EINZEL-KOCHER —The Remake

With help and advice from Podcast Bob (Thanks for the time in your busy schedule) I have now solved the wind noise problems with my new camera.

So to do the Einzel-Kocher Alcohol Burner the full justice it deserves I have remade the video.  Today there was more wind than when making the original but nothing comes through to disturb my dulcet (Ha!) tones.  It was also colder today and this prolonged the boil time by a few seconds and cut down the overall burn time too.  Still the performance was within the calculation parameters  outlined in the previous post.

Hope you enjoy.

A New Blog

A new blog for perusal.  It’s not quite backpacking – more cycle-packing—unsupported around the 4+k miles of Britain’s coast.

http://glydearoundbritain.blogspot.com/

EINZEL-KOCHER alcohol burner

Way back, on 31st March ‘09  to be exact, I posted some information about a new stove I had just received – the E-K Alcohol Burner.  HERE As the physical details are all there I’ll not repeat them.

I have been using this stove extensively during the past months and it has rapidly become my stove of choice.  It’s simple, light,  efficient and fast.  What more can I ask.  It certainly has no ‘fiddle factor’ connected with its carriage or use.

Performance…..this is what makes this stove stand out.  It will consistently boil 300 ml and 400 ml of water 7 and 9 minutes respectively, BUT, and I think this is far more important,  it is a very lean burn where fuel usage is concerned.  Averaging out all my test burns (in the field and cooking when I’m hungry) fuel usage works out at 0.05 ml of  fuel to each 1 ml of water boiled.  So, it’s easy to calculate fuel requirements for a trip.  Multiply the  total number of mls of water required by 0.05 and you have the total. (e.g. 300 x 0.05 = 15  or 400 x 0.05 = 20 etc)  The stove  can be loaded with 25 ml of alcohol maximum  and give a 12 to 15 minute burn time which in turn will boil 500 ml of water.

Have a look at the video below to see just how easy and neat this unit is.  I have to apologise for the sound (wind noise) quality but this was the best of three takes using a new camera which seems to be a little sensitive to wind.

For more information and some excellent videos look  HERE and on the page  sidebar.

So, The Old Guys Do Know Best.

“Walking is man’s best medicine.”

HIPPOCRATES, Greek physician, 460—377 BC

AWAY – YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

Very shortly I shall be away for a couple or three weeks.

My knee problems from a previous post have more or less resolved themselves (at least as much as they ever will) and I have removed quite a number of shards of loose bone which surfaced at the outside edge of my knee.  A Leatherman is a wonderful tool!.

So, where am I going? I am forsaking my beloved Eastern fenlands and journeying south-west to the Somerset Levels – part of the time to the area around the alleged burial site of King Arthur and his Lady Guinevere.  Then I am hoping for a little coastal ramble.

As a techie dinosaur (according to some people who really don’t know) I do not have the mobile capability to blog so I guess this is ‘hasta la vista’ for a while but……..’I'll be back!!!!’

MiniBullDesign Voodoo/Duo UCAB – UK Spare Wick Source

I have just found the video below regarding the use of an alternative wick for Voodoo and Duo UCAB stoves from MiniBullDesign.

For anyone interested in the “new” wick type it is available  HERE .  It is sold in units of  1 metre.  8mm is the size needed.  Scroll down the page and simply order (”8mm Heat Resistant Fire Rope”).  The service from this company is first class – I have used them on a number of occassions with never a problem.

The Past Catching Up?

I must be getting old.

Since my last posting I have neither walked nor done much of anything.  An old wound has started complaining (again) and thus I have been confined to home.  Cabin fever is raging.  I am like a bear with a sore head, except that with the quantity of painkillers and steroidal anti-inflamatories I am taking nothing actually hurts.  It’s just that bits of my knee are floating about loose and tend to jam themselves into awkward positions and prevent much movement.  Plenty of RICE is the medics prescription, and the inevitable  medication of course,  but as I sit here with an ice pack strapped to the outside of my right knee and feel spaced out by the pills, I wonder.   A few years ago when this problem was a fairly regular occurrence, I simply took painkillers and exercised even more than usual.  This normally forced the recalcitrant bits of bone to move and eventually settle into something like the right place.  That strategy didn’t seem to be working this time – hence the pills and potions.

Like I said, I must be getting old.

More NeoAir

Monday 1st June 2009…1220 hrs.

Since the arrival on UK soil of the Thermarest NeoAir (short) mattress there have been many and varied reports about its capacity to perform in anything like a satisfactory manner.  My comments included – here.

However having discussed my concerns with Bob at BPL.co.uk, I followed his instructions and returned said mattress.  Friday afternoon the delectable voice of Rose graced my mobile phone with the information that a new batch of NeoAir mattresses had arrived and she was sending one post haste by courier.   This has now duly arrived and is at present lurking fully inflated in a spare room.

With such service I feel I should also include a section of my report accompanying the returned item as the ‘fault’ was tenuous to say the least…..

Basically the problem lies with retention of air.  I can inflate fully, close the valve and leave the NeoAir for about 1.5 to 2 hours (without use) and it has softened slightly (as outlined in the ‘Pro Tips’ No.4 which accompanies the mattresses). This I understand and it causes me no concern.

However, when I use the mattress, I would estimate that I lose about 50 – 60% inflation in the course of a nights sleep.  The loss is not to the point where the mattress is anything like deflated as in deflated for packing, and neither does it make for sleeping discomfort.  There is still sufficient air remaining to allow a soft and comfortable sleep, but immediately I reduce my body area in contact with the mattress as a whole, as in sitting up, I am then ‘dumped on the floor’.  If I return to a prone position the mattress is again comfortable.

I have tried using the NeoAir for two or three consecutive nights without ‘topping-up’ and still it remains partially inflated and is comfortable for prone position sleeping.

I have also tried inflating the mattress, immersing it in a bath, laying on it and sitting on it in the bath and I can see no telltale bubbles to suggest that there is neither a puncture nor an immediately obvious faulty valve.

However, and this is chiefly where my concern arises, I have tried another NeoAir (short) belonging to a family member (weighing in at about half my weight) and with similar usage as outlined above these effects do not occur when either she or I use her mattress, but when she uses my mattress the same effects I experience do occur with her.  This rules out one possibility that I had considered, that of my weight causing the valve to leak to a certain point.

As you will appreciate I am now put in a position where I do not feel I can trust my piece of equipment.  At least not without some convincing reasons why one NeoAir in the family has the above mentioned peculiarities and another behaves ‘normally’…..

Later…2000 hrs

The new NeoAir is still as hard as when first inflated so I’m sleeping on it tonight to give it a further test.

Tuesday 2nd June 2009…0630 hrs

Magnificent night’s sleep even on a cold and unforgiving solid concrete floor.  I turned in about 2200 hrs and slept like a babe.

This morning the NeoAir was still and firm as when first inflated so this has to be an acceptable result.  Now I can have confidence in this piece of kit.

I think as a final comment in this saga I should applaud the patience, understanding and help I have received from Bob and Rose at backpackinglight.co.uk.  They have accepted my moans and acted instantly they had the opportunity.   I think from the tenuous and still undefined problems with the original they acted well beyond the call of duty.

So, a big ‘thank you’ to Rose and Bob!

MBD – DUO – UCAB

Translation……MiniBullDesign – Twin Wicked – Ultra Compact Alcohol Burner.

This beautifully engineered tiny lightweight unit is the latest production design from ‘Tinny’ (the  Maestro of Meths) at Mini Bull Designs.  Mine arrived today, it’s unpacked, assembled and about ready to roll.  But before I fire it up I’ve taken a few photographs….(click to enlarge thumbnail and twice more for maximum enlargement)

DUO-UCAB packed in Voodoo Fuel Container

DUO-UCAB assembled

DUO-UCAB assembled

Same rig – different angle

Closer View

Top View

I should point out that the DUO-UCAB is the BURNER unit only.  It does NOT come with a fuel tank, fuel line or pot stand.

For further information have a look  HERE,  and to see a prototype in operation  and cooking watch this short video.

That’s it for now, as soon as I’ve tried it and done some comparison tests I will post results.

Beware The Hun In The Sun

A great and glorious day.  Sun blasting down from an immense blue dome – one of the big skies of the Fens.

I have bimbled about today, some maintenance on kit,  some on the garden (not much ‘cos it’s wild) and one or two other jobs that have been hanging about far to long.

Later, sitting in a sheltered little grove of trees along the bank of an old and sluggish dyke, I watched and listened.  Nature was singing.  Insects buzzed and sawed, the old trees groaned in a mere zephyr of breeze and of course the birds had a field day.

Two agile Crows flew round and round an area in which they obviously had a nest and young – the young were quite vocal about insufficient amounts of food coming their way.  The elders flew in formation,  one slightly behind and offset – a perfect tactical configuration.  They swooped and dived, raced between trees, ducked power lines – always in perfect formation.  This was definitely “Beware The Hun In The Sun”  stuff.

Enter a screaming bedraggled malcontent in the form of a scavenging Sea Gull.  It quartered the area on outstretched wings riding  thermals with practiced nonchalant ease.  At its appearance the two Crows had immediately scorched away at ground level on full reheat.  Suddenly,  out of the sun they fell on the Gull, clipped its wings in close passes, causing it to tumble and whirl.  Finally it stalled and started to spin like a leaf.  It recovered (just) only a few feet above the ground and in it’s turn whacked on some power and fled.  The Crows pursued until all was quiet again.  Even the young birds fell silent.  Within minutes though there arose such a raucous clamour from their nesting area.  More threat?  No!  Only one of the parent birds returned with a wriggling morsel of something  warm and not quite dead.  Second Crow still flew  ‘CAP top cover’ and kept a vigilant patrol.

Stirring and evocative scenes – life and death in ‘tranquility’.