Since I’m in a “hateful” mood today. I might as well put one in on why I hate users. I hate it when they see a job that can easily be done, they immediately think that it’s easy for a computer program to do exactly the same. Even worse, they expect your programming to be done just as quickly as they can do the job. Come on users! Give yourselves some credit! Except for some, you are much more complex, much more intelligent than a computer program. It takes a lot of programming for a computer program to be able to do what would seem simple to you.
Month: April 2008
I get to the office expecting to see the output of a program we left running on my laptop through the weekend only to find out that that Windows Automatic (but stupid) Update has initiated a reboot. Argh!
Before, I relied on a Trangia mess kit to hold my Campingaz Twister CV270 stove (this has got to be the stove with the best bang for the buck), stainless steel utensils, and film canister condiment dispensers. The gas canister, I keep separately since it’s quite big. It’s a mixed bag of gear but somehow they worked very well for my needs and I was very happy with the system. Up until I misplaced the stove (doink!) and had to buy a new one.
I decided on the The Snow Peak Trek Starter Kit upon the recommendation of Bing. It is composed of a stainless steel Giga Power stove, a titanium pot with fold-out handles, a pot lid with a spout, and a titanium spork. Everything, including two gas canisters fit together in a carrying sack into a small, elegant, and light package.
But even better, everything works very well, too. The Giga Power is one awesome gas canister stove. I’ve always preferred gas canister stoves because of their small size, light weight, and ease of use. Their only problem is poor performance in the cold (not too much of a problem where I go) and wind (just add a windscreen).
Going back to the Giga Power, it screws on to the canister and its wire pot supports fold out to provide a stable platform. Ridges on the pot supports ensure that the pot stays in place. Turn the long (reduces the chance of accidentally touching hot parts) control valve, light it up, and see it burn HOT (10,000BTUs) ! If it had a piezoelectric igniter and maybe if it were titanium it would be perfect.
In the pot, you can cook noodles with egg for breakfast. Or cook rice topped with viand for lunch or dinner. Eat with the spork. Then afterward, boil chocolate or coffee and pour it out of the spout or drink from the pot itself (after cooling a bit, of course).
A kitchen in a small package. Need I ask for more?
Rating: 5/5
Last week, I saw pictures of armed soldiers guarding rice distribution trucks. It reminded me of the intro scene of Blackhawk Down (now that is one hell of a movie) where Somalians who were fighting over food were shot down by the guards. Less the rioting and shooting part, of course. Who would have thought something like that would happen here? And yet it has.
The rice shortage has been attributed to hoarders, poor harvests, population growth, price(?!?) etc. Who now knows what the real reason really is? And it’s not just here that it’s happening. There is also a shortage of food in other places, even leading to food riots in Haiti and Egypt. Experts are even predicting possible war :o
For our part, I suppose we can help by reducing our rice consumption (could even be healthy). Perhaps, only perhaps, the lessening of demand would lead to a lesser price increase and thus allow the less able to still acquire this staple food. Of course longer term solution is becoming improvements in rice production whether here or from where we import from. But that’s later. We’re here right now.
- Of course, its legendary durability. It’s said to be indestructible though I’ve read about a bottle breaking when run over by a truck (duh!). I’m not in a habit of leaving my gear where they can be run over by trucks so I guess this won’t be a problem.
- It can handle boiling water. I don’t usually drink hot drinks but it’s nice to have that option. You can also use this to dry wet clothes by wrapping them around the bottle.
- It has a big mouth opening. You can easily (Look Ma! No spills!) transfer water from your other bigger containers to it. You can also easily pour in powder milk, coffee, juice or even ice cubes.
- It has a loop-top. The loop-top prevents the cap from falling down and getting dirty or, worse, getting lost. It may also be for carrying though it seems a bit flimsy for that purpose.
- It doesn’t leak. But then those are the same claims that I heard for my CamelBak and Platypus containers. They leaked so we’ll just have to see.
I guess those are compelling enough reasons, yeah?