DIY Backpacking Gear

[Irukanji]

Sup,

So you want to go backpacking, but don't feel like spending heaps of money on lightweight gear so you don't have to buy a horse to carry it for you?

Anyway, there are a few things you should buy which won't be covered.

So, things which can be made which are usually lighter or more useful(and same weight) as other things are generally easy to make. For example, making a wind shield for your burner using one of these;

http://www.robertsonpackaging.com/images/P/p-457.jpg

And about 10 minutes of your time. Buy one which is reasonably long, cut the top and bottom off(I couldn't figure out how to flatten the corners), then simple roll the cut ends over(a single thickness I can tear with my hands, but once the edge is rolled it is much harder, plus you can't cut yourself on it). Fold it up about 30-40mm thick for storage. Only just made one, so not sure about metal fatigue with extended usage which is why they are reasonably wide folds.

Another thing is a pot stand, most commercially made ones are heavy. A lightweight one can be made using something like a coffee tin, ideally it will be big enough to fit inside your cooking pot(or vice-versa) to minimise space. Basically drill holes around it to let air in. I'm working on one right now, not sure how it will work. It will end up being a hybrid wind shield + pot stand, with a spot for the alcohol stove. Then the additional wind shield will be there to help when it is too windy.

Stoves I'm sure everybody has seen the various amounts of coke can stoves so I won't go into it.

Pots can also be made from cans. I've seen a few youtube videos of people using the old heineken minikegs(like 700ml or so) as pots, but they no longer make/sell them. You can also use various beer cans to make pots, but whatever. You could use an aluminium bottle and just cut the top off to make a cup, I guess a bigger one you could turn into a cooking pot...

etc, etc.

I use a Trangia stove and a trangia pot, plus hopefully this pot holder/stand I'm making and the windscreen of course. Most people only make their own gear to save weight from their pack, but there are a few things you can make to reduce the weight of commercially made things to something which does a better job which is smaller an lighter.

[Issue313]

What do you like to cook on the trail? I imagine hot water for tea/coffee is a necessity too, is one pot enough to do all cooking on?

[Irukanji]

Originally Posted by Issue313

What do you like to cook on the trail? I imagine hot water for tea/coffee is a necessity too, is one pot enough to do all cooking on?

Never bothered with hot drinks, water is good when it isn't full of chlorine and other stuff like that. If you make stuff which can be cooked in the same pot, then 1 pot plus a lid(in the case of the trangia, this doubles as a frying pan) would be fine.




First pic should be of the little pot stand I made with the Trangia burner inside, 2nd pic shows the pot chilling on top with the ghetto windshield around it. Looks a bit dirty, but whatever. I bet there will be too many holes in it...

EDIT: It is too high to sit in the pot, and too narrow to accommodate my cup...back to the drawing board I think.