Buying a camping stove can be a tricky business. You want to make sure you get the right one for you. If you are hiking you need to get something that is compact and will carry easily. A trangia might be a good idea if you need something small, or if you are only cooking for yourself. A Trangia cimbines the methanol burner with all of the equipment that you need to do your cooking. If you are travelling by car then you can go fo a setup as large as you like, right up to a full kitchen set (if it takes your fancy!). Some camping stoves also come with wind protectors, which can be very useful if you’re camping outside.
camping stoves run on a variety of fuels and the type of fuel you will be using will play an important factor in your decision.
The most popular fuel is butan or propane gas or a propane/butane mix. These come in cartridges or refillable cylinder. This type of fuel is predictable and stable, lights easily and performs well, and is controllable in terms of the level of heat you require. The cartridges or cylinders attach directly to the stove. Resealable cartridges are good as they can be removed from the stove, so there is no chance of the gas being switched on accidentally. These smaller stoves are more suited to be sed with smaller pans and cookware sets and cannot comfortably accomodate larger pans.
Larger stoves often use cylinders attached with a gas hose and regulator. This aren’t carried easily so are only suitable if you are travelling by car. These stoves often include a lid and side wind shield. If you are camping in low temperatures, propane is more suitable than butane as it freezes at lower temperatures.
Pressure stoves run on pressurised petroleum. They can get very hot and are very fuel efficient. These types of cookers come in a range of sizes, from small compact burners suitable for backpackers to double burners suitable for families.
Methylated spirit stoves run on meths which, as a liquid, doesn’t need to be pressurised. It is instant lighting and there is no need for preheating. Meths produces an almost colourless flams so care needs to be taken in the daytime. meths only really gives about half the heat of the alternatives so isn’t the most efficiant. The most common types of meths burners is the trangia range which are simple to use, compact lightweight and cost efficient.
You might want to consider the price of the gas refills or methelated spirits when making your purchase. And don’t forget to take spares! There’s nothing worse than having the food to cook with no means to cook it.
If you have small children then safety may be an issue. You might want something that is stable and safe when there are footballs flying about! so you can go for something with a stand
Archive for April, 2009
Buying a Camping Stove for your Next Camping Trip!
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Blogs – Communication for the Masses. Internet Marketing
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Blogs (web-logs) like most everything else on the internet started humbly and exploded in popularity. Blog sites now offer amateur and professional bloggers alike a means of mass communication. The degree of separation between you and a blogger is probably less than six; between you and a blog that number reduces quickly. When is the last time you visited a blog? Chances are if you’re any kind of internet user at all, you have landed on one at least once during a search session. That’s how prevalent they have become.
What is a blog? It’s is a chronological record of entries with the most current entry being the first displayed. They are used to rant, rave, promote and sell. There are political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, business blogs and personal blogs. It’s basically a form of participatory journalism where the subject matter can be about anything. The biggest differentiator in the blog arena today is the quality and correctness of content.
How well is this blog connected to the source of information they purport to know about? Is this a reliable source of information or is a watered down version of facts derived from other watered down sites. With the ability of most anybody to blog these days, it is very easy for someone to simply log onto a site and begin a tirade that may be rooted in fiction or fantasy. How will you know which is which? Using some common sense when interacting with a blog can avoid getting taken in by some bad information.
Be subjective in using a blog. Start with determining what the blogs specialty is and compare that to what you want to find. Simply put, don’t go to an entertainment blog for information other than entertainment. Once you choose one, a simple search of the history can give you some insight into their credibility. If you can, check into who subscribes to it and what other media outlets use the blog for information content. It’s safe to say that if a main stream media outlet is using a blog as a content provider, that it will suffice for information in that field. When considering blogs, like considering anything else on the internet, taking face value comes with associated risk. It’s always best to do some research yourself.
So now you’re ready to create your first post. If you haven’t done a lot of writing, this may prove to be the most difficult part. If you don’t have a lot of experience, keep your posts short. Develop momentum. Get the hang of it. Stick to what you know. You probably take for granted the fact that you have a great deal of specialized information that others will find helpful-possibly even fascinating.
So now that you have gained experience and confidence blogging, are you ready to start your own blog? Don’t be put off because it sounds difficult. It really isn’t. You won’t need to become a geek. However, you will have to make some decisions about how you want your blog to look. You’ll have to decide on a “theme” meaning the colors, number of columns, and the overall look and feel of your blog. You may want to include your picture. If so, you’ll need a digital copy. Regardless, this is something you can tweak as you go.
Finally, I would suggest that you be patient with yourself. Writing is like anything else. The more you do it, the better you get. If you have a little talent, and stick with it, you’ll eventually get into the rhythm and joy of it.
How to Use & Make a Blog!
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Why Travel Blogs
A “Blog” is an abbreviation for web-log. A blog thus is a website that has entries pertaining to a particular topic/ subject or a person, similar to a journal or a diary. The contents of a blog are generally displayed in the reverse chronological order in order to display the latest entries made.
Blogs normally deal with a single subject and provide latest news, commentary or opinions on the subject. The subjects could be as diverse as food, politics, Alaskan fishing or Japanese pearls. Contents of blog can also be as diverse and normally consist of images, text, links to other blogs or websites and anything related to the topic. Most blogs consist of text; however, many blogs also focus on images (photoblogs), videos (vlogs) and audio content (podcasts).
Popularity of Blogs
Of late, blogs have become the most sought after by internet marketing professionals to get their wares across or to describe their products in detail. Many global service industries use blogging as a tool to enhance and distribute information of their services by requesting their clients to put up their comments on their services. This helps them to market their services through word-of-mouth publicity at the same time distributing relevant and information from the client’s experiences.
Professionals on the move and jet setters who travel the world can find a lot of information built into blogs especially relevant information that may not be available in a standard printed travel brochure. First hand information on a location can come in great use to a regular traveler, especially if it concerns local travel, hotel and food information and local weather information. These facts have facilitated the popularity of travel blogs across the world.
Downsides
However, a downside of blogsploitation has been observed and all facts that are put up on blogs can result in being nearer to fiction. Blosploitation has resulted because of the use of blogs as advertising media. For example, as a writer some travel company has paid me to write blog entries about probably Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and Fiji Islands, I would be able to write them with ease, but as a person that has never been to these places, I might be far removed form facts. These blog entries that I pen will be posted on blogs solely for marketing the travel company and people who read them may be misled into believing everything that is said there.
How to use a Blog
It is important to check the credentials of the writer before you draw inferences from the blog entries. One traveler’s dream vacation rental may be another’s mosquito-infested hut. Search and check the profile pages of the person who made the blog entry for travel experiences and personal traits.
Do not depend on a single blog for information. Use the indispensable Google tool, blogsearch.google.com to find alternate blogs for the subject. Many blog entries make tall claims but probably they never live up to it.
How to make a blog
There are various ways for making your own blog. Creation and maintenance of blogs is very easy and even free at times. A host of blogging software is available to be installed on your web server and start off. Managing the software is absolutely almost nil, there are a host of dedicated web application achieve this. Many systems are available where one does not even need a web server, and a blog can be created from any nook and corner of the globe. Tools like Elicit, w blogger and Ecto facilitate users to have a web hosted blog and even compose and edit posts offline. Many a website is offering blog creation tools and blog hosting facilities like tripod, AOL, Google and Yahoo 3600. Custom blogging tools can be created using server side scripting with password protection and management built in.