This 25-year-old MSR Internationale 600 stove is perhaps my most important piece of camping gear besides my tent. It runs on white gas, regular old unleaded gasoline and, if you find yourself pedaling through Uzbekistan or West Virginia, kerosene. It's completely field serviceable and I've taken it completely apart to clean it. Simple and reliable. I only use it about once, or at best twice, a year but it never fails me. Well, that's not entirely true. During my 2013 trip from Pittsburg to D.C., somewhere along the 190 mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park, my plunger and pump failed. Luckily, it was only the leather pump cup (see below from image I stole from the internets) that needed replacing. It had dried out over the years because of my negligence, and even the supplied pump cup oil couldn't revive it. I pulled out a spare from the parts kit, oiled it up, and I was back in the business of making our morning coffee. About all I use the stove for is heating water for coffee and for quick boiled meals (Chinese noodles or those wonderful indian meals in boilable bags). I often joke that my only reason for camping is the morning coffee.
 |
| No, that is not a bottle of beer keeping cool in my lower water bottle cage, ... |
 |
...it's my 11-ounce MSR fuel bottle, nicely disguised and protected from the elements.
|
 |
| I'm a little out of practice (I let a little too much fuel into the priming cup and so had to contend with too much flame and carbon soot to clean up). |
 |
| But, after a little sputtering, I got a nice purple-blue flame and feel it's ready for July's trip. |
No comments:
Post a Comment