Most of you will not argue when I say that lightweight camping gear is expensive. Hell, lightweight anything is expensive. This is especially true if it has anything to do with cycling, and doubly so if it is Bike Packing related.
I’d like to get into bike packing, but I am loathe to spend the money on new or even second hand gear. Why, because effectively, I’m doubling up on the tourning gear I already have (but isn’t quite suited to bike packing), and because I’m cheap. So, I set myself the goal of kitting myself out with a bike and gear for nothing.
I’ve already got a mountain bike, so that’s item one on the list ticked off. Wow, that was easy.
Not so easy is the lightweight kit, I mean who gives away lightweight camping stuff? Aparently, some people do. I managed to obtain the titanium top section of a Jet Boil system through FaceBook. It came with the cup and lid and was in good nick. And so, I was on my way.
To compliment the titanium mug/pot thing I need a lightweight stove. I have a Trangia alcohol stove which I love, but I remembered seeing a video in which a guy makes an alcohol stove from a beer can. Light and cheap, I’m in.
So I re-watched the video and this is what I ended up with.
Hi, I used to be a Bintang can!
It’s a simplistic design and best of all, no moving parts so I can’t break it!
On it’s first test run, it boiled a cup of water in 5 minutes using a tablespoon of metho. Result!
There are plenty of other designs out there, but this one is the quickest and easiest, requiring nothing more than a pocket knife to make. It’s design does away with the need for a separate stand to hold the pot so that’s a plus. Here’s a link to the video that I used for instructions: click me, I’m a link!
Getting ready for the zombie apocalypse.