Winter wood and some knives in trees...

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
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Well, last weekend it was the beaches off the Gulf Coast in Mexico and this weekend its back in little old Windsor tromping through familiar grounds. You know, I like it here! I have my knives, I have my dogs and I'm not hustling back to some darn training workshop....

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Beta sporting one of her "Smiles"

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Can you spot the Deer? This is as close as I could get before beta noticed it and gave chase.

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Time for a break! I brought my MSR whisperlite stove out for a little hot chocolate treat.

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I also brought out my new Breeden Big Paw (BBP) for its first walk and of course the micro-canadian came out too!

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After some stropping and then a micro-bevel on the sharpmaker the BBP is now the sharpest thing in my house.

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Well, after the hot chocolate, time to start heading home! It was a fairly short walk, only 1.5 hours today. Still, trudging through that snow tends to wear one the legs.

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Sorry Talfuchre, I don't have a barkie Aurora, although I wouldn't mind owning one :).

Here is a comparison shot of the BBP with Breeden pathfinder (5" blade) on top, buck 119 special (6" blade) and JK-kephart (4.5" blade) on bottom. The BBP is 4.5" blade x 1.375" wide and a 5.5" handle. The handle is huge on this one and part of that designed was so that it would be useful specifically while wearing gloves. I know the Aurora handle is supposed to be hand filling by barkie standards, but I doubt it is quite as large as this one is.

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awesome pics man...:thumbup: i love seeing those happy dogs running in the snow...:D

i really like the looks of that new breeden...:eek:
 
Man...thats a great looking Breeden! I like it. Looks like the dogs had more fun than you did!!!
 
Yeah:thumbup: I love going out with my dog. I wish I didn't have to work today so I can do that instead:( Great pics and knives!

Ray, your twin dog (to my beta) would like that a bunch I bet. Still, I'm sure you will be making somebody happy pumping out one of your awesome blades!

Man...thats a great looking Breeden! I like it. Looks like the dogs had more fun than you did!!!

Well I had fun too. Although a lesson was learned. After boiling the water, I pulled out my package of so-called hot chocolate, dumped it in and got this yellow, sour crap. Turns out I accidentally grabbed my daughter's crystal light lemon flavored diet drink that is supposed to be added to a litre of cold water. Blech. Tossed it out and had to boil more water. I managed to find a proper hot chocolate package in my fire/shelter/water kit :) So read the package before you dump it in your water!!!
 
That's a great stove for winter. Ever have any issues with it?

It is a great stove and I bought the international version which allows multiple fuels. It has a few small issues. The main one being that it requires regular maintenance. Basically, every couple of uses it is best to take it apart and clean out the nozzle. It has this shaker wire that is supposed to do that. A little wire and you shake the stove and the wire is supposed to push out the gunk, but I don't find the shaker wire works. If you don't do the maintenance than it can be difficult to start. However, there is a telltale sign that it needs the cleaning. When you open the valve to fill the warming cup, you won't get any liquid coming out. At this stage you know you need to clean it. Cleaning it takes about 15 minutes and can be performed with a Sak or a coin and the included maintenance kit.

The other issue that I don't like about this stove is that there is no pressure relief value at the fuel pump/regulator. So once you've pressurized the stove it can be difficult to remove the regulator without exploading fuel everywhere when lossening the pump/regulator from the fuel canister. This isn't much of a problem while camping, as you just store the fuel valve with the canister while using it. However, when I'm done camping, I like to clean my gear and maintain it. I hate to store the fuel canister with the regulator attached and pressure in the cannister. So I end up exploading the fuel everywhere when I crack the seal. I can't figure out how to do it otherwise. These problems are kind of minor inconveniences and for a <$100 stove it is a great little performer. It does particularly well in cold climates like now where propane can be difficult to start. I would recommend it. If I were to buy another one, I would probably go for the MSR dragonfly for its superior simmer control.
 
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G'day KGD

Can you spot the Deer? This is as close as I could get before beta noticed it and gave chase.
I'll play :D

Is it located in the middle of the top lefthand 1/4 of the pic? That dark spot looks like it might be its nose.


BTW, that BBP looks like it would be a usefull knife :thumbup:


Kind regards
Mick
 
Yep I think you got it Mick - the flash of white tail is the main sign. Actually I posted that comment mainly off of your thread on the rabbits. Interestingly, in the bush I was cuing in on the movement and easily identified the deer because of that. Harder to spot in the picture - good eyes!

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Your dogs are beautiful. I especially like this one cause he/she reminds me of a pup I had growin up. She was part springer spaniel and part ... well I don't know but she was a great dog.
 
The other issue that I don't like about this stove is that there is no pressure relief value at the fuel pump/regulator. So once you've pressurized the stove it can be difficult to remove the regulator without exploading fuel everywhere when lossening the pump/regulator from the fuel canister. This isn't much of a problem while camping, as you just store the fuel valve with the canister while using it. However, when I'm done camping, I like to clean my gear and maintain it. I hate to store the fuel canister with the regulator attached and pressure in the cannister. So I end up exploading the fuel everywhere when I crack the seal. I can't figure out how to do it otherwise.

Tip the stove upside down - then the little straw that's drinking the fuel inside the canister will be drinking air instead. Open the valve and air will rush out through the stove until the pressure is released (does a decent job of cleaning the nozzle too).
 
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