[pct-l] Cooking Within (addendum)

[Mountaingoat Fraser]

That first paragraph was one of the most...gripping things I've ever read on
this list. I read it six times! Why can't all 'outdoor writing' be that
satisfying?

On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 2:09 AM, CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net> wrote:

> Good morning, Gary,
>
> Years ago when I was young, wild, and ignorant I had a significant love
> affair with a little Swedish beauty by the name of Svea 123.  She seduced
> me
> away from my previous love—also a Swede – by the name of Trangia.  While
> Trangia was small, quiet, and unassuming, Svea was taller, more
> sophisticated, and overall much more impressive.  Unfortunately she was
> also
> much more difficult to turn on, and she was loud, but when she finally did
> get started she was HOT! She provided me with the two best moments of the
> day:  When she actually turned on and put out the heat, and when I was
> finished with her and she finally shut-up.
>
> Why had I made the change?  At the time I was impressed with
> sophistication:
> Anything with more parts and processes had to be better – an affliction
> common to many mechanical engineers who prefer twenty complicated parts
> when
> one simple one will do equally as well.  Svea had lots of things to fiddle
> with, and I could even add things like a mini-pump to avoid having to bring
> that ice-cold piece of brass into my sleeping bag in the morning and hold
> it
> in my warm crotch for ten minutes to warm it enough to create some internal
> pressure in the tank; my hands being too cold to effectively do the
> warming.
>
> Next came a really good reason why Svea should never be lit inside a tent:
> With a bit of pressure in the tank the valve was opened slightly, and kept
> open just long enough to pressure-dribble raw fuel down the generator stem
> and into the little dam around the top of the tank.  When lit, the raw fuel
> in the dam would then flame up and heat the burner plate sufficient to
> vaporize fuel that was eventually to squirt out of the generator.  If the
> valve was subsequently opened to soon – before the vaporizer plate became
> sufficiently hot – there would be a really big raw fuel flame-up with the
> possibility of burning fuel running out of the dam and down the sides of
> the
> stove.
>
> This process was really great for hikers who have trouble waking up and
> getting started in the morning, being better than a double-tall espresso
> for
> jump-starting the day.
>
> Steel-Eye
> Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
> http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 6:46 PM, Gary Schenk <gwschenk at socal.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sunday 06 December 2009 19:35:18
> ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.comwrote:
> > > Please keep in mind regarding this article that the kind of stoves we
> use
> > > are the commercial variety white gas (Svea, MSR, etc.) or canister
> > > (Jetboil, Bluet...) stoves with good bases for predictable stability
> and
> > > valves for flame control. We consider the use of alcohol stoves
> dangerous
> > > for self and environment and not worth the weight savings in the long
> > run.
> > > Those who practice with them may have good fortune, but for the novice
> we
> > > do not encourage their use.
> >
> > You light a Svea inside your tent?!?!? They don't call those things
> Swedish
> > hand grenades for nothing, you know.
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> >
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-- 
And That's All the Goat Wrote