Nearly the perfect activation

Hmmm… I see this on the Kelly Kettle website:

“NO Batteries, NO Gas - FREE FUEL! Works with any fuel: sticks, dry grass, bark, pine cones…even dry animal dung!”

Bit concerned about the references to ‘dry’!

Rob

Looking for dry fuel in Fisherfield may be more challenging than carrying your own fuel with you. :wink:

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In which case, to my mind, this makes the damn thing pointless and therefore you might as well just carry a ‘traditional’ stove!

I don’t like the thought of “I hope it doesn’t rain, because then I won’t be able to eat or or have a hot drink”!!!

Rob

I think it depends how porous the material is. Grass would have to be dry, as with dung and indeed paper. Twigs would always burn. If you had a knife to turn one of the twigs into shavings, you would be able to light it with a (dry) match. Take a first aid kit too ;o)

Adrian
G4AZS

Yes, remove the waterproof coating first, that is the bark. :wink:

I got a Bear Grylls fire starting kit for Christmas. Not exactly sure when it will get used, usually rains when I am out activating. It is quite small, so I’ll stick it in my backpack anyway - that will ensure I encounter no dry weather!

73, Gerald G4OIG

OK,
To clear a couple of things up.
I’ve never yet been unable to find enough material to boil a kettle of water.
I’ve no idea what the countryside in Fisherfield is like, but assuming there is any forest, scrub or low bushes, you’ll always find material dry enough to burn in the undergrowth IME.
As for useless, a conventional gas/meths/paraffin stove is equally useless when you run out of fuel. This is where the kettle wins. Mine is really for multi day activities. I usually carry a Trangia for cooking, but unless I stock up in advance with heavy meths, there is a good possibility the meths will run out long before I can restock. Here the kettle wins. I can pick up fuel throughout the day so it can be used when I come to brew up for the evening. It might just be a stick here, a piece of discarded cardboard there, some dried dog s**t.
Mine is used mostly whilst canoeing, it’s almost compulsory (that and fireboxes).
And it’s more than just a kettle, it’s a source of fun and getting back to the wild.
Foraging, fire, smoke and a tarp? Bring it on :fire:
Mine lives in the back of the car. Whilst I generally don’t carry it with me on an activation (I’ll have a flask), where it comes into it’s own is when I get back to the car. I can make noodles etc. which I can’t do with water that has been sitting in a flask for 6 hours or more.
I can also fill my hot water bottle to warm up my tootsies…
Pete

Easy… try this:

NO. Snow and rock does not burn.
Take a conventional stove…

Which goes to show that on many Scottish Hills flammable material (other than lichen) can be as rare as rocking horse poo!
For the argumentative types - I don’t think grass is a good fuel and there is an altitude limit for heather too (if it hasn’t been burned already). If using a Trangia you could always carry near absolute vodka rather than meths and then, in extremis, you could have a drink too!!

Never thought I’d see a post from a GM suggesting drinking Vodka. Surely there’d be room for a wee dram… :wink:

Well…that’s not really the Fisherfield. That’s An Tealach.

Fisherfield is the areas south of this. A combination of several Munros and Corbetts split by some large glens.

I camped somewhere around NH 082 734, south of Loch Nid. Plenty of dry grass when I was there! BUT, I’d still never rely on collected plant material for fuel.

Oh no, Vodka is a very popular drink with Malt drinkers. Think of the situation, you are going to have a drink and there are no Malts on offer, just assorted blends like Bells, the kind of stuff that really is used to stop your windscreen washer freezing up. Now nobody is going to drink that so the obvious choice then would be Vodka. I quite like the Blavod in cocktails. Or Eristoff Black but that is only availble with wild berry flavouring. It’s also a bit weak at 20% so it’s called “Spirit Drink” and not Vodka by law. Russian Standard Vodka is very nice as is Absolut. Then there is the luscious Grey Goose, but that is silly money.

You’re correct Gerrald, the foreground summit is An Teallach. Beinn a Claidheimh (*) the first of the Fisherfield munros is in the mid distance on the right hand side with Meall Choire Mhic Fhearchair and friends behind it. The Fanniachs are the snow capped summits to the left and the whole world of wonderousnous stretchs out to far distance.

I think it’s indicative of the type of ground there. I so wish I was there on the day that photo was taken!

(*) Beinn a Claidheimh is no longer a Munro as it’s about 30cms under the magic 3000ft. I don’t think the demotion would stop someone who loves mountains from climbing it and it’s still a valid SOTA summit.

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