View Full Version : why homemade?
Texasgirl
10-24-2008, 14:51
I'm on my 3rd hiking skirt prototype. I made 3 protype tarp/ponchos, and gonna do another cause I'm still not pleased. I started out thinking I could save a little money by doing it myself, plus get my own unique pickiness taken care of; but I've definitely spent far and above on redo's and supplies. Yet I press on./
So I'm wondering, why do others make their own homemade gear? Save money. Can't find what you want. Trying to customize something that could be bought off the shelf?
Simple fact of knowing I made the item. And I can tweak it to my exact needs/specs.
I agree, it is for to use gear you have made. I made my stove for my thru hike and got a little excited every time I cooked. And most of all making gear is fun. I hiked last year with Spock from Texas, he made most of his gear:pack, poncho, hammock, stove and a bunch of other stuff.
I agree. It would be mostly because it would be fun to do, also a matter of pride, also getting exactly what you want. Plus there is the point that if you can build it, then you know you can repair and replace it. That is important for some things. I've been meaning to make a poncho/tarp for my 9 year old daughter. There is a lot of kit they just don't make in kid sizes, especially UL kit. Now she doesn't really need a poncho/tarp or carry much of anything when she hikes with me, but I would like to get her outfitted without weighing her down too much, so that's another good reason. I agree that bargain shopping is often cheaper and easier, but DIY is lots of fun also.
To teach your children some home economic skills. I guess that's another good reason.
superman
10-24-2008, 15:42
I've done a few things but I buy what I need. Making it yourself or having it made to your specs doesn't guarentee satisfaction. I paid $300 for a tent that was like sleeping in a car wash. It was special made and had no warranty. It ended up covering my wood pile. You know...it's like a box of chocolates.
On the other hand I've met many hikers over the years who have made their own stuff. I love to talk to them about it because they have such enthusiasm and they're proud of their creation.
I don't want to make my gear. There is plenty of it that has been tested and proven to be good sitting right there on the store shelf.:)
I think some projects certainly lend themselves better to DIY than others.
max patch
10-24-2008, 15:59
I buy everything.
My time is best spent on other projects or fun activities rather than trying to save a few bucks on a diy project.
Its the best way I know to get high quality stuff cheap. I've made 2 ray-way tarps, packs, and quilts. Several pnchos's and wind/rain suits.
Stuff I have made DIY...
1. Alcohol Stoves
2. Hobbo Stoves
3. Small Oil Lamps
4. Wood Hiking Staffs, in Dad size and Daughter size
5. sylnylon Rain poncho/blanket for summer, in Dad size and Daughter size
6. fleece poncho/blanket for summer, in Dad size and Daughter size
7. Bow saw
8. Knit wool scarves
Stuff I would like to make DIY...
1. UL pack in daughter size
2. UL poncho/tarp in daughter size
3. Blue foam pad in daughter size (way easy)
4. Primitive Bows on dad and daughter size
Stuff I would or have paid to have custom made
1. wool hiking pants
2. hand knit wool sweaters, hats, mitts, scarves, socks
3. traditional wool ponchos, hiking skirts, primitive kilts
Something I need to work on more is combined kit for hiking with my daughter. It is changing as she gets older. In summer using blankets worked well for the two of us together, but for colder weather and as she gets older she will very soon need her own sleeping bag. She is still very small though, so the mix and combnations of gear often call for solutions that don't commonly exist out there. We will share a tent for some time though. There is no real risk of bears or anything like that but I wouldn't be able to sleep at all if she was in a different tent, and I doubt that she would either, though this too will change. Here small kid tents work fine for now. I would like to try a tarp system that combines my poncho/tarp and her poncho/tarp into a sort of assymmetrical duplex pup tent. As she gets bigger her side would get bigger, and eventually she might pitch it separately once she's ready. I like combining bivy sacks with poncho/tarps and blue foam pads. Pretty cheap and easy yo exectute as DIY projects even in odd and growing kid sizes. My bivy sack is a gortex army surplus, but it could easily by slit down one side and the bottom to serve as a simple cover for over both of use, and in time she could get her own and do with it as she sees fit. Tyvek is another option for a simple bivy under a tarp, taped to a blue foam pad on one side and folded over and tucked under.
I have a 10oz patagonia UL day pack that might work for her as kids UL backpack. The straps need to be sinched all the way, and its still a bit big, but manageable if its fitted with a blue foam pad for shape, and not overloaded with weight.
Dirtygaiters
10-24-2008, 17:27
I got a hold of some $1/yard 1.1 oz ripstop nylon and with that in mind I was able to do a lot of projects on the extreme cheap.
I made a synthetic-fill pullover that weighs about 10 ounces, which is really light if you consider that it uses 3.7oz/sq yd Climashield fill. I also made a synthetic high-loft hood for the jacket or a quilt with 5oz/sq yd Climashield that is highly customized and weighs about 2.5 ounces. Both of those projects only ended up costing me the price of the insulation (about $10/yd) and the cost of the zippers and velcro. Plus, they're lighter and warmer than the synthetic high loft gear currently on the market.
I also made a bivy bag, which ended up costing me about $60 because I used really premium materials. However, I saved about 60% over if I had bought a bivy using the same materials from one of the better manufacturers and I feel that I have a bivy of comparable quality to what I'd get if I'd bought TiGoat or MLD.
So, part of it was saving money, and the other part is in having the best and lightest gear, without the extra frills that commercial gear comes with.
Dirtygaiters
10-24-2008, 18:08
I've done a few things but I buy what I need. Making it yourself or having it made to your specs doesn't guarentee satisfaction. I paid $300 for a tent that was like sleeping in a car wash. It was special made and had no warranty. It ended up covering my wood pile. You know...it's like a box of chocolates.
On the other hand I've met many hikers over the years who have made their own stuff. I love to talk to them about it because they have such enthusiasm and they're proud of their creation.
I don't want to make my gear. There is plenty of it that has been tested and proven to be good sitting right there on the store shelf.:)
Ah, but having it made to your specs by someone else and making it with your own two hands to specs that you can modify as you go along are two completely different things. You're right that the gear sitting on the shelf (provided it's been around a long time and meets your own requirements) is likely to be time-worthy, though some of it really isn't. However, there are a lot of different choices in tents for a reason. Everybody has their own preferences. If you know your preferences very well, and there's a tent on the shelf that fits your preferences perfectly, then you're set to go. For my part, I feel that most commercially available tents are too heavy and I don't really like the bright colors that many of the best manufacturers use. Since most manufacturers don't use the lightest materials available, it's understandable that their tents wouldn't be as light as possible. Building one myself could be a way to get the tent best fit to my needs that doesn't exist in stores.
superman
10-24-2008, 18:54
Ah, but having it made to your specs by someone else and making it with your own two hands to specs that you can modify as you go along are two completely different things. You're right that the gear sitting on the shelf (provided it's been around a long time and meets your own requirements) is likely to be time-worthy, though some of it really isn't. However, there are a lot of different choices in tents for a reason. Everybody has their own preferences. If you know your preferences very well, and there's a tent on the shelf that fits your preferences perfectly, then you're set to go. For my part, I feel that most commercially available tents are too heavy and I don't really like the bright colors that many of the best manufacturers use. Since most manufacturers don't use the lightest materials available, it's understandable that their tents wouldn't be as light as possible. Building one myself could be a way to get the tent best fit to my needs that doesn't exist in stores.
Yes, that's it. That's the enthusiasm for detail and minutia. Your defining of criteria’s are breath taking. Shaving an ounce and a dollar while making it esthetically more pleasing is beyond admirable. Yes, the standard manufactures are evil and don’t live up to their potential. I stood their one time on the AT in 2000 talking to an engineer who lives to re-invent his hiking gear. His pack was so light it floated above him as I leaned forward to support my 3500 CI Osprey pack which held my North face tent, zip stove, ¾ thermarest, etc, etc. It was ok with me…I enjoyed our conversation. I had a great hike and that is the bottom line.
Mrs Baggins
10-24-2008, 19:14
Damn good question. Why indeed.
Everything has its origin in something homemade.
A better question for someone like myself...
Why halfbaked? LOL
Mrs Baggins
10-24-2008, 20:02
I have to ask.........for those that say they want to save the money by DIY.......exactly how much have you spent on all of your experiments trying to get it right?? And in the end was the quality (i.e. wearability, endurance, comfort, genuine usefulness) really as good as what you could have bought? How often has what you made worked in theory but failed in real practice? Don't tell me your homemade stove "only cost $1" when in fact you spent $30 trying out countless versions of it. Or that your homemade piece of clothing cost a fraction of the rack version when in reality it only lasted for 2 or 3 hikes.
trouthunter
10-24-2008, 20:14
1. Artistic outlet
2. Sense of accomplishment
3. Braggin rights
4. To prove your smart enough
5. Nothin else better to do
6. To impress the girls ( even though they go in the other room and laugh their ass off ):D
Dirtygaiters
10-24-2008, 20:16
I could probably tell you how many hundreds of dollars I've spent on brand name gear that turned out to be complete junk, or didn't end up meeting my own personal requirements...
That's the way I think of it at least. I have owned, in total, 7 ultralight down and synthetic jackets and vests, and I ended up selling all but one of them because, for one reason or another, they didn't live up to what I thought an ultralight jacket ought to do or be.
It's true that quality of construction can be a factor with homemade gear. I've had to deal with seams coming apart on newly sewn gear after only a few trips, but usually it's just something I missed when initially making it, and running the seam back under the sewing machine will normally correct the problem. There are also some tricks of the trade that will help prevent these problems, like singing the edge of a piece of fabric, or rolling the seams. However, because most projects can be modified, if something isn't working out, there's usually no need to throw it away.
gardenville
10-25-2008, 13:52
I have to ask.........for those that say they want to save the money by DIY.......exactly how much have you spent on all of your experiments trying to get it right?? And in the end was the quality (i.e. wearability, endurance, comfort, genuine usefulness) really as good as what you could have bought? How often has what you made worked in theory but failed in real practice? Don't tell me your homemade stove "only cost $1" when in fact you spent $30 trying out countless versions of it. Or that your homemade piece of clothing cost a fraction of the rack version when in reality it only lasted for 2 or 3 hikes.
Hi Baggins,
I have made about everything I use for hiking. I make a paper mockup of everything. The paper or cardboard boxes I use is recycled so it costs nothing. Then when I have a pattern I like and fits ME I use my $1 a yard stuff from Wal-Mart to make one or more of the item for practice. After I am sure it is the way I want it - then I use my good fabric. My MYOG things last a long time but I am easily on my gear and still have most all the gear I ever bought in the last 15 years. Sometimes I take the old stuff apart to see how something was made.
What I make is better than what I can buy as it is made to fit me. My material is usually the same or better also. Really good material for our gear can be bought several places and I look at used clothing stores for the hard to find material. I have bought some of used things really cheap and have recycled that material into my home made gear. I use a lot of Pertex Quantum, Cuben Fiber, Gore Tex and other big name material. Some bought wholesale and some bought retail and some bought as used clothing.
How much do you spend for the empty soda can used for a stove or any of the other empty cans used for stoves.
I am a Super Ultra Light (SUL) hiker and this was made much easier by being able to make my own gear. I carry as many different items as most hikers except each of my items are much lighter.
I would agree that most DIY people save money because they learn more cheaply and more deeply by experimenting and learning with their own projects than by learning experimenting and learning with all the overmarketed brandnames and tradenames that are out there. Sure they can get carried away, but so can bargain shoppers, and retail shoppers. Most people are a mix of all three, and everyone gets carried away from time to time. Some gear is definitely more suited to DIY than others though, and some more suited to bargain shopping, and some more suited to retail shopping, not that that should stop anyone.
My biggest regret was the 7 pound backpack I bought. I've never regretted any of my DIY failures, and there have been some doozies. You should see what I did to my canoe. LOL
I don't have a lot of DIY gear but that's not to say I haven't tried, or will stop trying. ;)
superman
10-25-2008, 15:55
Does anyone know how Tyvek man's DIY tyvek backpack worked out?
Hmmm. :-?
I saw a photo of a blue foam pad pack that looked pretty cool. It was sort of a blue-foam pad gearskin. I've been thinking lately about combining blue foam and tyvek into a combined backpack / sleeping pad / bivy. I also have a CF gortex bivy now, so I could use that material and throw that into the mix also.
I have a Jam2 pack and like its size and shape and I load it with my 28" wide blue foam pad in it like a tube. At 3100ci and 28" high it must be about 28"x 14"x8"rounghly, though it rounds out. Anyhow, I have tried it as a half bivysack when empty and its great on the feet and legs but a bit too tight around the hips. But I've been think where it already has a foam pad back, which I could make thicker for winter, I would really only need a sleeping pad and bivy cover for my top half, and maybe I could pitch my poncho/tarp as a pup-tent for the top 2/3 only and lt my lower 1/3 just stick out in the rain where it it well covered. The Jam2 pack is waterproof, but I don't think it would be too bad if that part of the bivy didn't breath so well. I could add a vertical half zipper to the Jam2 pack at the top to allow it to expand a little there. I could use go the gortex so I might not need any tyvek.
NICKTHEGREEK
10-25-2008, 16:41
Everything has its origin in something homemade.
Atomic Bomb?
Texasgirl
10-26-2008, 00:28
Now who would have guessed that a thread asking about homemade gear would venture ever so lightly into weapons of mass destruction?
Texasgirl
10-26-2008, 00:31
1. Artistic outlet
2. Sense of accomplishment
3. Braggin rights
4. To prove your smart enough
5. Nothin else better to do
6. To impress the girls ( even though they go in the other room and laugh their ass off ):D
Ditto #2 for sure for me. Thanks for the list.. hahaha (but we don't laugh that often at you guys...)
Texasgirl
10-26-2008, 00:35
I have made about everything I use for hiking. I make a paper mockup of everything. The paper or cardboard boxes I use is recycled so it costs nothing. Then when I have a pattern I like and fits ME I use my $1 a yard stuff from Wal-Mart to make one or more of the item for practice.
Awesome idea Gardenville on the paper mockup - that never occured to me. I'll try that next time.
My initial post was fairly obvious that I'm not really "saving" money (of course, if I'd quit using the good material for trial runs, I'd spend less).
Maybe a seam or two isn't quite right, but dang it does feel good to me that I've tried it, sometimes even done it, by myself for myself. Kudos to all you who do the same. Kudos to all you who shop wisely. Kudos to anyone trying to do something they love to do in the most efficient and effective way for them.
Dirtygaiters
10-26-2008, 02:59
Atomic Bomb?
Didn't the people who worked on the Manhattan Project pretty much live on-site? So it was like their home...
Atomic Bomb?Especially the atomic bomb.
I think it started when some guy got the idea of throwing a rock.
Sidewinder
10-26-2008, 09:26
Hi Baggins,
I have made about everything I use for hiking. I make a paper mockup of everything. The paper or cardboard boxes I use is recycled so it costs nothing. Then when I have a pattern I like and fits ME I use my $1 a yard stuff from Wal-Mart to make one or more of the item for practice. After I am sure it is the way I want it - then I use my good fabric. My MYOG things last a long time but I am easily on my gear and still have most all the gear I ever bought in the last 15 years. Sometimes I take the old stuff apart to see how something was made.
What I make is better than what I can buy as it is made to fit me. My material is usually the same or better also. Really good material for our gear can be bought several places and I look at used clothing stores for the hard to find material. I have bought some of used things really cheap and have recycled that material into my home made gear. I use a lot of Pertex Quantum, Cuben Fiber, Gore Tex and other big name material. Some bought wholesale and some bought retail and some bought as used clothing.
How much do you spend for the empty soda can used for a stove or any of the other empty cans used for stoves.
I am a Super Ultra Light (SUL) hiker and this was made much easier by being able to make my own gear. I carry as many different items as most hikers except each of my items are much lighter.
I agree.
I enjoy making some of my gear so it fits my specific needs, size, shape and weight, not enough off the shelf does this. I'm getting ready to make ditty bags from sil-nylon and modify a few that I bought that don't quite fit the job.
I made my own alcohol stove too, I got the cans out of the recycling bins in my garage and I've already enjoyed what was in the can, cost involved 0¢. I made a stove specifically for my tea cup, it doesn't get the handle hot. I use it a lot on warm weather trips when I eat cold, but still enjoy hot tea now and then. The stove, fuel bottle and tea fit nicely inside the cup and I only carry about 2 ounces of fuel, enough for four cups. It all tucks inside the exterior pocket on my pack and within easy reach when I want that cup of tea during the day and I don't have to dig it out of my pack.
Sometimes it is less money to buy off the shelf, but it doesn't fit my needs as well as what I make and I end up modifying it anyway, plus I enjoy making it.
My 2 cents i make most of mine out of wool hats and my old jeans cut off legs
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%204/th_potbags.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%204/?action=view¤t=potbags.jpg)
superman
10-26-2008, 10:55
We haven't made many things but one thing that we did worked great. This is for folks who want to sleep in the same sleeping bag. I use rectangular down LL Bean bags. We bought a zipper that mates to the LL Bean zipper by mail from a place in Florida. Pat sewd it onto some light weight rip stop material which Pat made to the same size as the sleeping bag. It's much lighter than carrying two sleeping bags and one person can't make a cacoon. Making a cacoon leaves one person with no sleeping bag...I won't say which is which.:)
Ziggy Trek
10-26-2008, 10:55
I have to ask.........for those that say they want to save the money by DIY.......exactly how much have you spent on all of your experiments trying to get it right?? And in the end was the quality (i.e. wearability, endurance, comfort, genuine usefulness) really as good as what you could have bought? How often has what you made worked in theory but failed in real practice? Don't tell me your homemade stove "only cost $1" when in fact you spent $30 trying out countless versions of it. Or that your homemade piece of clothing cost a fraction of the rack version when in reality it only lasted for 2 or 3 hikes.
I had that same many question years ago. In fact, I went so far as to think that made gear was always sub-standard, or you needed supernatural talents and skills to produce something. Factories have better ways to make things than any one person. Then one day I forced myself to at least try it. Since then:
I realized how gullible I was to marketing schemes.
I realized how pretentious we have become as a society, how logo crazy and trademark hypnotized we have become. Foolishly, yet "obediently" following the crowd to the stores. {Remember the siren in the TIM MACHINE (1960) as they marched off to be consumed upon?}
I save money, period. Even if the free sewing machine breaks down I can get another for less than a fancy jacket will cost -- and I keep the machine for future use and savings!
Empowerment, accomplishment and seeing good performance is an awesome feeling.
Freedom, from dependence on others, is important.
I've learned to be less materialistic and needy of STUFF.
The biggest hurdle was saying "Oh, I can't do something like that. I'll just waste money trying."
My 2 cents i make most of mine out of wool hats and my old jeans cut off legs
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%204/th_potbags.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%204/?action=view¤t=potbags.jpg)I lik'n'em Oops.
I had that same many question years ago. In fact, I went so far as to think that made gear was always sub-standard, or you needed supernatural talents and skills to produce something. Factories have better ways to make things than any one person. Then one day I forced myself to at least try it. Since then:
I realized how gullible I was to marketing schemes.
I realized how pretentious we have become as a society, how logo crazy and trademark hypnotized we have become. Foolishly, yet "obediently" following the crowd to the stores. {Remember the siren in the TIM MACHINE (1960) as they marched off to be consumed upon?}
I save money, period. Even if the free sewing machine breaks down I can get another for less than a fancy jacket will cost -- and I keep the machine for future use and savings!
Empowerment, accomplishment and seeing good performance is an awesome feeling.
Freedom, from dependence on others, is important.
I've learned to be less materialistic and needy of STUFF.
The biggest hurdle was saying "Oh, I can't do something like that. I'll just waste money trying."Another dirtbag of my own heart. :D
I'm also impressed how well us dirtbags get along with all the evil outfitters on the forum here. Of course most of them evil outfitters are dirtbags like us, and even some of us dirtbags are still known to shop now and then for something real purdy. :)
I have to ask.........for those that say they want to save the money by DIY.......exactly how much have you spent on all of your experiments trying to get it right?? And in the end was the quality (i.e. wearability, endurance, comfort, genuine usefulness) really as good as what you could have bought? How often has what you made worked in theory but failed in real practice? Don't tell me your homemade stove "only cost $1" when in fact you spent $30 trying out countless versions of it. Or that your homemade piece of clothing cost a fraction of the rack version when in reality it only lasted for 2 or 3 hikes.
WOW...I have to say your comments never seize to amaze me. This is the Homemade Gear Forum. Obviously, from things you have stated--alcohol stove threads included-- you do not "approve" of homemade gear so maybe this forum isn't for you.
I have spent hundreds of dollars on gear, like many others have. If I can save some money by making a piece of gear, dam straight I'm going to do it. Outdoor gear is expensive. There is nothing wrong with finding alternatives to paying $300 for a jacket that could be made for $30. I am dabbling with making sil-nylon stuff sacks. I am a newbie homemade gear maker. I have to admit it is fun. I like the feeling of accomplishment after making something. It beats paying $20 for a little sac that might not work. I wish I had the craftmanship to make alcohol stoves too. Kudos to the homemade gear guru's. :banana
Anyone can make an alcohol stove. Tealight tin. Just add alcohol.
Of course a really good alcohol stove setup is a different matter. ;)
I have the Rock's Ion stove and I like it. Potstand very nifty. I was just playing with it this morning, interchanging with some parts from my Couglan tealight candle. Makes me want to revisit the idea of combining interchangeable parts to have an alcohol burner and pot stand for serious cooking, but a beeswax or vegetable oil simmering lantern for reading a book while keeping you tea pot/mug hot. Would include a container to pack it all and protect the glass lantern globe. It would be nice if it could either hang or sit on the container when used as a simmering lantern.
I noticed the fibreglass wick is a good way to keep hot oil from spilling. Still very hot, boiling point > 500DegF !!!
I wish I had the craftmanship to make alcohol stoves too. Start with a simple one, a Fancy Feast (or Iams kitten food) can and a hole puncher (one for paper works just fine). You may decide you don't need a more involved stove! The first one I knocked out with no measuring, just eyeballing the hole placement, worked great. See http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html
Start with a simple one, a Fancy Feast (or Iams kitten food) can and a hole puncher (one for paper works just fine). You may decide you don't need a more involved stove! The first one I knocked out with no measuring, just eyeballing the hole placement, worked great. See http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html
Thanks! I bought a Caldera Cone w/ alcohol stove earlier this year and love it. I do want to start trying to make some stoves. Thanks for the link!
Sidewinder
10-26-2008, 17:01
Jason Klass has a website with a lot of great homemade gear projects and ideas.
http://www.freewebs.com/jasonklass/
Roots I'll help you with a stove, I've made several, it's fun and not too difficult. You can't get any simpler that the Fancy Feast stove. I wonder if Gungho likes tuna? :rolleyes:
Farr Away
10-26-2008, 17:41
...I wish I had the craftmanship to make alcohol stoves too.
My first DIY project was an alcohol stove. I made the one that's on Sgt Rock's website. I keep saying I ought to make another one, but here it is at the end of my third hiking season, and I'm still using that stove. Easy, easy, and obviously durable.
The reason that was my first DIY project is because I had about a month to pull together a hiking kit; I'd already bought a hammock, a pack and various sundries (pack towel, socks, etc), and really didn't want to spend another $50 or more on a stove when I really wasn't sure what I wanted.
Give a stove a try. You might be surprised how easy it is.
Damn good question. Why indeed.
Why, because we can.
I've made a few stoves, it's fun and it's a good sense of accomplishment, and it's exactly what I want. I have a relative that's giving me a sewing machine, I'll be customizing a lot of things I've bought that I'm not satisfied with. I'll picking up the machine this week.
Once you make your first alcohol stove there is no stopping:):)
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/th_peeweestoves.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/?action=view¤t=peeweestoves.jpg)
Bulldawg
10-26-2008, 20:04
Yeah, Baggins, the alcohol stove is the cheapest of all homemade gear you can make. We were VERY slow at work Friday and I went through the recycling bin at work and dug out 5 good coke cans. I sat at my desk Friday afternoon, in between calls from customers, and made 3 stoves. None of them worked the way I wanted them to, but what did it cost me? 10 minutes to pick out decent cans, 15 to 20 minutes per stove, no $$$ at all.
I picked up the trash off the road in front of my house this morning, yea, someone threw it out last night. I guess they've never heard of LNT. Anyway among all the trash were lottery tickets, french fry cups, etc and two 24oz Heineken cans. I don't need a pot, but I can see a commercial size alcohol stove coming out of them. I'll be cooking for the whole camp. :banana
Bulldawg
10-26-2008, 20:45
I picked up the trash off the road in front of my house this morning, yea, someone threw it out last night. I guess they've never heard of LNT. Anyway among all the trash were lottery tickets, french fry cups, etc and two 24oz Heineken cans. I don't need a pot, but I can see a commercial size alcohol stove coming out of them. I'll be cooking for the whole camp. :banana
And it won't cost you one thin dime, except some of your time!!!! Awesome!
Bulldawg- have you seen the kegs of Heineken in the grocery store, I don't mean the mini keg 24oz like I found. These must be 2 gallon size, WOW what a stove they would make. For my next BBQ I may get a couple instead of cans and bottles.
It would be fun pulling a keg stove out of the pack just to see the look on everyones face.
Bulldawg
10-26-2008, 21:08
Bulldawg- have you seen the kegs of Heineken in the grocery store, I don't mean the mini keg 24oz like I found. These must be 2 gallon size, WOW what a stove they would make. For my next BBQ I may get a couple instead of cans and bottles.
It would be fun pulling a keg stove out of the pack just to see the look on everyones face.
I've got two of them in my gear room right now. Getting the tops outta them, but I did it eventually. I have boiled water around the house with them just playing, but I use them now to just store all of my cooking gear in. They are steel and pretty heavy and bulky, so I don't think I'd ever take them out on the trail. But hey, they were free because I was gonna drink the Heineken in them anyway. Beware the beer doesn't taste exactly like the Hennys out of the can. The green bottle lets the light give the beer in the bottle the slightest bit of skunkiness, so the beer in the kegs, isn't quite as hoppy!
Sidewinder
10-26-2008, 21:11
Bulldawg- have you seen the kegs of Heineken in the grocery store, I don't mean the mini keg 24oz like I found. These must be 2 gallon size, WOW what a stove they would make. For my next BBQ I may get a couple instead of cans and bottles.
It would be fun pulling a keg stove out of the pack just to see the look on everyones face.
Can I come over when you make this monster?
I've got two of them in my gear room right now. Getting the tops outta them, but I did it eventually. I have boiled water around the house with them just playing, but I use them now to just store all of my cooking gear in. They are steel and pretty heavy and bulky, so I don't think I'd ever take them out on the trail. But hey, they were free because I was gonna drink the Heineken in them anyway. Beware the beer doesn't taste exactly like the Hennys out of the can. The green bottle lets the light give the beer in the bottle the slightest bit of skunkiness, so the beer in the kegs, isn't quite as hoppy!
I'm pretty sure the ones I saw were aluminum, sold at Kroger and Publix. They may not be as big as 2 Gal, but they're big. I'll have to check. Anyway we buy beer for the BBQ's and the guest drink whatever is cold.
Can I come over when you make this monster?
Sure, bring Dr Pepper and Fritos to get in the club house :rolleyes:
Bulldawg- have you seen the kegs of Heineken in the grocery store, I don't mean the mini keg 24oz like I found. These must be 2 gallon size, WOW what a stove they would make. For my next BBQ I may get a couple instead of cans and bottles.
It would be fun pulling a keg stove out of the pack just to see the look on everyones face.:eek: :eek: :eek:
Note to JERMM: Big cans for making pots. Small cans for making stoves.
LOL
:eek: :eek: :eek:
Note to JERMM: Big cans for making pots. Small cans for making stoves.
LOL
Oh I know, just joking about the big stove :D I have several small stoves I've made. It would still be fun, the whole camp could cook on one stove. ;)
I know you were. :D
So what would you use to make a pot for that monster?
I know you were. :D
So what would you use to make a pot for that monster?
I have this big 22 gal aluminum trash can that I keep bird seed in. I found it on the side of the road a few yeas ago, big dent in the side, which I pounded out.
What do you think, will it work? LOL
Wise Old Owl
10-26-2008, 22:08
keeps me occupied in the winter months while reading WB.
Can I come over when you make this monster?
You are hilarious!!
I'll bring the DP and DC and tons of fritos. Can I come make monster stoves? :D
You are hilarious!!
I'll bring the DP and DC and tons of fritos. Can I come make monster stoves? :D
no
Reasons for MYOG projects:
#1. Making your own gear is a fun pastime, a hobby.
#2. Making your own gear gives you a sense of accomplishment
#3. Making your own gear helps you understand how it works, making it easier for you to repair your gear in the field if necessary.
#4. Making your own gear allows you to reduce weight. You can make gear that is lighter than the stuff you can buy.
#5. Making your own gear allows you to save money (usually). If not, see reason #1.
#6. Making your own gear allows you to customize and tailor your gear to YOUR needs, rather than to what the gear manufacturers THINK you need.
In short, there is no reason to stigmatize MYOG just because it didn't come out of a factory. It is very easy to make gear that is just as durable, but lighter in weight than its factory-made counterpart.
SOMEBODY has to put the gear together! I figure that it might as well be me for the above reasons.:)