Make your own Ultra-Light Alcohol Stove - This is a video of a design that I have been using for some time now.  I hope this helps you in making your own.

Materials:

Stove insulation/fiberglass rope

JB Weld (Not the Quick Weld)

Budweiser Stadium Bottle (Looks glass but is heavy aluminum)

Denatured Alcohol - Can be purchased at a local hardware store but is more easily found at gas stations as dry gas.  Look for the yellow bottles of HEET.  They don’t work very well on your car but do wonders in powering your stove.

Make your own Ultra-Light Tarp Tent - This is a video of a super one man tent that I discovered by reading, “Walking With Spring” by the first AT thru-hiker, Earl Shaffer.  To begin you need to start with correct materials.

This poncho is perfect and costs just under $10.  You can also get one at Cabelas but for quite a bit more money.  If you want to use rope and stakes to set up your tent, than you are done, but I would suggest using the poles.  The Nanolight tent poles can be found at QUEST OUTFITTERS.  You will need six blank sections of poles all WITH the inserts. You also need four yards of Shockcord, and four electrical wing-nut connecters.  In total, this tent weighs 1.3 lbs. without the ground cloth.

Hey Eric, Thanks for the interest.  I got worried and went down and measured the poles and tried to figure out what I did.  It does work.  If you get all 12 nano-lights WITH inserts than when you put all six together, the extra length of the insert adds an inch and a half.  The extra length is made up by the electrical connectors.  Total length of polls equal 110 inches.  I hope that makes sense.  

One extra note.  I am a short guy.  I am only 5'8.  I fit well under this tent but it is tight.  If you are much taller, you might want to check out the "backpacker" size poncho from campmor.com.  I have no idea about poll size but I just wanted to give you that option.

Keep Climbing,

Russell Weekend Adventurer

Hi there!

I'm a longtime hiker who has recently become converted to practical sides of going ultra-light.  I live in California, where truly nasty weather is a rarity, and I realize I've been paying a real weight penalty for being so over-prepared over the years. 

I was really intrigued by your poncho shelter video and looked you up on your website, but I'm confused about the actual dimensions and the pole instructions.  The text on your site says 6 sections are needed and I can only imagine that means 6 per pole because Quest outfitters sells the Nanolight poles in 18" lengths.  I'm not sure how long your pole sections are.  (It was hard to freeze the video to see.)  

Six of the 18" poles would barely reach the diagonal of the poncho and I doubt it would flex sufficiently to create the required arch.  (My "Cheaper Than Dirt" surplus poncho measures  103.75" on the diagonal.   Six 18" pole sections would be 108")

Sooo, can you give me more detail about the total length of each of your poles and the length of each section?

Thank you so much for your time, and I appreciate you sharing your skills and ideas with the rest of us.

Sincerely,

Eric,

San Diego, California

FAQ:

Make your own water bottle insulator and cooking pot cozy- This is a video of two insulators.  The water bottle insulator keeps the cold out, and the pot cozy keeps the cooking process going, and the food warm.  The insulator is a must for the winter, and the pot cozy is the best fuel saver I have ever used.

Make your own Ultra-Light Alcohol Wick Stove- This is a video of a new style stove.  It is great for saving fuel and long burns on “simmer” (shorten the wick.)