Not a review about the good sides of this tent, there is enough on YouTube for that.
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Review Durston XMID 1
Category: Gear
Not always, but often I like my camp experience to last until late morning. Having a small fire and preparing tea while simply resting and embroidering, is pure enjoyment for me. Nowadays I have a few options to choose which stove to take along. A journey with kickbike, bicycle or hiking trailer asks for a different stove, when the weather permits. And the option I like a lot is the Bushbox XXL.
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Snowpeak tea kettle No. 1
This Snowpeak pot is a stainless steel tea kettle and was bought for the sole purpose of having it a spout. Using the plain rimmed MSR Alpine StowAway pot to pour chai was always a mess, with quite some amount of chai lost.
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One pot soup meal
It took me a long time to come up with a decent meal cooked in camp. Having eaten pasta with sugared tomato paste for over a year I knew that should not have to be repeated ever again but how do you cook a tasty meal when you are not a cook and one that is also low on gas and water consumption?
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One Pot Meal
Break-fast
It took me quite some figuring out how to beat the constipation of camping food after I started wholesome healthy home grown food diet.
A set-up of any form of transport is important. Not when you are cycling or rolling back and forth to the bakery but when you try to get some distance done, it better be the right set-up for you. We did not had the chance to test any kickbike before we started the journey through the USA. We ordered straight from the Kickbike supplier and that is not the way I’d recommend. When I ordered my bicycle years prior I had it more or less custom made. This is crazily expensive, something I would not recommend either.
Yet another stove I bought.
I have used all sorts of stoves, from Primus and Optimus Multi Fuel when I started a 5 year worldwide bicycle trip to an Optimus Svea 123. I tried a gas stove, a self-made hobo stove, an alcohol stove and plain wood fires.
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Pots and Pans, who needs what, and when?
I realize I have become a bit of a nerd if it comes to the right pot for cooking in every situation. I must even admit that it is nice to buy new titanium cooking gear. Such buying gives pleasure to a trip long before I actually get on a tour. But now, I have enough. Really. And that’s why I share this post: who needs what and when? Yet, nothing so personal as one’s kitchen.
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Stoves and Fires, who needs what, and when?
Some years ago, I liked my camp experience to last until late morning. Having a small fire and preparing tea while simply resting and embroidering, was pure enjoyment for me. As of today I have found a middle way in morning time at camps. The most obvious thing that has changed is that I have a home, bringing the choice of which stove to take along. An ultralight hike or journey with kickbike, bicycle or hiking trailer asks for a different stove, depending on the weather. However, in my opinion, there’s no magic bullet for making the perfect choice.
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Food container aka bento box
What is a bento box?
The term bento is believed to come from the Chinese word biàndāng which means: convenient, handy, easy. You can also call it a lunch box or, less elegant, a food container.
In the Kamakura period (1185–1333) people packed dried rice for travel and hunting, an early form of bento. In the Edo period (1603–1868) the bento culture flourished; people brought beautifully arranged meals to outings. As of today, ‘bento’ became the standard term for a packed meal, often divided into compartments.
I have been brought up with a lunch box that my dad took to his work, prepared the evening before by my mom. Later on, travelling in India, the stainless steel tiffin boxes is something you see everywhere. Today tiffins imported from India are still to be seen in Hungarian villages, dangling on fences, brought to the people by the municipality workers.
For what the piece of fabric in the right corner becomes
I wanted something to soak grains, seeds and dry fruits overnight. Using a plastic clip box didn’t feel good, instead I wanted a lightweight container that would not leak. That is easier said than done: most titanium food containers promise not to leak, but they do. Others, non-titanium containers, are often not lightweight and rather designed more for beauty than functionality. Some titanium containers promote themselves as a pot to cook in, despite their rectangular shape. I had to veer off to online shops in USA to find what I wanted.
A designer with Asian heritage understands the symbiosis between beauty and functionality. He develops titanium outdoor gear and although it was a huge hassle to get products from USA to Hungary, I am glad I did.
Nowadays I don’t use the bento box necessarily for soaking alone but just as well where it is meant for: carrying food. Either left-overs, excess preparations and general food items.
Positives
- the bento box does not leak, not when it has liquids, not when it is placed upside down or at an angle
- the rubber ring placed into the lid can be taken out and washed
- lightweight, functional and beautiful
- the two clips hold the lid securely in place
- easily cleaned
- carrying it into a backpack makes also for food that isn’t a mess nor flattened by weight and bulk
The personal back and forth writings I had with the owner of Valtcan made this a very helpful and trustworthy experience. Even in times of much bureaucracy at the Hungarian immigration it was his patience and help that got the parcel eventually through.
So, is a bento box important?
I did years without it. Using a MSR Seagull pot with clips did a good job if it came to nesting gear into it, but it wasn’t leakproof. Starting out with a melamine, plastic lidded bowl turned out unhandy and rather obsolete.
Sure, a bento box is not for cooking, and carrying one only makes sense if you use it. The several functionalities I use it for made it worth the price and effort to get it to Hungary.
The comments below do not refer to this post. The weblog is full and I have to overwrite posts.
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Vargo titanium 2 – piece stove set
Having an interest in ultra light hiking I had to have a stove that is super light weight. I can not carry much as I am not very strong in this mode of travelling. Yet preparing a chai is so important that I don’t want to be depended on the weather but I don’t want to carry a sturdy stove either. So, like finding a perfect bento box, this was another thorough online search.
Sleep is one of the most important things to enjoy life. Isn’t that equally so for a cycling life?
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Build a Hobo
How to make a hobo stove
When stoves break down, often exactly when you really need them, it has you think: ‘This is not the time for you to break down’.
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Review: Magura Hydraulic Brakes
These brakes are excellent. That is, if you know how to repair them when they snap. I cycled with Magura for about 2.5 years without much problems. They are expensive so I hoped they would have lasted longer…
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Review Optimus Svea 123
The Svea was designed in 1920 and the technology is simple. A design that is not the best option to choose for a stove on an extended cycle trip. The Svea is currently used in Sweden and Japan for stationary use or as a working antique stove with a nice look. An Optimus Nova would have been a better choice, since that is a modern liquid fuel stove for mobile use.
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Review Hilleberg Soulo
More or less 900 euro, the Hilleberg Soulo is a great one person’s tent. It withstand fierce winds, it adds about 4 degrees to the outside temperature and it has enough space not to feel imprisoned.
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Review Optimus Nova
First and foremost, after cycling more than 4 years, only a few brands are so good that I chose them again, would I have to. Therm-A-Rest, Cumulus and Optimus.
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Review Rain Jacket Patagonia
2025: bought the exact same jacket. Reused the old one.
2024: the jacket starts to rub off its inside protection layer in the neck. This means the rain drips through and the jacket can no longer be used in heavy rain.
2023: the jacket is still very much in use. Though, naturally I try to avoid rain.
The very last moment before I would set off to South America, including rainy Patagonia, I decided I needed a new rain jacket.
Always being bitten by mosquito’s and awake for hours while trying to sleep, itching myself until bleeding and ever so often on the search for any kind of repellent.
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Downy Suave Cloudy Cumulus
Remaining of the assumption that (bicycle) gear last forever, I now know it isn’t. I should get rid of that tale. Yet, Cumulus comes close. I bought the sleeping bag at the start of the cycling trip (probably somewhere in the beginning of 2012), so it lasts long.
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Review Optimus Svea 123
Plus
I am was quite fully satisfied with the Svea 123. I even use it in hotel rooms, though I am very careful not to spill fuel and always put a folded windscreen underneath the stove as not to burn the hotel down.
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One thing I dislike about cycling
One thing I absolutely do not like about cycling
Besides rain and getting stuck in branches with my helmet when I search for a place to camp, it is the cycle short. A tight synthetic underwear kind of garment with a thick patch of foam. It feels unnatural. It looks strange. It is not hygienic.
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Helmet: Yes or No?
A helmet or not?
While cycling in the Netherlands I am aware of the many looks I receive. Dutch don’t like to wear a helmet when commuting. Understandable. What is less understandable is that even racers often cycle without a helmet. I think we believe it is not cool to wear a helmet.
Cooking & eating
Sleeping
Other important stuff
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Useful Tips
Over the years one will find out what works and what not. I might be able to shine a light on saving money for you, because one thing I found out is that when you start a trip, you ALWAYS spend too much money.
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What’s in it?
Many people asked me what I was carrying in all those bags. Most people did not understand that I carried my whole household with me. So let me explain without too many words what I am taking with me, still too much though…
Pots and pans, who needs what, and when?
Stoves and fires, who needs what, and when?
The comments don’t correspond with this post. My weblog is full and I have to overwrite posts. I am still curious to your ideas and thoughts : )