Author: fridapelin

MSR XGK EX

On By fridapelinIn EquipmentsLeave a comment

A Trangia  with gas works great when the temperature is above freezing, but causes problems immediately when it gets colder. Nowadays you can find wintergas, but I’m not convinced that it would work flawlessly in tens of degrees below zero. Now I have in front of me a multifuel burner: the MSR XGK EX, which actually works with which liquid fuel whatsoever – everything from automotive gasoline to jet fuel. I use Neste’s 4T -petrol, which you can buy in 5l canisters, for example from K-Rauta. It’s much cheaper than the “real” fuel that you can purchase from outdoor stores. The idea is that you can travel around the world and get the burners to work with the fuel that is available in that area you are in. XGK is in all temperatures reliable, and it’s not called in vain for the world’s most reliable outdoor kitchen. Earplugs can probably still be in place, especially if you’re going for hours to sit next to the kitchen in a small space; the burner sounds like a jet engine! It’s difficult to cook food that need less heat during cooking, because the burner has no fine adjustment of the flame, it works with the principle on/off. For melting snow this is no problem!

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In order to have the kitchen in the tent (Yes, I know it is against all tent manufacturers’ advice …), it’s good to have a box to keep the burners in. In the box, made of aluminum, the burner with fuel bottle, and the necessary pots take place. If the kitchen for some reason could flare up, you can close the lid and throw out the entire package in the snow. Most boxes have space for two burners and fuel bottles. When one is in use for melting snow, you can use the second to warm up and dry up the tent. So yes, it is possible to get things dry in the tent. For safety’s sake you should only take your sleeping bags in the tent when you have switched off the burners. At night it becomes cold, but a good sleeping bag can handle it well. I started today to plan an aluminum box for two burners. I have now the measurements done, so will see if it gets to produce one.

Food experiment

On By fridapelinIn Adventure Food1 Comment

I have for a long time thought that it would be nice to try drying minced meat, because you would have a little more food possibilities on the tours. So now it was time to try some experiments. I dug 500g minced moose meat out of the freezer. Moose is perfect for drying purposes, because you want to dry meat containing as little fat as possible (otherwise it can go rancid quickly). It’s possible to fry meat without fat in a non-stick fry pan, just do not have the pan too hot when you begin. After frying, the meat weighted 300 grams. You could then spread out the meat on a baking sheet that you put in the oven. 70 degrees for about 10 hours will do it. You can leave the oven door slightly open so that moisture can escape better from the oven. At the end the dried meat weighted 108 g.

Now I have tried the meat I dried some time ago. At first, I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing, because it looked and smelled quite like cat food. But the result was still a super good meal! The meat was allowed to stand about 20 minutes in a food thermos, with added water. (I got the TV-Shop thing Aromipesä in mind…) I made som mashed potato from powder, to get the right sense of the whole thing, and yet I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I think I’ll try drying other things too, but what I do not know yet. Will take some inspiration from the book Torka mat (Dry food), by Eric Tornblad, 2012, which contains everything you can imagine having to know about food drying.

The Paris Pulk Sled

On By fridapelinIn EquipmentsLeave a comment

A Fjellpulken fiberglass sled costs nearly 1000 €, but you can get a sled much cheaper than that. EraPro Paris Expedition is a plastic sled which works well for some purposes, and you can buy one for under 60 €. You can find them for example at Varuste.net. In Sarek, I pulled around one, with Fjellpulkens parallel drag, and it was perhaps not the most optimal in mountain conditions. For glacier skiing it should be perfect, because you mainly ski on a flat surface. I got an own Paris sled which I have equipped with rope drag. I have drilled some holes in the sled, and attached a rubber band for holding the load in the sled. To get the luggage in shelter, I have a big bag that is as long and wide as the sled (Snowsled Expedition Bag). As harness I use the basic Fjellpulken harness, which I have equipped with a chest strap.

Arctic expeditions often uses tunnel tents, because the shape can handle the wind and the tents are easy to roll up into a large roll that is attached on the sled. Today i attached straps on my sled, which can be used just for this purpose. The straps also keeps the stuff in the sled steadier in place. Bauhaus had 25 mm straps and fitting clips for the purpose. The result below: