That time my old camp stove gave up on me in the middle of nowhere

I was in the Sawtooth Mountains about five years back, and my trusty old white gas stove just wouldn't light after a long day of hiking. The pump seal had gone bad, and I was looking at a cold dinner. I ended up making a small fire ring with some rocks and boiled water in my metal cup instead. Anyone have a good story about a piece of gear failing and how you got around it?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren21727d ago

Yeah, that rock fire ring move is a lifesaver. My old canister stove clogged up on a trip in the Gila once. I was starving and the jet was just sputtering. Ended up using my survival tin to make a little hobo stove out of an old bean can I packed out. Fed some twigs into it and heated my chili right over the little flame. It was messy but it worked.

noahhall28d ago

Man, white gas stoves are great until they're not. Those pump seals are a known weak point. I always pack a little tube of silicone grease now, just in case I need to re-lube a seal in the field to get one more cook out of it. That rock fire ring move is classic, sometimes you just gotta go back to basics.