Quick Hike & New Pot/Stove Test

 Last week I decided to take a quick hike with Harry to get his pack back on him and do some leash walking with him.  I didn't give him much weight to carry, just a couple towels on each side to balance the pack so he could get the feel for it again.  I also wanted to get out and try out a new stove and cook pot I obtained recently, and to try a vegan freeze-dried meal.

 I walked to a place not too far from home.  There was still a few inches of snow on the ground, but the air was relatively warm compared to the frigid temps we experienced this winter.

 Kiosk at the trail head.  This is a fairly small piece of conservation land, but it did the trick for my needs today.  I easily could have done this in the back yard, but I didn't want that.

 Nice day in the woods.  I didn't see another person.  Always a plus, though Harry could use some exposure to other hikers/walkers/runners.

I had to let the straps of the pack out on Harry!  He must have put on a few pounds since we last used it.

We walked a couple miles of the trails until we arrived at a bench in the woods, which is where I had planned to go and set up the stove, heat some water and eat lunch.

 So here's the new pot by Stanley, and I picked up a stainless steel cup while I was at it.  Cheap cheap, so why not.  I wanted to give stainless a whirl to try and knock back the amount of cheap aluminum exposure.  I had also recently picked up a tiny little Esbit stove.  Esbit cubes are a solid fuel that burn hot and fairly slow, usually just the right amount of heat to boil enough for a dehydrated meal and maybe a coffee (I use little packets of instant, usually Starbucks Via of some sort).

 The bench in the woods with my old, soon-to-be-replaced day pack.  I like this pack, but the rubberized water-resistant coating on the inside has degraded so terribly over the last year or so that it has become annoying.  There are bits of it all over the place and it sticks to everything.  Very unpleasant.  More on that at a later date.

So, like my other stoves, everything in the kit fits inside the pot.  Here's the tiny little Esbit stove, the white cube is the solid fuel cube.  Also a small windscreen I made out of a beer can some time ago.  Perfect for super light day hiking or even an overnight.

Another view of the pot on the stove with the windscreen.  Ok, so here goes.  This test was a good learning experience, and a near failure.  I needed 18 ounces of water to boil to rehydrate the meal.  The issue with the Esbit stove is that it really only seems to be good for use with aluminum or titanium pots.  The stainless steel is just too heavy a metal to get a good, quick boil.  I was able to get a boil after ripping though two Esbit cubes.  The meal then needs to sit for 15 or 20 minutes to rehydrate properly, which is fine, but I was running low on time.  This pot is definitely better used with gas canister stoves, but I may give it a try with one of my alcohol stoves.  They burn super hot.  I think technically the instructions for the Stanley pot suggest not using over open flame (a wood fire) likely because the little plastic tab on top could melt.  I am planning to test this pot over an open flame, however so I may remove the tab and put on a keyring to use to remove the lid.

The meal is really tasty, and does resemble a good Pad Thai.  It's a bit difficult in preparation as it includes a packet of peanut butter which is potentially messy. It also comes with a small packet of peanuts to be added just prior to eating adding a nice crunch  Technically there are two servings in a pouch, but I easily made it one.  I did like that there was not as much sodium (though still higher than I'd like) in this one as there is in other dehydrated meals, especially vegan ones.  I also learned that crushing up the noodles prior to adding the water would probably make eating this out of the bag a whole lot easier.

I didn't get to try my new stainless cup for coffee.  I did have one more Esbit cube, but was low on time.  I'll be doing a few more of these little test trips this winter/spring to get a better feel for the gear so that I can hopefully put them to use later this year.

I have a big dollar JetBoil stove that I have shown here before that is really great, but I am always wanting to try new things.  I have a tiny, folding stove on order that will fit the JetBoil gas canisters that costs a whopping $6.  It should be nice and light, and I will definitely be interested to see how it performs.  This might be just the thing for ultralight backpacking with a canister, though I am also planning to use one of my alcohol stoves at some point, too.  Can't wait for spring!