Source to Sea - Paddling the Mississippi and Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail

Backpacking stoves change and evolve, as do gear preferences. People can spend hours wading through mountains of information about burn times, fuel delivery, treehugging-ness, and of course, price. I know people who change stoves more than they change underwear. To each his own, but here’s where I ended up.

I used a MSR Whisperlight International for years, but it was way overkill for 95% of what I end up doing. Still, that thing was a blowtorch if you kept the fuel clean and jet unclogged. It was the first stove I used when I really got back into backpacking during college. Many meals were cooked, and many eyebrows singed, using that stove over about ten years.

I started a southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2000 with another person, using solid fuel esbit stove. Slow and simple, but barely usable for a couple. I hacked out an alcohol stove from a refried bean can in North Woodstock, NH and carried it for the next 4 months for some 1,300 miles or so till I reached Georgia. The stove lasted longer than the partnership I’m afraid.

Went back to grad school, led a bunch of wilderness trips, and used either that same alcohol stove, a MSR Pocketrocket, or one of the school’s MSR Whisperlights. I think I’m about done with Whisperlights now, mainly because it’s too much weight and hassle just to boil a few cups of water at a time. The Pocketrocket is a simple, light canister stove and worked fine, but I’ve never spilled more meals off any stove. It’s a little top-heavy with a quart of water for my tastes, but man it’s very controllable. Great little stove for the most part, but not for my clumsy self.

We went down the Mississippi River with a cheap single-burner propane stove, and I developed an irrational hatred to it on several different levels. Man that was a mistake. Very top heavy, bulky, and horrible in the wind. The picture of misery sometimes. Missed my little alky stove almost everyday on the river, but was too pig-headed to change.

Now, I’m back to using that same little homemade stove I made some eight years ago. It’s a little beat up, but that just gives it character. I know it’s quirks, and have hiked probably 1,700 miles with it by now. It’s slow, but completely silent. I mix up my dinner with some water, put a splash of fuel in the stove, light it, then let it do it’s thing while putting up the tarp or putzing around.

He’s been a good buddy, and I especially like using it with a homemade pot cozy now. In short, I love this little guy, and it’s the perfect stove for me.

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