[Dante]

Has anyone hear made any gear? I've made a few things--mostly stuff like water bottle insulators and pot cozys out of blue foam or Reflectix. I was working on an ultralight pot support/windscreen/heat exchanger for use with Esbit tablets, but then I got a 1.3oz Esbit wing stove from www.thru-hiker.com. I've also thought about making one of those pop can alcohol stoves, but I like the convenience and spill-proof nature of solid fuel. Now I'm thinking about making a sleeping bag cover with a durable water resistant (DWR) top and waterproof bottom. I got the idea from the message board at www.thru-hiker.com and the Equinoz ultralight bivy at www.backcountrygear.com (see tents, minimalist shelters). It would only weigh a few ounces more than my Space Blanket ground cloth and would provide all the protection I need on most summer nights (if it looks like rain I'll be under my poncho/tarp anyway). Hopefully I can get a few stuffsacks out of this project, too.

[Benjamin]

The Pepsi can stove intrigued me, so started by making one. Next thing I knew I had over a dozen of them made, each with slightly different modifications. These included the number of holes, size of holes, placement of holes, height of can, etc. I tested each one over and over with the pot at various heights above the stove unit. They were also tried with and without windscreens. Many hours later/days I think I found the optimal configuration for balancing the boil time with the rate in which fuel in consumed. Unfortunately for me I then realized that Fosters is sold in huge 25 ounce beer cans, and other companys make the "tall boys" 24 ouncers. Now I was back to square one. I had to try all of my configurations with the two new sizes of cans. For some reason the big beer can stoves were a lot more fun to build. In fact I had a blast making them, except for a headache that soon followed. After days of further testing, the Pepsi can stove still takes the cake. Now after a bit of searching on the web, a cornucopia of homemade can stoves has been revealed. Some even claim faster boil times than what I have achieved. These stoves are now on the agenda. I think I am going crazy this winter. I can not wait until summer comes!!!

[Newt]

Benjamin, what size holes did you find best on the pop can. How about the height of pot to top of burner? What was the size-dia.-mat. . of the cooking pot you used? I'm on my second (first was a failure) and am going to go rather small on my holes. I'm thinking of starting around 0.018-0.020 and then increase the numbers on this one. I'm doing the low pressure design. I hope to be making a good crampon bag in the near future. What I have now is way to small. Any ideas or patterns? NN

[Benjamin]

I do not recall off the top of my head all of the specifics. I did determine that bigger holes are preferable, numbering at least 30. When I get home I will check my data and give you my exact findings. There is a point where too many holes or holes that are too large will burn fuel at an alarming rate.

[Poor but Enthusiastic]

Making your own gear is fun. In addition to stoves: down vest, parka, tarp, poles, gaitors, ponchos, panniers, overmitts... probably more but can't recall at the moment. Also fixing gear like packs, gaitors, boots, etc.

[polarbear]

Have a friend who made some snowshoes. His worked better than the pairs that me and another friend rented on our trip up Ingalls Creek.

[Allison]

I have made lots of my own stuff. These are the criteria I use to determine if it's worth it or not: cost of purchased item vs. hassle and materials cost of homemade item availability of the item I want to own--in other words if I can't buy one I can always make one the likelihood that the item I make is going to come out as planned--there is nothing worse than taking the time to make something, wrong, and then have to go out and buy it. I hate that! I have 'blueprinted' things I wanted to sew---I bought the TNF Denali pants, took a ton of measurements, returned them, found a pattern that was similar, modified, and sewed them up. That was a pretty hard project, what with the contoured Taslan overlays on the knees, and a pocket in the middle of a piece of fabric. Another good project was the Metolius rpe bag that I made in a nice lightweight Supplex. That one I blueprinted and made a pattern from scratch since you can't really buy a pattern for a rope bag. I think the most cost-effective things to sew are hats and stuff bags, especially if they are not the cylindrical kind. It is a major bitch to sew a straight piece of fabric to a curved one, and I've been sewing for years. A good book on the subject is Sew and repair your outdoor gear, Louise Lindgren, Mountaineers Press.

[Newt]

Allison...Just curious as to what you use for a machine? I have an old Singer 500a my wife left me and want to try puttin' it to some use. Not sure it could handle the material for a fanny pack tho. I heard that Pfaff is a good one too. NN

[Dante]

Thanks Allison! One of the things I like about this sleeping bag cover project is it is simple--all straight lines. I think I'm going to complicate it a little bit though and add bug netting. I'll sew two sides together and sew bug netting triangles to the top of the other two sides, joining the bug net at one corner. Then, if I lift the open corner by guying it out to a tree or trekking pole the netting will hang down and create a bug protected sleepin space. If I use 1.1oz SilNylon on the bottom, 1.1oz uncoated nylone with a DWR treatment on the top, and 1oz noseeum, the fabric weight is less than 8oz! I should be able to add some velcro and/or use a heavier DWR fabric on top and still come out under the cost and weight of the ultralight bivy at www.backcountrygear.com and an A16 bug bivy (about $100 and 12.7 oz combined).

[Dante]

I'm already reconsidering. I think it would be easier to add velcro to my poncho (a la Integral's Guide's SilPoncho2) and then make some 1oz noseeum panels to velcro on. I figure I could get bug protection for two much like the Integral SilBugTarp. I'd have to add some weight for the velcro, but I wouldn't use 4.5' walls like Integral--I'd probably go 4' at the front and 1' or 2' at the back. Unlike the Integarl SilBugTarp I'd only take the bug net during bug season. If I got my bug protection this way, I could keep using my space blanket groundcloth, buy the ultralight bivy at www.backcountrygear.com or make one. The main reason I was thinking about making one was to add bug netting. P.S. www.thru-hiker.com also has some good fabric deals.

[salish]

Well, this doesn't really qualify for homemade gear, but if you want to have an ultra light signalling mirror, just try a blank CD. I experimented with one a couple of weeks ago ( the last day we had sunshine) and it worked fine. I had a friend march about 200 yards from me and signal me. It was just like a mirror. There are holes in the middle for sighting (obviously) and they weigh NOTHING. And best of all, you can steal them from work! I take that back about not making gear at home. Last year I made a tuna can stove like we did back in the scouts in the 1960s and it works pretty well. Wash out the can and cut a piece of corrugated cardboard box the same width of the can, roll it up and stick it in the can, then fill the can to the top with melted parafin. My can burned for 1hr & 18 minutes, and boiled 1 litre of water in about 10 minutes (with a foil windscreen). You can also blow the flame out and reuse. Bad news: it gives off black sooty smoke and blackens pots (big deal). Salish

[Poor but Em-pathetic]

Don't think the machine is all that important, long as it's properly adjusted. But spend extra on good sharp needles and good thread. My Elna (early 80's) works just fine. As for cost, I think the silnylon tarp cost more to make than buy! But it was fun. Got materials at Seattle Fabric.

[Allison]

Hoo-boy would I disagree with that last post. I've done a lot of sewing on lesser machines and I'd say that they have a tendency to jam up, need more fiddling and maintenance, don't have the HP to go thru thicker fabrics, after using my Elna and a number if industrial grade machines at my work, I'd say that there is a MAJOR difference.

[Dante]

A couple days ago I made a simplified version of the "cat stove" Mine is just a little metal candy tin with a top that slips on and off. I used a strip of aluminum to hold some fiberglass insulation (the heart of the "cat stove") around the perimeter of the tin. Basically, I created a 1/4 inch ring of fiberglass insulation around the perimeter of the can. The fiberglass acts as a wick and effectively increases the surface area and burn rate of the alcohol fuel. After the fiberglass "sets" you can remove the aluminum ring. I'm pretty sure I have the Pepsi can stove beat for weight, but I don't know how it performs. Frankly, if I'm primarily boiling water I like my 1.3oz Esbit wing stove from www.thru-hiker.com better. P.S. I would agree that making a silicone impregnated nylon tarp is not worthwhile. Any savings are not worth the trouble. To see why, check out the tarps at www.owareusa.com and then go price fabric. First quality fabric alone comes within $40 or so of Oware's 9' or 10' square tarps. (I'm fighting the temptation to get the 10.3' square in silicone impregnated nylon)

[Dante]

I just bought a Rayovac 3-in-1 Sportsman's Head Lite for about $10 (you can get them at Wal-Mart). It has a halogen bulb and three LEDs and you can select the halogen bulb, one LED or two LEDs. I plan to replace the halogen bulb with a Lumileds Luxeon Star (sort of a "super-LED"). This is mostly a fall/winter shop project, but should result in a pretty nifty piece of gear. I'll be able to use the Luxeon Star when I want/need bright light, one LED around camp or two LEDs on trails. I might even change the colors of the original LEDs and/or change the way the switch is set-up so I can use the Luxeon Star, one LED or all three LEDs. I read about this light and modification on the forums at www.backpacking.net and www.candlepowerforums.com.