Advice on my JMT cooksetup

[fastfoxengineering]

I'm hiking the JMT in august/september this year and want to lighten up my cookset for the trip.

I will be purchasing a dehydrator in the near future and luckily will be able to make all my dinners for this trip. Furthermore, this trip seems to be perfect for that due to resupply options. I'm planning on going minimal on cooking gear to make up for the bear canister weight. I only plan on boiling 2 cups of water at night to rehydrate one of my homemade dinners and a cup of coffee every now and then in the am.

My main priority is to go light! I have never really used esbit before, but I have a Trail Designs Gram Cracker esbit burner in front of me right now. I'm going to start practicing with it. Furthermore, I want to keep my pot clean due to smell issues, bears, etc. I'm not a big fan of freezer bag cooking, however, this trip seems perfect for it because I can dehydrate my own meals.

So for a setup here's what I'm thinking:

BPL 550 Firelite SUL Cookpot
Trail Designs Gram Cracker Burner
DIY Aluminum Wind Screen
Pot Support
Stuff Sack
REI Long Lexan Spoon
Clean Mountain House Bag for Pot Cozy


Anybody have success with Esbit here on the JMT? If so, how do you think my aforementioned setup would do?

[DLP]

I'm sure that you know that we are having a heck of a drought here. I would check the Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia fire restrictions this summer. By August, canister stoves may be the only legal stoves.

You can most likely find some other place to cut oz, if you need to bring a canister stove.

Stove/fire restrictions from last year:
Sequoia National Forest

Approximate PCT miles: 601 – 704.
Fire restrictions are in effect.

• No building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, charcoal fire, campfire, or stove fire except in certain areas.
• Stoves and lanterns with shut-off valves, using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel are allowed with a valid California Campfire Permit.

[DLP]

This article doesn't specifically mention Esbit... but I'd say that Esbit falls in the same category as alcohol and twig stoves. http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-tra...y-basics/fire/

[DLP]

Furthermore, I want to keep my pot clean due to smell issues, bears, etc.

Applaud you for this!

[fastfoxengineering]

Thanks for the response DLP. I'll have to get in contact with the park rangers over there. The guidelines don't make any sense to me. I don't own a canister stove so the Esbit was looking pretty good. If I have to, I'll suck it up and purchase a stove. They're relatively cheap.

I love my twig stove. It' would be my first choice but I know that it's a no go on the JMT.

And yeah, I figured if there's food remnants in my pot or if I need to wash it out it at all... well a bear can smell that. I can shove my trash bag and pot cozy into my bear canister at night, and can sleep with my pot without worry.

[jeffmeh]

Definitely check on the regulations. Normally the restrictions apply to anything that does not have a shut off valve.

[fastfoxengineering]

Definitely check on the regulations. Normally the restrictions apply to anything that does not have a shut off valve.

I'll be getting in touch with them, I don't particularly see how a canister stove is safer than other stoves but I don't make the rules. If anything, I got my eye on an olicamp ion stove.

[Just Bill]

I'll be getting in touch with them, I don't particularly see how a canister stove is safer than other stoves but I don't make the rules. If anything, I got my eye on an olicamp ion stove.

Olicamp Ion or Snow Peak Giga (not the TI one) are nice stoves.
Likely as not at some point you'll need one. I like em for quick trips anyway and the fire bans mentioned are quite real and not worth debating.
Esbit is easy enough to adapt to other kits so the overlap/expense isn't really a bad one.

If anything- probably worth building around the pot you like.
Add the Caldera Cone to it- covers your alchy, wood, and Esbit.
A canister stove will fill the kit out (although you may consider an inverted stove since you got a decent bit o winter your way.)
You can use the Caldera Cone with some stakes to make a 3/4 windscreen for the canister stove.

Rest of the stuff (cozy etc) is interchangeable anyway.

[fastfoxengineering]

Olicamp Ion or Snow Peak Giga (not the TI one) are nice stoves.
Likely as not at some point you'll need one. I like em for quick trips anyway and the fire bans mentioned are quite real and not worth debating.
Esbit is easy enough to adapt to other kits so the overlap/expense isn't really a bad one.

If anything- probably worth building around the pot you like.
Add the Caldera Cone to it- covers your alchy, wood, and Esbit.
A canister stove will fill the kit out (although you may consider an inverted stove since you got a decent bit o winter your way.)
You can use the Caldera Cone with some stakes to make a 3/4 windscreen for the canister stove.

Rest of the stuff (cozy etc) is interchangeable anyway.

Just Bill,

I have my 1.3L ti-tri w/ inferno which I like very much. It's been my go to cookset all winter so far. It really is my "do it all" setup. It has convinced me that I'm into a twig stove too. I'm going to use this on the AT. That setup is really not all that good to me for this trip because im only going to be rehydrating home made dehydrated meals.

So, if i'm hiking the JMT and mailing myself pretty much all my food, and now I own a dehydrator, I might as well take advantage of FBC rather than cooking in my pot (which i prefer in pot cooking). I'll be sending myself 2cup meals ready to just add boiling water to. And.. I wont have my pot to clean on this trip (a good thing when you sleep with your cooking equipment on this trail)

So rather than bring my heavier and bulkier 1.3L pot, I'm looking to downsize my pot on this trip. 550ml seemed perfect. Boils 2cups of water not filled to the very brim. Extremely light. And all my esbit stuff would fit inside. All for under 5oz.

However this pot won't be ideal for a canister stove. Why? Mainly because a small canister and stove do not pack inside of it. Not a huge deal, but I would just prefer it. So, if a canister is what I need, I need a slightly bigger pot.

I have my eye on the batchstoves 10cm cup with lid. It has plenty of volume, and will hold a canister and ion inside of it. That pot with lid weighs just about 3oz. I don't need handles but would probably get the fiberglass wrap on the outside of it for handling it with boiling water inside.

I'll be pairing this with some kind of cozy. I'm interested to see how a Mountain House Bag works as a re purposed cozy

Any other options you can recommend?

[MuddyWaters]

Its kind of complex. But last year tablet and alcohol stoves were expressly allowed during fire restrictions in seki and yosemite. I apparently had a small role in getting yosemites wording changed, a ranger emailed me. Inyo may exclude the ansel adams and john muir wilderness from fire restrictions as well, they did last yr.

I just used a small cannister stove(gnat) with a windscreen and zelph flat bottom pot. Total wt sans cannister was 3.1 oz. I used 1/2 of the 100 gm cannister. If you use a tight fitting windscreen, and keep heat turned down to alcohol boil times, i used about 0.17 oz fuel per boil. Inline with a normal jetboil on high, but at fraction of wt.

[saltysack]

I love my snow peak lite max stove....check out hawk vittles meal...verrrrry good..also sells pre made reflectix pouches for rehydrate for $5....


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[sonora pass resupply]

Last year along the JMT by July first all stoves with the exception of propane canister stoves or white gas stoves with a shut-off control valve were not allowed. Alcohol, fuel tablet, and twig stoves were expressly banned. All of the notices on the trail mentioned alcohol stoves specifically.

If you have to buy a stove try an Olicamp. I use the wide burner, weighs 1.7 ounces. My hiking partner uses the small burner, weighs 1.5 ounces. I think it's the best propane stove I've ever used. Still prefer my woodburning Sierra Stove and use it when I can.

[DLP]

I figured if there's food remnants in my pot or if I need to wash it out it at all... well a bear can smell that. I can shove my trash bag and pot cozy into my bear canister at night, and can sleep with my pot without worry.

I've used a bear can about 100 nights.

I "cook" and eat out of my pot. (To call it "cooking" is kind of a stretch. ) I don't have much in the way of remnants. I wash the pot with water, and sometimes a drop of Dr. Bronner... but usually just water.

I put the clean pot and cozy and wind screen and spoon in a blaze orange stuff sack and put it next to my bear can, next to a tree. I use a blaze orange stuff sack as I'm prone to losing the black Garcia bear can and in the morning all the trees look alike.

Never had a bear move my can nor pot/stuff sack. I've had bears walk/poop between me and the bear can during the night, not bother my stuff. Of course, your mileage may vary... but thus far every morning every thing is exactly where I left it.

I used to be an alcohol stove user but this video and the Yosemite Rim fire converted me back to the Pocket Rocket. http://www.pcta.org/2014/dangers-alc...s-video-17113/ Figured that if better hikers than I had set their pants on fire... that could be me. Guy that set the Rim Fire was just heating some soup. Granted, he lit an illegal camp fire that got away from him. It is also sometimes not clear... are Esbit/alcohol stoves allowed this week or no? But I'm back on the pocket rocket. All my stuff with a Garcia bear can and pocket rocket and fuel canister weighs 14 lbs. So I'm doing good.

Good luck with the esbit stove. I suspect that they can be inefficient. If they were fabulous... we'd probably all be using them.

PS... you can fit more meals in a bear can if you use angel hair or spaghetti vs mac and cheese...

[Maui Rhino]

I usually use an alcohol stove, but due to fire restrictions in 2013, got a pocket rocket/DIY windscreen for my 2014 hike....I didn't want to have to worry if my alcohol stove was going to be legal or not. Cookware consisted of a SnowPeak 900 ti pot w/ skillet lid and reflectrix coozie, and ti spork. Because I like my mocoa with breakfast (not after), I aslo carried a GSI Haulite Minimalist cup.... Purely a luxury item. Since I also brought my fishing pole, I carried aluminum foil to wrap my fish and a set of 4inch aluminum tongs for flipping the wrapped fish, cooking them in the skillet lid. I also carried a small piece of flexible cutting board, and a Havalon Piranta knife for fish duty. Seasonings included sea salt, ghee, and Mrs Dash for the fish.... Everything else was done FBC style. At 14oz all in except for stove fuel, its not exactly a SUL cookset, but was plenty flexible for my needs on the hike and everything got used frequently.

[Gray Bear]

I usually use an alcohol stove, but due to fire restrictions in 2013, got a pocket rocket/DIY windscreen for my 2014 hike....I didn't want to have to worry if my alcohol stove was going to be legal or not. Cookware consisted of a SnowPeak 900 ti pot w/ skillet lid and reflectrix coozie, and ti spork. Because I like my mocoa with breakfast (not after), I aslo carried a GSI Haulite Minimalist cup.... Purely a luxury item. Since I also brought my fishing pole, I carried aluminum foil to wrap my fish and a set of 4inch aluminum tongs for flipping the wrapped fish, cooking them in the skillet lid. I also carried a small piece of flexible cutting board, and a Havalon Piranta knife for fish duty. Seasonings included sea salt, ghee, and Mrs Dash for the fish.... Everything else was done FBC style. At 14oz all in except for stove fuel, its not exactly a SUL cookset, but was plenty flexible for my needs on the hike and everything got used frequently.

This post made me hungry!

[fastfoxengineering]

You make me want to bring my fishing gear. As an avid fisherman, would I be kicking myself the whole trip if I didn't bring a fishing setup.

[Maui Rhino]

I enjoyed the fishing and dining a lot, but to be perfectly honest, there were quite a few days when I felt the (self-imposed) pressure to skip fishing in order to make my miles for the day. If I'd have allowed myself more low mile days in my schedule, I'd have fished more.

[saltysack]

I enjoyed the fishing and dining a lot, but to be perfectly honest, there were quite a few days when I felt the (self-imposed) pressure to skip fishing in order to make my miles for the day. If I'd have allowed myself more low mile days in my schedule, I'd have fished more.

How many days did u take? I thought about a tenkara set up....pretty light. But the more I think about it.....I'll prob just hike on....I often plan to take my time and cook a hot lunch while out but seldom do.....rather just sit and rest.......air my feet out...


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[MuddyWaters]

Last year along the JMT by July first all stoves with the exception of propane canister stoves or white gas stoves with a shut-off control valve were not allowed. Alcohol, fuel tablet, and twig stoves were expressly banned. All of the notices on the trail mentioned alcohol stoves specifically.

Not completely true .
Go look up the fire restrictions.

Last year SEKI specifically changed their wording to expressly ALLOW alcohol and esbit.

Yosemite did the same, after i had some correspondence with them.

These items have never actually been banned in those places. The regulations were vague and worded poorly. They both clarified them because the confusion it created was brought to their attention. All they really care about, is no wood fires.

Inyo national forest specifically excluded the john muir and ansell adams wilderness from fire restrictions .

Thats pretty much the jmt, except for sierra national forest.

There were lower drier areas in SNF and INYO still subject to fire restrictions using the propane, jellied petroleum, and pressurized liquid fuel terminology. To my knowledge, i have not seen anything official from those agencies which targets alcohol and tablet fuel. In reality, they dont seem to know tablet fuels exist. Thats part of the problem, its the safest one out there.

different people have been told different things about esbit by different rangers, because it really isnt addressed.. If sterno is legal, solid fuel would be too in most peoples mind.

I wonder if those postings were forest service or PCTA? they had bad outdated info on their website about seki.

[fastfoxengineering]

Muddy Waters,

Whom should I contact to get a clear yes or no on my Esbit stove?

I'll call them this week and then next month and then right before my trip.