Having your very own portable outdoor stove is one of the essentials of outdoor cooking. This is our new stove. Well, actually I guess it is more than a year old when we bought it on sale from Rodney.Since I started mountain climbing in 1994, I've always wanted to slowly build my very own set of outdoor gear from shoes, tent, packs, clothing and of course cookware. At that time, on the top of my list is a simple outdoor stove. The following year in 1995, I was able to travel to Nepal (for an conference, not climbing. Sigh.) What was great is that I was able to pass by Hong Kong. While in HK, I was able to look around Kowloon side and bought my Feather 400 circa 1995. I had this stove until 2002, when someone borrowed it and when I came around looking for it, it was lost. I had really great memories cooking in the outdoors with the Feather 400 but that I would reserve for another post.
We only use ligther fluid for the best and efficient burning. One should always make sure that the fuel is stored properly. I know of someone who climbed Mt. Ugu,who mistakenly used lighter fluid for his noodles and he was later re-named as Crodo. Always check your stove for leaks. Keep gaskets and parts well maintained.
Just keep in mind when you buy outdoor gear, that your load should be light as possible. This will make your hike more comfortable and enjoyable.
One of the big plus of having an outdoor stove is that when you ran out of LPG at home, you can use your stove. I remember a time that this happened. What I did was to pull out my stove and cook the sinigang. I can see the look on my father's face at that time. He didn't believe that I will be able to cook the sinigang and rice using the huge kitchen utensils with the tiny stove. Eventually we had a great dinner. From then on, my father never doubted this one mean little stove.
