August 13, 2015

Things That We Own That We Like Of The Week:

The MSR PocketRocket backpacking stove and Kahtoola’s MICROspikes

THING: MSR POCKETROCKET

 I’ve done a ton of backcountry cooking  with my PocketRocket stove. It’s about forty dollars, weighs four ounces, works with most canisters and is essentially foolproof to use. I don’t remember any situations where I wished I had a more expensive or complex piece of equipment. Turn it up and it boils water surprisingly fast for such an inexpensive stove. There’s

A piece of advice when using the stove: bring some tinfoil to use as a windscreen. Like most camping stoves, nothing’s going to cook if the stove is exposed to wind. Also, because the stove has to sit on top of the fuel canister, it can’t be placed directly on the ground.

4oz, $39.95 at REI

Link:

http://www.rei.com/product/660163/msr-pocketrocket-backpacking-stove

                                    Image credit: REI.com

THING: KAHTOOLA'S MICROspikes

If you’re hiking in the mountains in fall or spring, trail crampons are pretty essential for hiking on ice and packed snow. Kahtoola MICROspikes do the job extremely well, and they’re a nice middle ground between extra traction and full on crampons. If you need better grip, you’re probably ice climbing. The rubber ring that attaches to the shoe makes them easy to take on and off, but they’re too large to fit in most pants pockets. Essential if one is traveling on slippery terrain. One thing- they’re not one size fits all, so make sure the store has the right pair or buy them online.

11-13oz, $69.95 at Kahtoola.com

Link:

https://kahtoola.com/product/microspikes/

                                Image Credit: Kahtoola.com

Today’s haiku

Gear gear gear gear gear

Gear gear gear gear gear gear gear

Gear gear gear gear broke