thanks Jeff! all my cooking has been at low altitudes in almost nil wind with a couple different designs. all satisfactory, but i didn't feel i truly gave then a work out...

Thanks for the report. Thanks in particular for the Heatsheets report. It's good to know that they live up to their reputation.

Regarding crowds: The relatively few people you encountered sounds really great. My wife and I visited Devil's Postpile National Monument, a very popular area, and it was practically wall-to-wall people.

I think the trick to finding solitude is to go to less popular areas, many of which are just as nice as the popular areas. A couple of weeks ago, a friend and I went on a three day backpack in the San Gorgonio Wilderness here in Southern California. We saw nary a soul. The SGW is about two hours drive from downtown Los Angeles! We went to a remote area following a pretty much abandoned trail. We heard no human/mechanical noise save the (very) occasional overflying aircraft.

Don't get me wrong, the Sierra is very beautiful. By the way, got any pics posted online?

Pics of my backpack if you like: http://picasaweb.google.com/jim.barbour/BigTreeCamp/#slideshow

I have a Prism Medical's TRITON® M2 PORTABLE WATER PURIFIER KIT W/BAGS that I purchased at Brigade Quartermaster about a year ago. For me, it seemed an ideal filter. Though when I received it, I was a little frustrated to find I would have to use Portable-aqua tablets with it (It comes with 2 bottles). It works on gravity instead of a pump which appealed to me and includes dirty and clean water bags. It is also designed to run it straight into a bladder or Platypus. I have it stuffed it into a 6"x6"x2" pouch including the bags. They also sell a version without the bags. I can't say I've used it yet.....

At Bridgade Q, the link is: Triton M2 at Brigade Quartermaster

From there, you can find a link to the company's test reports as well.

What does "not approved" exactly mean?

Are they now against the law to use?

Do people still use them, but the rangers or forestry service would rather you didn’t?

And I would assume they have found that a bear has gotten into one, but I don’t know that it means all bears have found a way into one.


It just seems a pain in the rear to go and have to (by law) buy a new one every few years because a bear someplace has gotten into one.


Actually I would be more concerned about mice getting into my backpacking food then a bear.

SIBBG require all backpackers to use an approved container for food storage. In some cases, older bear canisters have repeatedly shown that they cannot withstand bears, and those containers are no longer approved. However, there are some allegations that the SIBBG is a bit arbitrary as to which containers they approve and do not. Ursack.com has bitterly complained that they've not been approved even though SIBBG hasn't really given a substantive reason for said lack of approval.

X2! I've been debating on getting one and that's a good enough endorsement to convince me.

Looks like the SIBBG approved containers are "required" or "recommended" in certain areas of California. When the NPS says "required" I assume that you would be subject to a fine if you are found without one of the approved containers.

http://www.sierrawildbear.gov/foodstorage/foodstoragemap.htm

That's the basic idea, although if you were "caught" with a non-approved hard-sided container, I bet they'd cut you some slack. You could always plead ignorance: "You mean it's not approved? But. golly gee, it says "bear proof" right here on the label."

On the other hand, do you really want a container that isn't bear proof?

Thanks for the briefing....