Well…school’s running, I’m working full time, and the weather is getting colder so I’m getting very short on free time…which means I’m stuck at home doing “homework” most of the time. So I’m starting something new. Since I can’t get out there as much, I’ll spend more time here and do some product reviews and How-to’s to bring some (more) traffic to my page. So what do we have today you may be asking yourself…well…something that’s a little different, and might appeal to a smaller crowd, but still very cool.
It’s the Brasslite Turbo ll-D ultralight backpacking stove. I’ve made a number of alcohol stoves with soda cans, tuna cans, beer cans etc…I’ve used insulation, created pressure chambers with jet holes, and attempted priming setups and simmering functions. The results were sometimes impressive, but they were still flimsy and easily crushed. They worked fine, but I rely on my stove for water and cooking so I prefer to have something more trustworthy.
I actually made this video almost a year ago now and recently found it in my files, so thought I’d post it and see if people want more. It’s sort of long and drawn out, but at the time of making it, I didn’t see any other video reviews of the stove, so thought I’d do one for fun. Enjoy, and comment away.
*Note-It looks like their prices have dropped since I made the video too…so check out their website at www.brasslite.com
cheers,
Justin
About 5 years ago I went on a NOLS expedition and did a lot of talking with my instructor who combined mountaineering with paragliding. Since then I’ve tried all I could to make going back down as much fun as the climb up. I’ve invested in a randonee skiing setup, and tried to make my gear as light as possible. Lets face it though…some stuff you just can’t ski down…(well…I can’t anyway…I try to avoid cliffs as much as possible). So a couple weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and signed up for lessons. The closest I could find is a three hour drive away in Cashmere, WA by the name of Aerial Paragliding. I didn’t know what to expect, and the cost was high, but I tried to keep my expectations low. I was pleasantly surprised though. They run their outfit from a ranch house way up in the hills away from the city. Some dude that hit it big with Microsoft actually owns the land, and they are jointly building a new facility next to the cabin that will be much bigger. For $10 a night you can stay up there too, so they have a really nice set up with beds and everything.
Anyway, the first day I was already flying solo hundreds of feet off the ground, and I was hooked. I signed up for the full P1-P2 course from there and never looked back. I will probably have to continue my training next year as school is in session and they only have about a month left until winter comes. The gear will have to wait, but hopefully I will be able to get some used stuff next year.
It’s a new adventure every time I go there, but I guess I’ll just leave it to the pictures now and update this post (and my blog) when I can. I’ve set up an album to look at, and you can see it here:
Protected: Matt & Christy’s Wedding
Hey everyone…been a while. Things have been very busy. The purpose of this post is to point you to the new button I put at the top of the page titled “BLOG”. Because of the work and time it takes to make a post on the main page, I decided to link this site to a blog where I could give updates more often. I’m still going to post the more exciting stuff on the main page though (and there’s some good stuff a’commin’) so watch for that too. Anyway, that’s all I got for now.
cheers,
Justin
