Tea Light Stove and Toaks 450ml Titanium Cup Cook Kit

This is a quick overview of my lightweight small stove setup.  It consists of a tea light stove that weighs only 2 grams including the integrated cup stand, a Toaks Titanium 450ml cup (70g), Batchstovez 450ml Lid (15g), carbon felt windscreen (27g), small lighter (11g) and fuel bottle (37g full)  - 162g total for the setup and fuel for 3 boils! The stove will typically bring a cup of water to a boil in 5 minutes and is perfect for making oatmeal, a cup of coffee, or cup-o-soup.

Watch my other hiking videos and gear reviews:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa

Batchstovez 450ml Lid Review for Toaks Titanium 450ml Cup

This is a review of the Batchstovez 450ml Lid for 450ml pots and cups.  Specifically, this lid fits the Toaks 450ml Titanium Cup perfectly. Many sites sell the Toaks 450ml cup without the lid, although I’m starting to see the cup offered with a lid periodically on eBay.  For those looking for a light lid that fits perfectly, this is it.  The lid is lightweight aluminum and weighs 15g, it is made in the USA by Sam at Batchstovez, and it only costs $5! 

The lid can be found in the accessories section of the Batchstovez website here: http://www.batchstovez.com/accessories.php

Watch my other hiking videos and gear reviews:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa

Bulin BL3000-F2 Lightweight Portable Lantern Review

This is a review of the Bulin BL3000-F2 lightweight portable lantern. In the box is the lantern with a removable 18” hanging chain, an adapter for butane canister to lindal valve (camp gas canister), three mantles, and a small plastic storage box. It’s a great little lantern with a metal globe that won’t break like the more common glass globes. It weighs 149g with the chain, which seemed a bit heavy (17g), so I removed it. The lantern itself weighs 132g. It fits commonly available hiking fuel canisters and also came with an adapter to fit the tall butane cooking canisters. It has a reliable piezoelectric igniter that usually works on the 1st click. This lantern will NOT burn without a mantle! On high (not its brightest setting...at high flame levels the brightness drops), it appears to burn just under ~2g of fuel per minute, which should give 2hrs run time on a 230g canister (worst case). At max brightness it burns ~3g of fuel in 4 minutes (~5 hrs run time). It can be turned way down and should last far longer (at least triple the time) at lower output levels. I also tried using it as a backup stove to heat water. Although it works, it is very slow (6+min for an open Ti cup). It's a little heavy to be lugging around for any distance (a headlamp serves much better) but fun for short hikes. I went back and used the Olicamp XTS pot and the boil times for a cup of water were 10min (~3g fuel) on low and 4:30 (~4g) fuel on high with butane. If you are using it, and you want hot water, might as well not waste the heat.  :)

Watch my other hiking videos and gear reviews:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa

BRS-3000T Titanium Ultralight Stove Review

Quick description, review, and demo of the BRS 3000t titanium hiking stove. At 25g, it's one of the lightest canister stoves available and it works very well. One thing to note, is that the diameter of the support arms is only 75mm or about 3". This poses a particular problem for heat exchanger pots like the OilCamp XTS. The ring opening on the bottom is just bearly small enough to balance on the stove...yes, it works, but bearly, so be careful. Any flat bottomed cookware works just fine, including very small titanium mugs like the Toaks 450ml Cup. It's as efficient as any of these stoves, requiring only 5g of fuel or so to get a 2 cup boil.

Turner's Gap to Rocky Run Shelter

Video of a very quick section hike in and around Turner’s Gap from Dahlgren Backpackers Campground to Rocky Run Shelter and up and back from the Washington Monument parking lot, about 8.1 miles. Overnight was at the Dahlgren Backpackers Campground. Very nice, with well water at the restroom that has heated showers and there is also a winter/frost free spigot just up the service road. We ate at the Old South Mountain Inn in Boonsboro. Excellent Sunday morning brunch!  http://oldsouthmountaininn.com/ The owls were wicked noisy that night and there were lots of creepy night noises. Beware of the Yeti!
Watch my other hiking videos:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa

Appalachian Trail - Harpers Ferry to Ed Garvey Shelter

Video of my hike from Harpers Ferry up the Appalachian Trail to Ed Garvey Shelter. Overnight parking was easy at the main visitors center for Harpers Ferry and they have a free bus that takes you downtown.
Nice overnight hike. Beware, water at the shelter is almost a half mile down hill. There were stink bugs infesting the shelter, stinky little buggers they are. Also, be on the lookout for the Yeti. 

Watch my other hiking videos:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa

Grayson Highlands and Mount Rogers Hike

Weekend hike from Massie Gap in Grayson Highlands State Park to Mount Rogers. It was rainy and very soggy on the hike up on the 1st day. Things cleared out great for the second day and the views were spectacular. We hiked mostly on the Appalachian trail and stayed overnight in a tent next to the Thomas Knob shelter. The shelter was very crowded, 9 upstairs and 7 downstairs. There were plenty of ponies to gaze at along the trails. :) Here is a link to our photos and a video of the ponies.  I'll post the other hiking videos after I compile them.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108363005112758521525/GraysonHighlandsMountRogersHike