Best Backpacking Stove

Weight, reliability and flame control determine whether people like a stove.  The SVEA 123 and Optimus 111 Hiker stove are all-time favorites for reliability but are often criticized for being heavy.  MSR stoves like the Whisperlight, Dragonfly or XGK are lighter but their large number of moving parts and o-rings leads to constant failures and maintenance in the field.

Here is my recommendation on how to make the lightest most reliable stove. Start with the basic concept of a SVEA 123 using a brass burner, internal wick, self cleaning jet and fuel cap / pump attachment.

Begin by getting rid of the brass windscreen.  Next remove the brass fuel storage / stand.  Instead replace it with a round brass sphere that incorporates the fuel cap.  A sphere will hold more fuel for a smaller amount of material and will sustain greater pressures with thinner metal because of the round shape.  Additionally, if you turn a SVEA 123 over, you will see that the bottom is actually concave to withstand the pressure.  This adds extra weight, and makes the stove bigger for a smaller amount of fuel.

Here is how the guts of my new stove would look.  

Ideal Backpacking Stove

The sphere should hold enough gas for three days of camping.  Ideal for a 2 day weekend trip with one day to spare.  A larger bulb could be screwed on for larger group use.

Now build a lightweight cage around the stove to hold the pots as well as provide a windscreen.  The center stove would be attached to the cage spring like connectors.  That way if the stove assembly was dropped, the outer cage would absorb the shock and the inner stove would be protected.  Add little tabs to the top and the bottom of the cage to provide additional support.  The tabs would fold into the cage when not in use.

Stove with Windscreen and Fill Cap with Schrader valve

The fuel cap / pump attachment / pressure relief valve should have a Schrader bicycle tube inflaetor nozzle.   The pump on an MSR stove is the weakest link and should be eliminated.  By moving to a Schrader valve, you can get the entire bicycle industry to start developing lightweight pumps.  Each pump is interchangeable and the bicycle gear heads will have a field day.  Win / win for both industries.  Don't forget to add a small chain so you do not lose the cap.

The standard way of lighting a SVEA 123 is by holding it with your hands to warm it up until a little gas spills out and then lighting the gas.  In cold weather, you may not want to take your hands out of your gloves to touch a cold metal stove.  This is where the pump comes in handy.  Another alternative is to use a small cup on the end of a little stick.  Unscrew the fuel cap, dip the stick into the gas and then pour it into a small reservoir in the burner head.  Replace the cap, light the fuel and when the stove is hot, turn on the gas.  The cup could be incorporated into the fuel control key to keep from losing it.

By using similar components as a reliable SVEA 123 but incorporating a round gas tank and light weight wind shield, MSR, Primus or Optimus could create a next generation stove that is compact, lightweight and extremely reliable.  The most complicated part, the pump, could be based on the open standard of a Schrader valve allowing a large number of companies to contribute designs.  With this hybrid approach, many complementary companies outside the camping world would support the new design with pumps solidifying the stove as the leader in the industry.

How to increase bike safety.

The blog Lovely Bicycle has a great article on a concept she calls the Mary Poppins effect http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2011/01/mary-poppins-effect.html.  The Mary Poppins effect states that drivers will give more room to a young women riding a traditional bike with no helmet and long flowing skirt than to the same rider wearing a helmet, tight clothes on a race oriented bike.  The author developed this concept when she noticed that some drivers treat her differently depending on what she is wearing and what bike she is riding.  Reading the comment section of the blog, you see that several people have also confirmed the effect while.

The Merry Poppins Effect

http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2011/01/mary-poppins-effect.html

At this point it is difficult to identify which of the factors – gender, attire or bike type have the greatest impact but there is one comment from a man that may be helpful.  He states that he has observed the same effect when he wears a coat that flaps in the wind.  The flapping coat and skirt may cause the bike rider to appear bigger than they actually are causing drivers to give them more room.  Another theory is that drivers fear that the coat or skirt may catch on their car window and they give the biker room out of their own interests.  A third theory states that the flapping causes some confusion and unpredictability.

A road bike however is the exact opposite.  When you see a biker in spandex on a road bike, they ride with precision and consistency.  A driver is more likely to come closer to them because the bike almost appears stationary next to the car.


Another thing to notice is that a road bike has a triangular shape with the thinnest part of the bike in the back and the widest in the front.  Drivers may see the back tire and assume the rest of the bike is the same size.

Top view of a bike.  Notice the bike is thinnest in the back.

http://www.zuckbikes.com/bikesthedon.php

Bike Safe http://bicyclesafe.com/ shows one example of how a rider addresses this problem by using a foam pool toy to show the maximum width of their bike.

The noodle is the same size as the widest part of the bike.

http://bicyclesafe.com/

If there truly is a Mary Poppins Effect, how can that concept be used to improve bike safety?

The first method is to modify bike clothes.  One way to do this is to add small ribbons to the sleaves of a bike jersey.  As the rider pedals, the ribbons would dance in the air and create a confusing image that should help create the Mary Poppins effect. 

Streamers create confusion causing drivers to give more room.

http://mdweightmanagementsolutions.com/2010/07/26/how-to-improve-your-athletic-performance/

For road racers like the one above, this ribbon would have to be small to help reduce aerodynamic drag.  One option for bike commuters who do not wear tight fitting clothes would be to have a coat that has tails that  are designed to flap in the wind.  Remember the goal is to create confusion and make the rider look like they take up more space.  Betabrand http://www.betabrand.com/ is one company that could help produce this type of clothing for daily commuters.

Another method would be to add streamers to a stick on the bike itself.  Care should be taken that they are not too long so they would get caught in the spokes or brakes.  Again, as the rider pedals, the streamers would fly in the breeze erratically creating confusion about the riders actual size and location causing drivers to give more room.

Of course, this does not mean you can ride recklessly.  When the morning radio states that there is an accident involving car vs motorcycle.  There is no doubt about who wins.  The motorcyclist goes to the hospital and the car my need a paint touch up.  Bicyclists suffer the same fate.

By modifying clothing to create some sort of visual confusion, bicycle clothing manufacturers can reduce the possibility of a collision between a car and the rider.  The visual confusion will cause drivers to keep a greater distance between their car and the bike rider which makes for a safer bike riding expereince.