Our daughter is interested in doing a long trail hike and has extended an invitation for us to come along for part of it. It is such a foreign concept to me. My first question is "Why?" Why carry everything I am going to need on my back and hike 10-20 miles a day? Why spend 12 weeks preparing to hike for 3? Why be at the mercy of Mother Nature? Why learn to dig a hole and potty? Why, at my age, work that hard? So much to learn!!! The answer that pops up first is, "Why not?" Or at least suspend a decision until the picture is a little fuller. So here we go, researching, experimenting, planning and developing, then I will decide. When I was younger, learning on the fly was part of the adventure. Now, I see the value of collaboration and not reinventing the wheel.
 |
| Jetboil Mini-Mo all nested together with a kuzi. |
Our first trip to REI was a learning experience itself. We spent the better part of an hour evaluating the different ways of heating up water to rehydrate food. After feeling pretty confident we had figured it out, the sales clerk came up and redirected our thinking. We walked out with the Jetboil Mini Mo. What a cool little gizmo. Everything nested into the pot, comes with a stand, a bowl to eat out of, a built in igniter. It took about a minute to put together and a whopping 1 minute 27 seconds to heat to a boil 2 c of water at outdoor temp of 50ยบ with a 10 mph wind. If the fuel canister is nested into the pot, there's a black fabric bag to put the burner in.
 |
| Unpacked (oops forgot to show the burner?!) |
 |
| Jetboil Mini-Mo put together. The pot holds 3 cups. |
We are experimenting with dehydrating fruits and veggies for meals and snacks, but decided to tryout a few different meals in a bag to get an idea of what to shoot for. The beauty of these are the water is poured into the bag and it becomes the bowl to eat out of or the bowls from the Jetboil can be used. They were pretty spicy, but seasoned with more than salt, which was good.
