From: Alpvalsys@AOL.COM
Date: Sun Jan 16 2000 - 20:30:53 CST
In a message dated 00-01-16 19:25:18 EST, Katherine Coates wrote:
<< ADULTS setting themselves on fire (and their tents/gear) >>
Katherine,
It's just one more example of why we have the "Darwin Awards" every year.
There are people who should not be trusted to teach what they themselves
cannot handle. However, that doesn't mean that there should be an absolute
restriction on their use by Scouts.
I have two Whiperlites (R), both the regular and the multi-fuel
Internationale, and I and my son have used them in every kind of weather
condition. And I had no qualms about him disassembling them in the field to
do a little cleaning when the shaker didn't get that stubborn speck of dirt.
In fact, in all the years that we have camped outside of Scouts it has been a
rare occasion when we cooked on anything other than a liquid fuel stove (our
council banned liquid fuel in council camps up until last year). My favorite
stove, when I'm not backpacking, is a good ol' Coleman 425 two-burner liquid
fuel monstrosity--it's stubborn in damp weather, but it works every time.
Easily as reliable as a Svea 123, but quiter and it simmers.
Ralph V. Balfoort, Unit Commissioner
Albany, NY
I used to be a Beaver.... (NE III-135)
In the Beaver Patrol as a Scout, too,
and now Ktemaque (Beaver) Chapter,
Haudenosaunee Lodge #19, OA
