My first time out in three weeks ended with a heavy rainstorm that was not in the forecast. Got to test out some new gear, both purchased and homemade.
My last over-nighter ended up like yours. Only difference was my tent was bigger and I was accompanied by my spouse and our two granddaughters, 8yo and 6yo. We were miserable! š¤£. So, we learned to set a good size TARP up, first and foremost; that way we will always start off our camp setup by creating a place to work on setting up everything else, while out of the rain, sun, snow or whatever else, and weāll have plenty of space. From under the tarp, we figure one can prep for and set the fire, set up the cooking area and get something heating up and on the boil, and then we can set up the tent and sleep systems. Thatās our plan, anyway. As youāve said, live and learn, and thatās the fun of this fantastic pastimeāļøšš. Always love your vids.
Re: your alchy stove; it’s a bit hard to tell in a vid but I suspect that the diameter of the inner can is too small and therefore the wick is too thick, causing excessive fuel draw and inefficient burn. I have found that a relatively thin wick (with a strong capillary action) draws fuel at a sufficient rate.
11:25 blew my mind. You have never encountered a bear?! I guess it all depends on where you are in the US.
Just this year alone I have seen more than I can count, probably more than 10, and I solo hike and camp quite a bit. I know that the spray is effective, but I have never carried any. Bears are curious and docile around people in my experience, but I’ll admit that when you see one that weighs more than you, like 3 times or more, it gets your adrenaline pumping.
One suggestion about that bear spray I would make is to take that tab off. Bears are much better at everything physically than we are, and not by a little bit. They are very quiet moving, and they will almost certainly detect you before you detect them. They’re way faster too.
If you think you’re going to need that spray it better be ready to do it’s job.
I’m too claustrophobic to spend so long in a tent that small. I would need a tarp as well to sit out, read my kindle, whittle away the time in the rain.
Beautiful scenery my friend and the color of the trees and wild flowers.Your living the dream,proving that health is wealth.You know the area very well and you obviously feel safe,but I would have to carry a firearm and a K- Bar knife.Even if it was just to shoot something edible,field dress it eg.Rabbit ,cook and eat it just something to keep me busy.EXCELLENT video my friend stay safe.
have the same problem before the camera,i have to plan it,in my spare time,have to take a ride for almost 3 hours,and then finely i am at the spot,i cant translate it anymore,and don’t know what to say anymore
i like the water filter very much,looks very easy to use
it is good you had your alcohol stove failure,so you can learn from it,did you try it at home first?did it work there
if so,i guess the problem for it is,to heat up the alcohol with a priming pan underneath it
the temp outside on a rock is much colder then at home on the table in room temperature or it is air flow on the top of your inner can
hard to see on the video (out of focus lol)
or your wick is up to high that the alcohol is burned way to fast
atb
Steve
This water filter looks like it’s pretty efficient and doesn’t take a lot of time to filter the water. Bear spray is a good thing to have this time a year because the bears are trying to fatten up to overwinter. And I like that DIY ground sheet for sure. And leave it to the weatherman to get the forecast wrong LOL. And you can only lay around for so long, but it’s too bad the tents not tall enough to set up. And I’m just the opposite my friend. I would’ve slept like a baby with the rain falling on the tent LOL. Thanks for sharing brother.
Been down that road my friend. No forecast of rain, rained for two days. 10 miles down the trail when it started, but at least it was warm. What can you do? Make the best of it, try new things to pass the time. The next two days were nice and sunny. All in all we had a good hike, and stories to tell. Thanks for taking us all on your adventure. Plus the cool new gear.
did you punch a couple of air wholes near top of alcohol stove. I made that same design, you have to punch wholes or it either goes out or it is not efficient. Also, Bring a tarp next time and set that up high over your tent, so you can sit outside when it rains. Sorry you were stuck in tent the whole time
great trip, thanks for taking us along.
question: do you need to do anything to that water filter when temps dip down below freezing? how would you go about getting the water out of it?
observation: in the words of the great Chesty Puller, "always carry a book."
observation: that fancy schmancy expresso maker looks like some kind of high tech drug paraphernalia. now that i think about it, that is exactly what it is. ha!
your inspiring me!
Nice trip, thanks for taking us along. I live on the west coast of Canada so it’s fun to see other areas I may never get to. The fall back east really is beautiful.
Another cooking fuel option to the alkie stove are gelled fuel cans. Not as sexy as a JetBoil, but only costs a dollar. A bit ghetto. People generally avoid them because they don’t put out a lot of heat. I cut the entire top off the can with a can opener, and that doubles the heat output. I use a small piece of aluminum foil to partially cover the top of the can to control the heat. (it get’s very hot) Just to see if it could be done…I cooked off a 5 lb roast in a pressure cooker using this and it worked perfectly. Downside is, that it requires a pot stand of some sort. Not rocket science though. Also…if interested, I will send you one of my traditional alcohol stove designs for you to test out.
I’m going to admit I laughed a little watching you waiting out the rain inside that tent. A tarp and a poncho would have been a big help. Great video as always.
Mother Nature does make her own rules irrespective of our plans/desires.
I almost got one of the sngl. person tents, but at 6’2" 230… I went with the ALPS Chaos 3 tent for the extra room. Your somewhat unfortunate predicament tells me I made the right choice. I too tried to make my own alcohol stove, but my Trangia is just too reliable. Looking forward to your next outing… Keep ’em coming.
Another enjoyable video. It is strangely satisfying to watch people prepare food "in the wild" even if they are just boiling water for tea. That espresso thingy is awesome! Keep on hiking!
Have you thought about doing some hammock camping during this time of year? It could still be quite comfortable, (not too cold), and would be worth trying out.
Very enjoyable. Your story reminds me of the old Vermont story of a guy who moves here and is delighting in the first snow storm…as it goes on he’s sicker and sicker of it and it’s pretty funny. That would be the perfect tent for me as I’m short lol. I too love testing gear and am testing out a lot of 2Go systems gear now. His Trifecta bivvy would have warmed you right up, even used as a blanket. Breathes well too. Anyway cheers, and keep having fun, taking the good with the bad.
So, lesson learned is have a Plan B for what you do with your time? I’ve always preferred tarps to tents, but then I’m a big guy and most things are made for shorter and smaller people, so tarps give me the room that I need. Still, enjoyed your video, well made as usual.
very enjoyable video to watch, sorry it had to rain so much, good you had a back up stove, the water filter is real cool must look into one and supper looked good to, don’t how breakfast in the morning went but I hope you still had a good time
15 hours stuck inĀ a tent,Ā I know from experience how boringĀ that must have been. Especially if you can’t sit up properly. It’s always good to get out there though even if the weather bods stitched you up. Lol. It was good to see your kit shakedown, your homemade stove didn’t work as expected but you can go back & modify & improve it. I really enjoyed your video, so much so I’ve shared it to my blog. Thanks for taking us along, All the best, Bri
Congratulations to you, for not losing your mind somewhere in the *Fifteen* hours of smothering confinement & relentlessly pattering rains!š
You were livin’ pretty fancy with your High Bar Single-Shot Espresso Machine!ā I’m never fancier than Maxwell Instant, but, I love and appreciate my Precious Coffee; so I feel like I can relate to you.
Thanks for sharing your dismal adventure with us. I wonder how was your hike out; and if your Footprint performed satisfactorily??š¤
Carolina Chris Outdoorson June 17, 2020 at 6:53 pm
Nice adventure…. you didn’t say how your alcohol failed. Did it burn at all? How cold was your alcohol and the stove? Bummer about the rain, but at least you were able to test the ground cloth/ tent set up….. I should’ve been a weatherman!!!!!! Ha ha ha!!!!
Bummer about the rain, I hate when weather ruins a much anticipated outing. Whew, I’m’ not sure I could have dealt with 15 hours in that tiny tent with no entertainment. I’ll bet the Kindle becomes a permanent resident in your pack! I didn’t see an update on the alcohol stove, what happened? For my son’s sake, you should have included a shot of you eating, he was very concerned that the rain ruined your dinner and you didn’t have anything to eat! LOL Very excited to try out the filtration cup, looks like a great filter, very portable and gets all the nasty stuff out. I love my Big Berkey for the house, but this looks perfect for the trail. Great video, the remaining colors in the woods were beautiful!
Great video content as well as videography. Just wondering if you were concerned that the fill cup for the water filter system was easy to loose a firm grip when wet? Perhaps utilizing a dirty water bottle with a cord affixed to it and your wrist would provide greater security against losing a necessary piece of your water purification system?
Just realized you have new video! For some reason youtube didnĀ“t warn me even though IĀ“m a subscriber. QQ about your new filter. Do you know whatĀ“s the usable life expectance? Can you replace the filter or is it disposable after it is fully dirty?
My first time out in three weeks ended with a heavy rainstorm that was not in the forecast. Got to test out some new gear, both purchased and homemade.
Very good video! I like the water filter I’ve never seen one like that before. Thanks for sharing your trip.
Well, because of your continuing quest for good gear and packout, you managed to "smooth it" as much as possible. Victory!
My last over-nighter ended up like yours. Only difference was my tent was bigger and I was accompanied by my spouse and our two granddaughters, 8yo and 6yo. We were miserable! š¤£. So, we learned to set a good size TARP up, first and foremost; that way we will always start off our camp setup by creating a place to work on setting up everything else, while out of the rain, sun, snow or whatever else, and weāll have plenty of space. From under the tarp, we figure one can prep for and set the fire, set up the cooking area and get something heating up and on the boil, and then we can set up the tent and sleep systems. Thatās our plan, anyway. As youāve said, live and learn, and thatās the fun of this fantastic pastimeāļøšš. Always love your vids.
Re: your alchy stove; it’s a bit hard to tell in a vid but I suspect that the diameter of the inner can is too small and therefore the wick is too thick, causing excessive fuel draw and inefficient burn. I have found that a relatively thin wick (with a strong capillary action) draws fuel at a sufficient rate.
I really enjoyed the video.Ā Would love to see more overnighters w/o all of the rain of course….
11:25 blew my mind. You have never encountered a bear?! I guess it all depends on where you are in the US.
Just this year alone I have seen more than I can count, probably more than 10, and I solo hike and camp quite a bit. I know that the spray is effective, but I have never carried any. Bears are curious and docile around people in my experience, but I’ll admit that when you see one that weighs more than you, like 3 times or more, it gets your adrenaline pumping.
One suggestion about that bear spray I would make is to take that tab off. Bears are much better at everything physically than we are, and not by a little bit. They are very quiet moving, and they will almost certainly detect you before you detect them. They’re way faster too.
If you think you’re going to need that spray it better be ready to do it’s job.
Several years ago in East Tennessee a small black bear run across my yard , within eight feet of me .
I’m too claustrophobic to spend so long in a tent that small. I would need a tarp as well to sit out, read my kindle, whittle away the time in the rain.
Beautiful scenery my friend and the color of the trees and wild flowers.Your living the dream,proving that health is wealth.You know the area very well and you obviously feel safe,but I would have to carry a firearm and a K- Bar knife.Even if it was just to shoot something edible,field dress it eg.Rabbit ,cook and eat it just something to keep me busy.EXCELLENT video my friend stay safe.
have the same problem before the camera,i have to plan it,in my spare time,have to take a ride for almost 3 hours,and then finely i am at the spot,i cant translate it anymore,and don’t know what to say anymore
i like the water filter very much,looks very easy to use
it is good you had your alcohol stove failure,so you can learn from it,did you try it at home first?did it work there
if so,i guess the problem for it is,to heat up the alcohol with a priming pan underneath it
the temp outside on a rock is much colder then at home on the table in room temperature or it is air flow on the top of your inner can
hard to see on the video (out of focus lol)
or your wick is up to high that the alcohol is burned way to fast
atb
Steve
This water filter looks like it’s pretty efficient and doesn’t take a lot of time to filter the water. Bear spray is a good thing to have this time a year because the bears are trying to fatten up to overwinter. And I like that DIY ground sheet for sure. And leave it to the weatherman to get the forecast wrong LOL. And you can only lay around for so long, but it’s too bad the tents not tall enough to set up. And I’m just the opposite my friend. I would’ve slept like a baby with the rain falling on the tent LOL. Thanks for sharing brother.
Thanks for sharing your adventure. I wonder if your homemade stove was able to get enough to oxygen. Those designs can be tricky! Take care-
8:28 *What* is all that Pink?!
Awesome video! Great fun and inspiring!
Been down that road my friend. No forecast of rain, rained for two days. 10 miles down the trail when it started, but at least it was warm. What can you do? Make the best of it, try new things to pass the time. The next two days were nice and sunny. All in all we had a good hike, and stories to tell. Thanks for taking us all on your adventure. Plus the cool new gear.
did you punch a couple of air wholes near top of alcohol stove. I made that same design, you have to punch wholes or it either goes out or it is not efficient. Also, Bring a tarp next time and set that up high over your tent, so you can sit outside when it rains. Sorry you were stuck in tent the whole time
miss your videos!! hopefully you can get the camera channel going more as well
Great video, very relaxing. That espresso device is crazy cool! Please could you tell me more about the water filter, a website link maybe.
great trip, thanks for taking us along.
question: do you need to do anything to that water filter when temps dip down below freezing? how would you go about getting the water out of it?
observation: in the words of the great Chesty Puller, "always carry a book."
observation: that fancy schmancy expresso maker looks like some kind of high tech drug paraphernalia. now that i think about it, that is exactly what it is. ha!
your inspiring me!
Nice trip, thanks for taking us along. I live on the west coast of Canada so it’s fun to see other areas I may never get to. The fall back east really is beautiful.
Another cooking fuel option to the alkie stove are gelled fuel cans. Not as sexy as a JetBoil, but only costs a dollar. A bit ghetto. People generally avoid them because they don’t put out a lot of heat. I cut the entire top off the can with a can opener, and that doubles the heat output. I use a small piece of aluminum foil to partially cover the top of the can to control the heat. (it get’s very hot) Just to see if it could be done…I cooked off a 5 lb roast in a pressure cooker using this and it worked perfectly. Downside is, that it requires a pot stand of some sort. Not rocket science though. Also…if interested, I will send you one of my traditional alcohol stove designs for you to test out.
I’m going to admit I laughed a little watching you waiting out the rain inside that tent. A tarp and a poncho would have been a big help. Great video as always.
Mother Nature does make her own rules irrespective of our plans/desires.
I almost got one of the sngl. person tents, but at 6’2" 230… I went with the ALPS Chaos 3 tent for the extra room. Your somewhat unfortunate predicament tells me I made the right choice. I too tried to make my own alcohol stove, but my Trangia is just too reliable. Looking forward to your next outing… Keep ’em coming.
Thanks for the Video !!!
Another enjoyable video. It is strangely satisfying to watch people prepare food "in the wild" even if they are just boiling water for tea. That espresso thingy is awesome! Keep on hiking!
Sorry…espresso. I’ve only had it a few times. It’s the only real caufee apparently.
Oh man the rain. That sucks when it’s unexpected but you kept a good attitude and logged another memory!
Have you thought about doing some hammock camping during this time of year? It could still be quite comfortable, (not too cold), and would be worth trying out.
Great stuff, as always, my friend! Ā That darn, unforecasted rain…haha! Ā We’ve all been there. Ā -Dave
Nice WW. Are you Eye-talian? Cool Expresso maker. Tasty looking sangwich and udon chicken noodle soup.Ciao.
Very enjoyable. Your story reminds me of the old Vermont story of a guy who moves here and is delighting in the first snow storm…as it goes on he’s sicker and sicker of it and it’s pretty funny. That would be the perfect tent for me as I’m short lol. I too love testing gear and am testing out a lot of 2Go systems gear now. His Trifecta bivvy would have warmed you right up, even used as a blanket. Breathes well too. Anyway cheers, and keep having fun, taking the good with the bad.
So, lesson learned is have a Plan B for what you do with your time? I’ve always preferred tarps to tents, but then I’m a big guy and most things are made for shorter and smaller people, so tarps give me the room that I need. Still, enjoyed your video, well made as usual.
very enjoyable video to watch, sorry it had to rain so much, good you had a back up stove, the water filter is real cool must look into one and supper looked good to, don’t how breakfast in the morning went but I hope you still had a good time
15 hours stuck inĀ a tent,Ā I know from experience how boringĀ that must have been. Especially if you can’t sit up properly. It’s always good to get out there though even if the weather bods stitched you up. Lol. It was good to see your kit shakedown, your homemade stove didn’t work as expected but you can go back & modify & improve it. I really enjoyed your video, so much so I’ve shared it to my blog. Thanks for taking us along, All the best, Bri
Congratulations to you, for not losing your mind somewhere in the *Fifteen* hours of smothering confinement & relentlessly pattering rains!š
You were livin’ pretty fancy with your High Bar Single-Shot Espresso Machine!ā I’m never fancier than Maxwell Instant, but, I love and appreciate my Precious Coffee; so I feel like I can relate to you.
Thanks for sharing your dismal adventure with us. I wonder how was your hike out; and if your Footprint performed satisfactorily??š¤
Nice adventure…. you didn’t say how your alcohol failed. Did it burn at all? How cold was your alcohol and the stove? Bummer about the rain, but at least you were able to test the ground cloth/ tent set up….. I should’ve been a weatherman!!!!!! Ha ha ha!!!!
Great video quality, and interesting content!
Bummer about the rain, I hate when weather ruins a much anticipated outing. Whew, I’m’ not sure I could have dealt with 15 hours in that tiny tent with no entertainment. I’ll bet the Kindle becomes a permanent resident in your pack! I didn’t see an update on the alcohol stove, what happened? For my son’s sake, you should have included a shot of you eating, he was very concerned that the rain ruined your dinner and you didn’t have anything to eat! LOL Very excited to try out the filtration cup, looks like a great filter, very portable and gets all the nasty stuff out. I love my Big Berkey for the house, but this looks perfect for the trail. Great video, the remaining colors in the woods were beautiful!
Great video content as well as videography. Just wondering if you were concerned that the fill cup for the water filter system was easy to loose a firm grip when wet? Perhaps utilizing a dirty water bottle with a cord affixed to it and your wrist would provide greater security against losing a necessary piece of your water purification system?
Just realized you have new video! For some reason youtube didnĀ“t warn me even though IĀ“m a subscriber. QQ about your new filter. Do you know whatĀ“s the usable life expectance? Can you replace the filter or is it disposable after it is fully dirty?
I love your videos. Felt bad for laughing a little at your situation. You took it well. I’ve been there too. Keep em comin.