Today I had another good in the mail. It was a Gram Weenie Pro kit from End2End Trail Supply in Lindenwold, NJ. I selected the kit option with no pot since I already had a pot or two in mind. Last week I caught a deal on a great little 700ml titanium pot/lid from Backcountry.com. It was just $27 and too hard to pass up and it's the pot I used for this review. Ok, so back to the stove.

The kit arrived nicely packed with everything I'd ordered. It included the stove, a priming pan, 3.5" x 23" soft aluminum windscreen (5.5" is an option but I decided this would be too tall for my uses), and a 4 oz fuel bottle with the flip cap.



When I opened the packaging I was immediately impressed with the craftsmanship and the light weight of the stove. My scale agrees with End2End's claim of .6 oz. The Gram Weenie Pro holds 1 oz of fuel compared to the Gram Weenie's 1/2 oz.



Much to my chagrin it was raining so I had to stay in our enclosed room. I setup using a cookie sheet to protect my son's Little Tykes table and went to work. I used the new titanium pot and tested the boil time of 2 cups of water right out of the tap. I was impressed with the 4:30 it took to get to a very nice, rolling boil. This is probably the best I've done with an alcohol stove in quite a while.

Here are a couple of shots of the pot on the stove.





The GWP has a very nice rolled edge so there aren't any sharp surfaces. The windscreen is also much nicer than the noisy DIY screen I made from the aluminum foil cookie sheets.

The total weight of the stove, windscreen, and priming pan came in at 1.6 oz. Combined with my 4.4 oz pot that's a total kitchen weight (dry) of just 6 oz. That's certainly a long way from my Snow Peak LiteMax (2.7 oz) and aluminum Trek 900 pot set (9 oz). I shaved almost a full 6 oz or almost 1/2 pound!

In addition to being well-made and super light, the stove is very nice when it's lit. At full bloom it makes a gorgeous stove and I almost hate to cover it up with a pot and windscreen. I'd say that the quality is top notch and I have to admit that I'm really excited about this stove. I can't wait to take it on the trail with me. For the price it's very hard to beat.




For more information or to purchase this stove, please visit End2End Trail Supply.

Feb 5, 2011

On Friday I received a couple of UPS packages from one of my favorite stores: B & H Photo. Nothing bad ever comes from here. :-) In the packages (why they split the order I have no idea) were my new GorillaPod Original flexible tripod and some additional quick-release adapters.



I've been looking at the GorillaPod for some time as a great way to take self-portraits along the trail when my hiking partner isn't around. I finally bit the bullet and bought the GP and got to take it on the trail today.

To get started, the GP comes with one quick-release adapter. It's not a bad idea to get the 2-pack for any other small cameras you might have. I put one on my Kodak Sport digital video camera. Once the QR adapter is in the tripod socket of your camera slide it into the GP until it clicks into position. There are two controls on the GP head. The first is the release button. Pressing this will allow you to slide the QR adapter and your camera out of the head. The second is a sliding lock to keep you from accidentally releasing the QR.

The North Florida Trailblazers (local chapter for the Florida Trail Association) was hosting its annual fundraiser hike. Just over 60 of us hiked along the Suwanee River from the Big Shoals area to the Suwanee Valley Campground.

Along the way I used the GP to capture myself along the scenic river. Others offered to take my picture but then I wouldn't have been able to write this review. I chose the Original model for its weight. It's hard to beat a tripod that weighs 1.6 oz (from the mfgr; 1.5 by my scale.)

The GP Original worked well enough in that I was able to secure it to some small items along the way or use it as a standard trip for low shots. Unfortunately I realized a major shortcoming in this version right away. The GP design uses flexible joints to allow the legs to be wrapped around an object to secure it in place. Unfortunately, since the Original is only 6" tall (the legs themselves are actually closer to 5") you can only use very small objects. I had a lovely scene I wanted to capture and the smallest tree I could find was about 1 1/2" in diameter. Even at that small size I barely got the legs around it and when I did the camera body was so close that I had to angle it. Needless to say I had to compromise and didn't get the shot I wanted.



Sure, I can always crop and rotate in Photoshop but that's extra work I shouldn't have to do and I'll lose part of the image. The GP works great if you have very small things to attach it to. I don't think it'll work well on the trail in practice. But there's hope!

I think the solution is to spend the extra money to upgrade to the SLR model. It weighs more at just over 5 oz. but provides an additional 3" to the legs. I feel this will probably be sufficient to not only get a better grip making the setup more stable and secure as well as keeping the camera away from the host object. Another potential issue I see with having to stick to small objects is that if you use a small tree or branch then it'll probably be moving in the wind and could mess up your shot.

So I really love the concept. I just think I need to send the Original back and get the SLR.

Well, I've been staring at the same old site layout for so long and I finally decided it's time for an upgrade. I've already started making some changes and there are more to come. Soon you should start seeing more gear reviews, recipes, and other trail-related information.

I hope you dig the changes and keep coming back!

Wow. What a night! The temperature dropped like a rock. Fortunately I slept very warmly and really didn't feel like getting out of bed. When I heard people talking and looked out the hammock, though, I knew I couldn't pass up the view. The temp dropped to 25.5 degrees overnight and the lake looked absolutely gorgeous as the fog wafted across it with the sun gently rising above.

I was disappointed that I couldn't get better pictures to capture the moment but I took so many pictures last night that my camera battery was dead. Why didn't I bring a spare? Lesson learned.



After an amazing breakfast one of the guys and I got a ride to the FT trailhead on 19. It was a very enjoyable 2.7 mile hike back to the lake. I really had a good time and the scenery was very nice.

I got my site broken down around 1 and hit the road for the drive back to Jax. It took me a little over 2 hours since I had to stop for lunch and I can't really drive past Gander Mountain without stopping. :-)

I had a wonderful time this weekend but had a wonderful reunion getting home. My son was thrilled when I walked in and couldn't wait to tell me how they'd camped out under the dining room table while I was gone. It wasn't long before we had a tent setup in the living room and he was laying it it watching TV through the bug screen. :D

Can't wait to get out again! Happy trails!

I ended up staying tonight which wasn't planned. To say the food was phenomenal would be an understatement. And abundant doesn't scratch the surface either. The low shrimp boil was massive and the gumbo was delicious. It didn't end there, though. The dutch ovens were working in earnest pumping out tantalizing desserts and even another dinner round of pork and beans followed by more desserts.



After dinner we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the lake which couldn't have made for a better setting for such a cool weekend.





The fire felt great and the fellowship was awesome. Really a great group of people. Now I'm in the hammock to stay warm. It was 34 at about 8. Should be fun!

Now we're gathering around the fire and the gumbo is on. There's even a pizza in the dutch oven. It's been cool hanging (literally) with everyone and checking out the gear folks are using.



With the shrimp boil and gumbo underway we started breaking out every stove you could think of and fired up Stove Alley. We had stoves of every size, shape, and material. We had commercial stoves and DIY stoves. It was a stove lover's dream. I've been lusting after the Vargo Titanium wood stove for some time and was thrilled when someone brought it out. It was a virgin stove that was a Christmas gift and it was lit for the first time at the hang.

I slept very well even though I didn't feel tired until about 1am. I got up at 7 but jumped back in the hammock and got up again at 9:30. The night wasn't bad at all and there were plenty of night birds and frogs.

After breakfast I headed out and picked up the Florida Trail for a nice little 3.5 mile hike to another lake and back to the site. I fixed up some Spam and garlic mashed potatoes. Love that stuff. I took Buddy Buffalo with me and he had a wonderful time. He really likes getting on the trail and I had to race to keep up with him. He was one happy bovine!



After the hike I walked around the lake to see what setups everyone was using. It was cool to see a varied collection of hammocks, tarps, and other related equipment. Most major manufacturers were represented and it was cool to finally put eyes and hands on some of the stuff I'd one read and heard about. I finally got to check out the Warbonnet Blackbird and fell in love with the Trail to Tree Switchback hammock.





We have a wonderful group of people which makes for an incredible inaugural event. With folks from all over the state and even some that traveled in from TN and SC I was amazed at how well everyone meshed together like one big family. If you said you forgot something hands shot out with the missing item. Everyone was so helpful and supportive sharing their gear, food, etc.





There were a lot more kayaks than I'd expected. That thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Had I learned of the event more than the day before I would've thrown the yak on the truck and taken it with me. It was a beautiful area and I know the guys that got on the water and a wonderful time.