooking that night.

-- P. Chang 

The Humble Cascadian Cup

Utilitarian, unnoticed and unsung the GSI Outdoors Cascadian Cup is irreducibly simple. Holding a capacious 12 ounces these light, durable, colorful cups nest together perfectly.
While I prefer an insulated mug for cold weather the Cascadian has become a stalwart companion on our annual summer canoe trips.
Widely available but at wildly variable prices (from two to fourteen  dollars) I usually order from Peak62

Littlbug Stove v. the Disposable Propane Canister

Inventor Kent Haring has developed an elegantly efficient stove design that deserves a second look from campers in general and Scouts in particular. The Littlbug stove is a well made, efficient alternative to the propane stoves we presently use.

High efficiency wood burning stoves make practical, ethical sense. A properly managed low-impact wood fire has much less environmental impact than a disposable fuel canister. The energy embodied in producing, transporting and disposing of canisters is a growing problem for outdoorsmen. Here's a message from Ontario Parks:

Campers have been leaving behind about 50,000 of these non-refillable canisters in our provincial parks every year! Because the containers are considered “hazardous waste,” we can’t just take them to the local landfill. We have to hire firms that specialize in disposing of this kind of material and it’s not cheap. At $2.50 per cylinder, it costs us almost as much to get rid of the cylinders as it does for consumers to buy them.

Locally we pay about $3.00 for a one pound disposable propane canister. Our Troop uses about 50-60 of these canisters for cooking annually at a cost of $150-$180. I have yet to accurately compute the carbon footprint of a fuel canister but it is arguably several times that of burning wood especially factoring the impact of producing and disposing of the canister.

I purchased Littlbug Senior and used it on our last camping trip. It boiled an 8 quart pot (the big pot from the standard trail chef cook kit) with about five quarts of cold water in about twenty minutes. I used small to medium sized sticks 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter that were somewhat damp. I tested the Littlbug in moderately windy conditions.

Once the pot was at a high rolling boil I cooked 5 pounds of sliced potatoes in about 20-30 minutes. The performance was comparable to one of our propane stoves. The stove's design creates a powerful draft and the fire burns with a great deal more intensity than a standard fire.

The Littlbug is easy to assemble and provides a very stable platform for a heavy pot (with the potatoes mine weighed about 15 pounds). The stove is cool to the touch in a few minutes after the the fire is out. It then packs into a sturdy bag keeping the sooty stove away from your other gear.

The  minor down sides to the Littlbug in comparison to the propane stove are collecting fuel and dealing with sooty pot ( naturally a little dish soap applied to the outside of the pot before cooking helps. Maintaining the fire demands more attention than the propane stove but one uses much less wood than the average campfire. Finally the intensity of the heat is more difficult to moderate with the Littlbug, but some practice will improve our technique.

At $57.00 the Littlbug costs about as much or more than a propane stove but the fuel is free. When I purchased the Littlbug I was curious as to whether I could reverse-engineer the design to produce our own version and save a few dollars but I abandoned the idea as soon as I had the stove in my hands. It is constructed of stainless steel and would require pretty close tolerances to recreate properly.  Not that one couldn't produce a reasonable facsimile with tin cans and a bit of ingenuity but the Littlbug is so well thought-out and so well made it justifies the cost.

The Littlbug can also be adapted for alcohol stoves or Sterno cans. I don't know that we will ever use this feature but it adds to the stove's utility.

The Littlbug Sr. even makes sense for backpacking. At 19 ounces (plus 3.3 oz for the pouch) it compares favorably to the 1 pound stoves and 1 pound canisters our Patrols  usually carry.

The only improvement I can suggest is a shield that surrounds the pot to concentrate heat, something easily made from some aluminum roof flashing. I would imagine it would significantly increase the stove's efficiency.

Littlbug offers a fire pan and chain kit for hanging the stove. I am dubious that hanging the stove is a good idea, especially for Scouts, but we will add a suitable fire pan to further reduce the impact of the stove. The addition of a suitably sized round grill will complete our kit allowing us to use the stove for grilling.

I plan on purchasing two more Littlbug seniors to outfit the three crews we are sending to canoe in Canada this summer (they will be a significant improvement over the fire grates we usually carry ) and for use on our backpacking trips.

UPDATE 4.8.09
Email Kent Haring at Littlbug for a discount code for Scout Troops; littlbug@gmail.com

Littlbug Stoves website

Other Littlbug reviews

Paddling.net

Backpacking Light

The Passionate Paddler

Associated posts at Scoutmaster

Low Impact Scouting

Does Cotton Really Kill? Ask Empire Canvas Works

Scoutmasters cringe at the thought of jean-clad Scouts wearing their favorite cotton sweatshirt on a rainy weekend camping trip. Remember how uncomfortable those old waffle-weave cotton long johns were? Like most of us I am happy to have my Gortex, polypro, and fleece.

Duane and Margot Lottig have rediscovered the utility and comfort of natural fibers for winter wear and offer stoutly made garments in northern Minnesota;

We're Empire Canvas Works, and we're not here to replicate the technology-laden garb you see on retail shelves. Our task is to harness the steady function of natural fibers, and blend it with a few modern traits that ensure comfort and durability. We believe that your garments, handwear, and footwear should work the same way, every day, despite age, wear, and exposure to the elements. Our goal is to sell you a great product- once. Your task is to wear your mitten palms smooth on the Hickory of an axe, collect generations of puppy hair on your vest, and listen as the tight fibers of your anorak sing quietly against the brush for miles on end.

Our mid-Atlantic winters are comparatively mild and wet but if lived in the great white north I'd save my pennies and outfit myself in Empire Canvas.

First Aid Kits for Scout Troops

Responding to the chaos following an accident or emergency demands a well organized, accessible, usable and well maintained first aid or emergency kit.

Owning a good kit is not enough. Scouts and leaders must be familiar with the kit and have the skills to apply its contents effectively and it has to be accessible. On camp outs the kit lives in a large transparent plastic bag along with a brightly colored plastic folder containing permission slips, medical forms, and accident forms (ahh.. the paperwork is never done is it?). This bag is placed in a prominent location in the campsite ready for action.

So far as economics are concerned it is usually best to start with a pre-packaged kit and add components to meet local conditions.

Adventure Medical Kits Comprehensive Kit
 

Our Scout Troop packs the Comprehensive Kit from Adventure Medical Kits wherever we go. Compact and truly comprehensive the kit is designed logically grouping supplies in modules. Anyone can open the kit and find what they are looking for without a lot of fuss. Our kit gets an annual checkup for completeness and to update any expired medications.

Available from Amazon

Campmor Advanced Medical Kit

The Troop also owns a second kit from Campmor. The components and general layout of the kit compare favorably with the Adventure Medical Comprehensive Kit above for about a third of the cost. We purchased this kit when we added a second crew to our annual canoe trip to Canada.

Available from Campmor

Red Cross Personal Safety Emergency Pack

From Cool Tools
If you're a citygoing 9-5'er (read: not a search-and-rescuer), the Red Cross' personal safety kit packs many of the basics -- whistle, blanket, face mask, glow stick, poncho, germ wipes and first-aid kit -- for a price that's more or less unbeatable.

Could the pack be more complete? Of course. My first gesture was to rubberband a small handcrank flashlight to the diminutive bundle. Even still, the embellished package remains small, light and manageable.

Personal Safety Emergency Pack - "Deluxe"
$15
Available from American Red Cross and Amazon
 

Patrol Box Wash Station

Gregg Shupe Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 12 in Framingham Mass. has come up with a great Patrol Box Wash Station. (click on "wash station plans" to the left of the page). The station holds three wash basins for cleaning rinsing and sanitizing - looks like a great idea!

Associated posts at Scoutmaster
Chuck Boxes
More Camp Kitchens
Patrol Box Design
Two Patrol Boxes
Even More Chuck Boxes Patrol Kits and the Like
Grub Box

Wonder Wash and Hand Sanz

Paul Auerbach at Medicine for the Outdoors reviews Wonder Wash and Hand Sanz

 Wonder Wash is a biodegradeable and concentrated all purpose soap from All Terrain that comes in peppermint scent or fragrance free. It is advertised to be for "washing anything, anywhere, anytime," formulated to be gentle on skin, pH neutral, and sufficiently mild to be used as shampoo. It ingredients include purified water, sodium coco sulphate, coco betaine, coco amide, vegetable glycerin, sea salt, olive oil, and citric acid. The soap I tested came in a clear, semi-flexible plastic bottle with a press-to-open/press-to-close cap with a volume of 4 fluid ounces (120 milliliters).

I tested the Fragrance Free product. First, I used it in the kitchen to wash dishes, and it was just fine in terms of lather and apparent detergent action. It felt like soap and acted like soap. My hands did not appear to be overly dry or otherwise affected after I used the soap to clean the dishes and then to wash my hands afterwards. I shampooed once with the product, and my hair was clean, but as you might imagine, didn't have any new artificial fragrance. There was no tingling in my scalp, as I have noticed with some other shampoo products, particularly those that contain peppermint. I didn't test the peppermint product, so perhaps it might have that effect.

To test it on clothing, I poured tomato sauce onto two separate locations on a cotton tee shirt (when I eat spaghetti, it is usually the case that I wind up wearing it...). While the shirt was still moist from the sauce, I used Wonder Wash and warm water to hand scrub the material, comparing that to an area scrubbed and rinsed with warm water alone. The soap definitely improved the rate at which the tomato sauce disappeared from the shirt - in fact, I couldn't completely get the stain out of the shirt in the area where I scrubbed without the soap, so I added a bit of the soap and then it came clean.

The results I observed match up with others I have read on the Internet; however, I wasn't brave enough to test it as a substitute for toothpaste. So, if you are interested in a preservative-free, "environmentally friendly" product, this should fit the bill.

Hand Sanz is advertised as an all natural, moisturizing hand sanitizer. It contains 62% ethyl alcohol, as well as wood cellulose to moisturize and thicken the product. It also contains purified water, vitamin E, and aloe vera. In my work at the hospital, and during travel to foreign countries, I have used many different hand sanitizers. Hand Sanz feels better than most of them, in terms of the combination of ease of application, rapidity of drying, softness, lack of precipitates, and residual skin feel.

I Forgot my Spoon

No problem, tenderfoot, all we need is a bit of duct tape and a zip tie.

From Freezer Bag Cooking

Don't go into the Woods Without....

Here are a few of the essential (and not so essential) pieces of gear that I would not want to go without. A few of them have considerably impacted my wilderness experience for the better, some are just too good to pass up;

A Highly Evolved Mess Kit I love tradition, I appreciate aesthetics and in deference to these important principles I carried traditional  cooking and eating gear for years. Thankfully we actually do evolve. Authenticity is one thing, eating  hot food in a modicum of comfort is another.

Storm Whistle These are the loudest whistles in the world; 75% louder than your average whistle. I haven't tested the claim that it can be heard fifty feet under water, but I believe it.

Polypro Long Underwear Long underwear used mean waffle-knit white cotton. It held in moisture, became cold and clammy, heavy and downright unpleasant. There are few innovations as important to enjoying the outdoors as poly-pro long underwear.

Self Inflating Air Mattress Ingeniously constructed of open-celled foam sealed  in an envelope of sturdy nylon cloth with an air valve that, when opened, draws air into the foam. Close the valve trapping the air and the result is a bed of air that insulates and cushions the sleeper. Although they cost more than the alternatives the comfort of a decent night's sleep is worth it.

Trekking Poles Trekking poles have been around for many years but I always considered them effete and unnecessary. That is until I was struggling to the top of Mount Marcy in New York's Adirondack Mountains watching people fly past me with their effete, unnecessary trekking poles.

The Right Compass Scouts must learn to use a compass and map together in order to advance in rank. It follows that they need a compass, but which one? Compasses come in many forms; some more useful than others.

TundraTarp Normal camping tarps have some weaknesses; grommets may tear out in heavy wind, there are never enough points to tie onto and while most people use a center pole to hold the tarp up it typically falls down when the wind picks up. SEE ALSO Silnylon Tarp

Leatherman Wave I read lot's of multi tool reviews and the Wave came out on top in each one. The wave is solidly built an each component functions extraordinarily well. I blanched slightly at spending around seventy bucks for mine, but it has proved it's worth many times over.  I carry the Wave at work and when I am out in the woods and it has yet to let me down. Of course I continue to subscribe to the theory of Belts and Aptitude.

Golite Pinnacle Backpack

Over the past several years I have been paring down my backpack weight from 40 or 50 lbs to a much more manageable 25 or 30. One way to drop pounds instead of ounces is getting a decent lightweight pack.

My old North Face internal frame pack weighed in at 5 lbs 1 oz. My new Golite Pinnacle is a mere 1 lb 10 oz saving me a whopping 3 lb 8 oz.

The Pinnacle will carry 4500 cubic inches of gear. Its lightweight design will probably handle a 35lb load comfortably, but not much more. This may be seen as a limitation, but I see it as a welcome control on the amount of gear I can carry.

The Pinnacle's suspension system is based on a 'framesheet' (a light plastic sheet built into the pack) that transfers the load to a lightly padded hip belt. The Shoulder straps are light, but substantial and feature a sternum strap. These components are scaled for lighter loads and are considerably lighter than more traditional packs.

An advanced load adjusting 'comPACKtor' system allows one to reduce the packs volume for lighter hikes.

Constructed of durable Dyneema fabric the Pinnacle claims to be 10-times stronger than steel and 2-times stronger than Kevlar by weight.

Decent internal frame packs cost anywhere from $60.00 to more than $300.00. The street price on the Pinnacle is around $100 -$140. Most manufacturers will slghtly revise their products each year and sell last years model at a discount beginning in the late summer, so keep your eyes open for a bargain.