ultralight Archives - Untaken Trails

Battle of the UL Campstoves 2022
So last year I did a comparison of ultralight campstoves by raw numbers: weight and cost being the most salient factors, though I touched on ease of use and risk of failure as deciding factors for myself in selecting my own system. The winners from that “debate” were the super cheap BRS from Amazon (with accessories selected as needed – fuel choice and cookpot size may give more advantages) for both weight and price, but my personal selection was the then brand new Jetboil Stash, because I was willing to take a price penalty and slight weight penalty for reliability and efficiency on long trips.

This year I have been put onto two further ultralight options: the alcohol stove system and the Firebox Nano. It seems to me that the idea of a cook system which runs on biofuel (ie. sticks), while it may not be the most heat-efficient approach would save on fuel weight and make less waste. The Biolite simply wasn’t light enough to make sense last year even with the potential to charge electronics. But the Firebox Nano intrigued me so I thought I would consider it here.

If you didn’t click on the link above, (fair warning: all prices in CAD and weights in grams) here’s what I found:
- Jetboil Stash ($160): 399g (includes fuel weight and pot with integrated windscreen)
- BRS UL Burner w/ Toaks pot and MSR fuel ($78.50): 362g
And now… let’s consider three other options: another stick-fired stove, a stick-fired supplemented with alcohol, and an alcohol based setup.
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February 4, 2022

Gear, Gear Reviews, Outdoors, Uncategorized

alcohol stove, BRS, camp stoves, campstoves, firebox, jetboil, skurka, UL, ultralight
Section C Update: Starting in 2 Days…

Wow! It’s hard to believe the trip is coming up in just a few days now. A lot has changed since I wrote this in May. For one thing, my hiking partner cancelled on me, and I put the call out to the world to find a replacement. I got my wish, but then my new partner came out early to hike Section B, but the westerlies across the mountains pushed a truckload of smoke from the BC wildfires onto her, and she tapped out.

Our campsite on the Waterhen River

Crossing Mistohay Creek

But even more surprisingly, my wife expressed interest in coming! So I have spent the last month working with her to get her used to carrying weight and walking on trails, culminating in a 24 hour shakedown hike in Meadow Lake Provincial Park. We hiked into a campsite on Friday night 10km, then hiked out 30km on Saturday through 32 degree heat! She delivered like a trooper, so we are go, for sure.

Aside from physically preparing her, we have had to kit her out with good backpacking gear. I didn’t want her to experience the Cheryl Strayed pack from Reese Witherspoon’s “Wild” pack, and have her tap out from exhaustion. I lined her up with the Durstongear 40l pack like mine, only slightly smaller. I’m now carrying a 2p instead of 1p X-Mid, in my effort to save her some weight, as well as the stove, a Jetboil Stash. She is packing a litle heavier nonetheless, as she is managing chronic cold fingers. It wasn’t a problem on our Meadow Lake go – the temperature topped out at 32 degrees! But we all know the Canadian Rockies at elevation are much cooler.

The route: Kananaskis Lakes to Field!

I decided to stick to a longer itinerary for her sake, so the first three days are all under 16km. Hopefully that sets us up for success and lightens our pack before climbing Wonder Pass and crossing to Porcupine campground for 24km in one day!

Then, a short 15km out to Sunshine where if all goes as planned a wonderful trail angel will be waiting for us with our resupplies and a lift into Banff townsite. We will enjoy a town dinner and a warm bed, before an early taxi back up to Sunshine and the longest hike of the trip, 28km to Ball Pass. From there, the days get shorter as we descend and then work across the famous “Rockwall” hike of Kootenay and Yoho National Park. This is her motivation now – she saw this picture of Floe Lake and wants to see it for herself.

Floe Lake in all its majesty (not my image)

The fires burning in BC may still play a factor for us. Right now the winds have shifted from the north, so they aren’t a problem but if they return to the west it may get smoky. Additionally, the hot weather streak appears to have finally been broken, but now the forecast for the high elevations are hovering in the low double digits, and intermittent showers are forecasted for the first 3-4 days of the trip. That may well challenge her ability to stay warm on trail. So we are not without opposition. But excitement remains. Stay tuned for our post-trip report!

Read more:

Trip Report: GDT Section C August 2021 Summary
Trip Report: GDT Section C August 2021 Days 1 and 2
Trip Report: GDT Section C August 2021 Days 3 and 4
Trip Report: GDT Section C August 2021 Days 5 and 6
Trip Report: GDT Section C August 2021 Days 7-9
Trip Report: Great Divide Trail Section C August 2021 – Days 10 and 11

admin

August 17, 2021

GDT Section C, Multi-Day Trails, Outdoors, Trails

great divide trail, hiking, ultralight
The Battle of the Ultralight Campstoves: 2021

I work for the Canadian Armed Forces, and as such, rucking is something that is an almost mandatory part of fitness for me. It doesn’t have to be I suppose – there are other ways to maintain operational fitness, but it dovetails quite nicely with my backpacking hobby.

Hurts my back just looking at it.

Back when I joined in 2015, one of the first exercises we went on overnight, I loaded up my beastly 82 pattern ruck with all my issued kit and headed out. And once things got dark that night I began to see all the other troops come out with their “gucci” kit – aftermarket items that make everything easier in the field. I saw headlamps instead of the antiquated torch, overboots instead of mukluks, and I saw personal stoves, instead of trying to fight with the gigantic, stone-age white gas Colemans that I had first seen at my grandfather’s house, purchased some time in the 60’s I am sure.

I think this is the one I have… looks like it anyway.

It was then that I met the Jetboil. And what a sweet experience that was. Compact, simple, and just works. Like it was meant to be used by the army or something. I immediately saw that it would not only be useful when we go on EX and I want a hot drink, but it would also be a feature player in my overnight hiking kit (and winter dayhiking for that matter! Though I learned a lesson about that too… but that’s a blog post for another day.)

However, time marches on and I began to question. Was the Jetboil the best option for my ever-lightening pack? Many people love the MSR Pocketrocket, and I also ran across the Biolite, which not only runs on sticks but also doubles as a power source and light. And then in the spring of this year, Jetboil upped their game and released the Stash. So, I asked myself, which would be the best for me, the average Joe backpacker/UL wannabe who isn’t quite ready to cold soak everything?

Jetboil Stash vs Biolite Campstove 2+ vs MSR Pocketrocket vs BRS Ultralight Burner

TL;DR: The BRS UL Stove that can be found on Amazon for $25 CAD or thereabouts, when combined with a Toaks Titanium cookpot and an 8oz MSR gas can is the cheapest and lightest cook system of the four analyzed, but it has limitations that should be considered before rushing out to buy one.
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admin

May 14, 2021

Gear Reviews, Outdoors

BRS, campstove, jetboil, msr, rucksack, toaks, ultralight
Shopping for Hiking Gear in Canada: 2019

Shopping for Hiking Gear in Canada: 2019

Here’s the problem: Canada is not the USA.

Hear me out. That’s important when it comes to hiking gear, especially in this brave new world of lightweight and ultralight backpacking and hiking.

Like overseas hikers, the selection of gear available locally is not that light. It might be tough, it might be useful, but it is not light.

I have pored over Atmosphere, I have visited multiple Valhalla Pures, I have scanned Canadian Tire and Camper’s Village, I have scrolled through Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shop, and I have dug through the REI of Canada, MEC‘s catalog. The selection just isn’t there compared to the USA.

And ordering online from American outfitters, while technically possible, is expensive especially with the Canadian Dollar in the toilet.

I was in one shop, a specialty outdoors store, where I had previously had very good conversations with the owner about gear. But this time, looking to specifically cut my base weight, he had nothing to offer me except to point me towards insanely expensive gear that wasn’t even what I was looking for.

In general, all of the above stores, if they carry quality hiking gear at all, only carry the big names: Osprey, Deuter, Gregory if you’re lucky. The odd Kelty, Mountain Hardware, or North Face sprinkled here and there, occasionally MSR makes an appearance. Basically, if it’s made in a factory somewhere in the 3rd world, you can buy it in Canada.

But compared to what I already own, next to nothing would make serious cuts to my base weight.

However, I have good news: there is some reasonable gear available for sale in Canada for a decent price. I’ll tell you what I found.

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admin

January 29, 2019

Gear, Gear Reviews, Outdoors

backpacks, canada, gear, hiking, shelters, sleeping, ultralight, weight

Battle of the UL Campstoves 2022

Section C Update: Starting in 2 Days…

The Battle of the Ultralight Campstoves: 2021

Jetboil Stash vs Biolite Campstove 2+ vs MSR Pocketrocket vs BRS Ultralight Burner

Shopping for Hiking Gear in Canada: 2019