VFR Trip Camping Questions

Pack Light and Carry a Thick Wallet

I've used those Reactor Stoves. They work well, but they have issues.
They require special Fuel Canisters. They are not cheap. They can be hard to find.
They are Not reusable, throw aways.
We could not use them on long Back Country Expeditions (a week in the Ice Fields),
cause it was extra metal to carry around and then we had to carry out a bag of empty metal cans, into a Dumpster.

The "Special Fuel" is a "80/20 blend of isobutane and propane". It does make a lot of heat.
We found we'd use up 1 fuel can to melt snow, then another can to boil it.
Its costly to buy and costly to operate.
If you're an occasional campground camper, its probably the fasted water boiler, but, So What?
We used one on a Bike trip once, boiled water for morning coffee (Heppner, Oregon), was good.
Worked well, but it ws an IQ Test to break it down back into its many parts and nest it into shipping mode.
Practice with it at home first, make a full meal.

I stick with a 40 yr old Swedish Army Optimus stove that burns "White Gas / Naptha".


Its a single unit, not many parts, even rebuild-able.
Fuel is cheap (sold by the gallon) and available everywhere.
We bring extra fuel bottles (available in many sizes) and reuse them.

My Minimalist Travel Mode is to make hot water only, for Coffee or Tea.
No Dishes to wash.
I don't bring Food, Pots/Pans, and dish-washing stuff.
A few Greenola Bars, maybe a fruit, and nuts.
Just enough to fend off the munchies, till the next Oasis.

In this photo, I rode Calgary to Oregon Coast and back, all Camping.


The Tent, Sleeping Bag are in there too.

I did a 2 week trip to California once with my Wife. Getting her to minimize almost caused a Divorce.
We had a big argument when I told her she couldn't bring 3 bathing suits (Pick One!).
After much high level negotiating I got her down to this:


Here's my setup for an extended trip.


Though it looks excessive, take a look at what it looks like from the Front.


The side bags are still there, but don't stick out into the Air Stream (drag).
The tank bag is still there.
The Back bag is there too.
Along with Taller Gearing and Critical Carb Tuning I can go for 4hrs or more on a Tank.

I buy a brand new bag of Socks & Underwear for the trip.
Its factory folded/compacted. Just tear a hole in the bag and pull out a fresh one.
The old Dirty Guanch gets the Ceremonial Tossing into the Evening Campfire.
I try not to do Laundry on Tour, but on long trips,,..
If I run out, buy another pack on the road.
Camping One Night, rather than Motel saves enough $$$ to buy Underwear for multiple trips.

Camping/Climbing in The Icefields for a week forces you to think in Multiple Levels of Efficiencies.
Rather than One Tool for One Job, every item must have Multiple Uses.
I do failure analyses on every item, "What if this breaks/gets lost".
Then do Failure Analysis on 2 items breaking (its a Grid, item 1&2, item 1&3, 1&4,,..2&3, 2&4,,..)
Then apply Probabilities.
This doesn't cost anything, just Brain Time (too costly for some).

Though this is getting into Anal Retentive preparation, it did save Our Butts once.
We were crossing a Glacier and decided to drop our Packs and ski for a nearby Peak.
We made it, skied back down to the packs. The extra side trip cost us all our water.
No problem, we'll make more. Scoop'd up some snow to melt, but, Cody's MSR Stove wouldn't work.
The rubber O-Ring on the Fuel Bottle seal had a rip in it, can't pressurize the fuel.
He didn't bring any spare parts. We're standing on 1000' of water, but its frozen, we're screw'd.
I pulled out a Backup Stove, spent an hour there and made enough water to get to next Camp, we were Thirsty.
I made sure to have a different style stove. If one stove fails, the identical one would fail the same way.
Later, melted H2O for the next day, then ya have to sleep with your water bottle, or it'll Freeze.
Then you're screwed. If you melt more H2O, where ya gonna put it? And you still have to carry the Frozen one out.
Unlike having a 100HP to motor stuff around, you have to carry Everything yourself.
Boy, Motorcycle Camping is So Luxurious.

I use a quality Goose Down Sleeping Bag, it will compress down real small.
Synthetic Bags will not compress much and are heavier.
I have a small Air Line Pillow Case I stuff a sweater into (dual purpose).
Long Underwear for Cold also doubles as Pajamas for those cooler nights.

Some people pack with hundreds of pounds of stuff. To each their own.
Setting up/taking down-packing every day is a pain, so I understand building a Base Camp.

Start small (a weekend) and go from there.

I highly recommend the camping route. You are Self Contained, Independent, a modern day Cowboy on your Trusty Steed.
Preping your Bike is a Thread unto itself.
It will always be an Adventure (hopefully not an Epic,,.. but be prepared!).

And take a course in Photography Composition. What a waste to be somewhere beautiful, and take marginal photos.
I recommend a Real Camera. Almost ALL Cell Phone Cameras have a Fixed Focal Length Lens, quite limiting.
"Zooming" with Fixed Lens is Not the same as a Optical Zoom Lens.
I recommend the Panasonic Lumix series Pocket Cameras. They may have the Stigma of a PHD camera (Push Here Dummy),
but they have become so much more (30:1 Optical Zoom with Leica Aspherical Lenses,
Plenty big Image Sensor for those with Pixel Envy, "Motor Drive", etc).

Go Forth and Explore!

 

For those who are not into the more elemental aspects of motorcycle camping. This may be of interest:

http://www.dkhardware.com/product-8...TPjYgbsGQklbA8R03D9zasqFEhcUlyLpnYBoC0MPw_wcB

Cook 250 Oscar Mayer wieners in one whack and enough smores to feed a HOG waller.

 

A review site for a bunch of different camp stoves including a version of the Optimus army model.

http://thenextchallenge.org/liquid-multi-fuel-stoves/#optimus

 

For food i recommend MREs. While everyone knows what it is supposed to mean, those who use them know it stands for Meal Refusing to Exit. I mean, if your not stopping to crap all the time, you don't need to carry much TP, and you get to spend more time riding...

 

In all seriousness, plan one overnighter first. The next morning you will know what is worth your time and what is not.

 

I am thinking about starting in the back yard for a few nights to get the hang of the equipment and to assess what works and what doesn't before hitting the road.

 

You will get the whole neighbourhood talking if you do that. I have a very nice Provincial Park just a 10 minute ride from my house that I may try out if I can make it down to R3 this year. Cultus Lake Provincial Park is one of may favorite nearby campsites. I know I have camped a lot on my bike already but I am sure there are ways I can reduce what I carry. The unfortunate part with me is that I have to travel carrying gear for three seasons still at that time of year given the passes I have to go over to get down south from here. My winter suit is nearing the end of it's useful life and I also need a new summer suit so maybe I will just trash what I am wearing when I get there and buy new.

The past 4 times I have gone down there I have packed my Gerbings but I really think I can do away with that. I also find that I tend to pack more clothing than I really need. I can do more laundry and pack less. I have thought about getting a stove for my new found hiking enjoyment so I really should look more closely at a stove. I think I will carry a few packages of freeze dried dinners as a back up but try to buy food as I go.

 

VF1000FE the fuel canisters for the MSR Reactor stove are easy to find all over north America and are light weight and last a very long time. I use it primarily for hiking climbing trips and is really incredible in all conditions. If you want a multi fuel type stove (and I have had a ton of different ones through the years) The Optimus or one of the MSR's are hard to beat. I have several for zombie apocalypse times. But for space, weight and the fastest boil times the Reactor is a bad ass stove.

 

The major objective in "camping" is pre planning. Compare Gator's version as one example of back country camping and camping at a KOA whilst slamming down the slab in mid summer. Toss in length of time away from the old homestead and it's a start.

In the bigger picture, does one need a roadkill cookbook, a travel iron, and a Sony Watchman before leaving home?

 

Either stove works for cooking zombies. The trick is to use smaller chunks using the Reactor Stove. This is basic physics. The greater the surface area exposed to heat the faster the cooking time.

 

There is more truth to that than some folks may think. For those who don't give a shit there are buttplugs.

 

I agree, the Reactor is a Great Stove.
It Fires immediately, The Optimus must be Pressure Primed.
It needs no Pre Heat warmup, the Optimus needs some fuel spillage into the gutter and lighter start PreHeat.
The Reactor is Hot, but you can also get a MSR that fires like a Jet Engine.
The Reactor is Real Expensive!
But its a Beautiful Unit (requiring packing up practice).
Last I used one was 3 years ago, so I guess Fuel Canister availability is better.
But they are expensive fuel cans.
Have you tried melting Snow with it? You might use up a $5 fuel can just doing that.

In some Back Country Huts, they have Coleman Lamps that burn WhiteGas, so you could rob it of fuel if ya ran out.
Likewise, when we were leaving, we would dump our excess fuel into the Lamp, for others.
The Optimus is Self Contained, with its own internal fuel tank (good for about 20 - 40min).
The Reactor requires assembly.
But refilling it requires waiting till the tank cools down, but refills are cheap, cheap, cheap.
The Reactor just needs a new fuel can spun ON.
Having a Foil Shield around the Flame/Pot can make a Huge Difference in Efficiency, specially in a Wind.

They are all different, and the user has a wonderful selection to choose from.
I think I"ve been Imprinted with the Optimus (and 60's/70's Rock), and it works well for me.

This discussion is good for New Entrants.

Another possibility is to Ask Around!
You probably know many who have stoves, just borrow them, try'em out.
I've even used mine to Boil Grease for a Dirt Bike Chain Soak (being Cheap I tried to refresh a used chain).

If the Zombie Apocalypse happens, I'll be running back up the Glacier, don't think they'll follow.

Let the BTUs Begin!

 

You have not used the Reactor. I can pull it out of my backpack and have boiling water in under 2 minutes. A whole liter of water in 3 minutes. Assembly time is about 10-15 seconds, same to collapse it and put it away. As far as fuel, the little 4oz can last for 3 days for 3 people. That is for breakfast and dinner. They cost $4-$5. On a week long we bring the medium size. Watch this video from REI and you get the idea. It is expensive and specialized but is exactly what I need.

https://www.rei.com/product/736977/msr-reactor-stove-system-17-liter

There are a bunch of makes, this is a MSR canister. Others are cheaper.

http://shop.alpenglowgear.com/msr-i...-oz/dp/11952?gclid=CMH_s6jAx9ECFY09gQodrqYF6w

 

The Watchman is a must! lol

 

I just got back from our local Mountain Equipment Coop, to see where my confusion is.
You're Right, it was not a MSR Reactor, though it did look identical when operating.
It was buddy's Stove and he fiddled with assembly and packing,,.. lots of bits.
It was probably a Knock-Off. I'll have to see if I got a Photo.
Probably had a lesser Heat Exchanger/Wind Screen to beat Patents (and cost less).
I'll have to find out exactly what it is.

The MSR goes for $235 here and the 4oz tank is $6.50

Also noticed there was an assortment of Fuel Tanks, which did not have compatible Threads/Valve.

 

As far as I know there are the threads that MSR and others like Jet Boil use and then there is the old Coleman type threads. I forgot to tell you that it will melt snow very fast. I was climbing in the northern North Cascades a few years ago and we had to do many days of melting snow. Did not boil it to save gas, just filtered it after it melted. Takes a lot of snow to make water.
I wonder if the stove you were looking at was the Jet Boil, I think they use the venturi type fins to increase heat on one of their top end stoves. A friend from Montana that I have climbed a lot with in Wyoming had one. It was a good stove too. Can't remember the name. We were up in the Wind Rivers in the Cirque of the Towers for a week, the Jet boil seemed to sip gas at about the same rate as the Reactor. You can use a frying pan with it but have to hold it away from the flame a bit. Have done this while car camping in between moving locations. I bring a big ass old Coleman if we do a lot of car camping along with a another pot and pan.

 

My bad..The Watchman is old school and by now has been replaced with a spring loaded selfie stick and a SAT phone.

 

For mano a mano "reviews" on camp stuff. A walk through the main parking lot of any big college or university pregame tailgate fest will provide. Wear the right colors and the nice folks will offer munchies and advice and maybe even an adult beverage.