[pct-l] Pack weight?

[Kevin Cook]

Just calibrate your balloon to suspend your base weight. You can at least
carry your food and water ;)
How will you refill the hydrogen you cooked with at town?

My concern would be the balloon blowing around.

You did bring to mind another benefit this might provide. For a nobo hiker,
the balloon could provide shade since the Sun is usually at your back.

I know this was all in jest, but now I'm curious. Has anyone tried this? I
did a quick search and can;t find anything. I wonder what the problems are.
Maybe changing elevation causes issues? Would helium escape (hydrogen would
make me nervous)?

On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 10:59 AM, Timothy Nye <timpnye at gmail.com> wrote:

> >
> >  Ron,
> >
>
> The preferable approach is the Gourmet pack lightening / stove fuel
> combination system.
>
> I've purchased a surplus weather balloon which I've inflated with hydrogen
> and attached at the top of my pack with about six inches clearance.  The
> amount of hydogen used is calibrated to offset the weight of the pack.  The
> balloon is fitted with a valve and a flexible length of tubing that I've
> hooked up to the fire ring of an old Coleman camp stove.  The beauty of
> this
> approach is that as your pack gets lighter with the consumption of your
> food
> the then excess hydrogen is utilized to cook your meals.  Of course, no one
> has to worry about fuel spills causing wildfires either.  I've submitted a
> prototype to backpackinglight.com for a review and expect to soon bask in
> the resulting fame and fortune.
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