Fax Seed Whole Wheat Bread

My sister makes a bread machine Flax Seed Whole Wheat bread with 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 cup of white flour, oatmeal, seeds, and 1.75 cups milk.  I adapted an adaptation of the Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook (p. 118) formula for Flax Seed Whole Wheat Bread published on Bread Experience.  This formula uses olive oil; Hensperger uses canola oil.  Hensperger said that either basic or whole wheat cycle should work:

  • 1 cup whole wheat
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 4 tbsp flax, ground
  • 2 tbsp. gluten
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • .25 cups non-fat (skim) dry milk
  • 1.125 cups water

I used elements of my sister’s recipe but kept to 3 cups of flour, for a medium loaf.   The first trial was on regular cycle:

  • 9.75 oz. (2 cups) whole wheat
  • 4.875 oz. (1 cup) All Purpose (Cdn)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 4 tbsp ground flax
  • 3 g. (.5 tsp) salt  *50% sodium reduction
  • 3 tbsp. flax seeds
  • 1 tbsp. poppy seeds
  • .5 cups rolled oats
  • 1.4 g (.5 tsp) instant yeast  **double adjustment: matching sodium, and for Panasonic machine – i.e. this is too little yeast  under other circumstances
  • 1.25 cups skim milk; ***1 tbsp extra water

The dough was dry; hence the added water. The oatmeal (rolled oats) absorbed some water.  The dough ball was shaggy and took a while to relax, but the loaf relaxed and sprung to fill the pan and rise.

Real milk or reconstituted (powder plus water)?  Either way, lactose, the natural sugar in milk is added to the formula.  Sugars in the dough tend to carmelize when the dough is baked – i.e. the crust is firm and brown. Unpasteurized milk can lead to surprizes. Some bakers think milk,  real or reconstituted, should be scalded to denature proteins that may inhibit the action of the yeast, and for other reasons. I skipped this step. Whole milk has more fats, which may give a loaf a little extra shelf life.

The result was good on regular cycle. It has tasty firm crust, not crunchy; a dense crumb holds up, slices cleanly and a

Bread Machine

Bread machines came on the market  about 1986, and became popular outside Japan by the late 1990s.  Beth Hensperger’s The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook (Harvard Common Press, 2000) was a comprehensive resource.  It listed 18 customer service numbers for manufacturers of machines on the market at the time.  It treats machines as equivalent, with a  warning to “Take Stock of Your Machine”. This understates the fact that some machines process some formulas differently.

Bread machine manufacturers and recipe writers discuss  small (1 lb.), medium (1.5 lb.), large (2 lb.) and extra large (2.5 lb.) loaves.   The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook recipes have ingredient lists for 1.5 lb. and 2 lb. loaves.

The Panasonic SD-YD250 bread machine has an extra large vertical rectangle pan, and settings for medium, large and extra large loaves. I had unacceptable results with  recipes from The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook when I first used this machine.  Medium loaves  filled the extra large pan, and had airy, weak crumb; some ballooned or cratered/collapsed/imploded. Most of these had great crust, and other good qualitities. I started to monitor trial loaves. I peeked under the lid to see what happened in the rise phase – especially the last part after the machine knocked down the dough.  The dough relaxed and flowed to fill the bottom of the pan.   I made manual interventions a few times – I ran a silicon spatula between the dough and the pan 5-10 minutes before the end of the rise and the start of baking to deflate the dough.

I found a method to adjust BLBMC formulas for white, whole wheat, rye, and combined flour (multigrain) for a modern Panasonic bread machine.  This may be useful for any formulas requiring 2 tsp of yeast for a medium loaf (a formula with 3 cups or 15 oz. flour +/- by weight):

FirstIgnore the amount of "bread machine yeast" in a formula in the book
Second, calculateUse half the amount in the recipe for SAF instant dry yeast (usually about 2 tsp. for a medium loaf)
Third, checkUsually the correct amount of instant dry yeast the amount the Panasonic manual specifies for corresponding loaves e.g. 1 tsp for medium loaf

I  relearned what I knew about bread flour and Canadian standards for all purpose flour, and a few other things that I will list at the end.

I confirmed again that low sodium baking works at 50% reduction. It doesn’t affect the process or hurt flavour.  The method is to reduce yeast by the same percentage as salt as suggested in BLBMC at p. 290 and by the Please Don’t Pass the Salt bread page. The adjustments should be made on amount of salt in a formula but the amount of yeast in a BLBMC formula that has been adjusted by the method above. Then reduce salt and reduce yeast by the same percentage. Depending on the recipe source:

  • For a Panasonic recipe I cut yeast and salt equally;
  • For a BLBMC recipe I make my adjustment for yeast amount above first, then I cut yeast and salt equally. The effect is that when  I use 50% of the recipe amount of salt I use 25% of the BLBMC recipe amount of yeast.
Continue reading ‘Bread Machine’ »

Labels

The idea of a low sodium diet is to consume less salt. There are many sources of information. Sources may  promote a fad or a personal theory. Buyer beware. These resources are scientific and fact based:

Salt can be avoided or reduced. A product label will identify sodium in almost anything that has been packaged.

Continue reading ‘Labels’ »

Bread

Bread is high in sodium, as an effect of the baking process.  The master formula for bread is to grind dried grain into a paste or flour, add water and yeast , let the stuff ferment and throw it on a hot surface until it dries out and stops fermenting.

Salt controls yeast which affectsfermentation. Fermentation affects flavour but it also affects rise, which affects the size of the loaf and the production line; it also has a chemical effect on the taste buds (Lallamand Baking Update, Volume 2, No. 6). A few bread styles, such as Tuscan bread, are made without salt.  Salt is part of the process for most bread sold by grocery stores and bakeries large and small.

Continue reading ‘Bread’ »

Salt

Salt (sodium chloride) is a chemical agent used to cook or process food. Saltiness is regarded as one of 5 main tastes. (Scientists have not, as of 2018, identified a distinctive taste receptor for salt.)  Sodium is an essential nutrient, but consuming more sodium than the minimum has no health benefits. Excessive sodium is a health risk. The upper limits for sodium intake, in milligrams, per day:

These numbers are not stated in ranges for body type, or weight.  The limits are stated as a single high number and a second lower number for persons diagnosed with hypertension, or defined by age or other statistical risks. The 2,300 milligram figure is the sodium in about a teaspoon (the unit of volume) of salt. Exceeding the upper limit is risky and harmful.

Food products high in sodium:

  • Bread;
  • Sandwich spreads, condiments and salad dressings;
  • Processed meat, cold cuts, charcuterie;
  • Cheese;
  • crackers,
  • pickles, olives,.
  • Processed (flaked/puffed or shaped and toasted) breakfast cereal;
  • Tomato juice, vegetable juice and tomato-clam (some very high);
  • Processed spaghetti sauces and tomato sauces (very high);
  • Pizza – bread topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and whatever else (most very high);
  • Canned soups (monstrously high);
  • Soy sauce, hoisin sauce and fish sauce (monstrously high);
Continue reading ‘Salt’ »

Email 2018

I used Outlook 2010 and Outlook  2013 as my desktop email client because they were nearly free. Employees of my employer got the Office Suites for a nominal charge. (my employer rolled back to Word 2010, and Outlook 2010 connected to its MS Exchange server). The programs did what I needed. I had a server account at my ISP. Outlook connected with the server using POP3, a version of Post Office Protocol.  I began to consider letting go of my ISP after giving up the cable box and cable TV. This may mean I give up email account and address when I give up the Cable ISP service, and go with a new service. This meant thinking about a new email address on a webmail service, and a new email client.

Outlook was a message user agent (client) for Microsoft Exchange Server using proprietary MAPI protocols. It still is. In the enterprize enviroment a client connects to the enterprize email server which stores messages and connects to the Internet.  Outlook has the capability to manage local copies of messages in a PST file (a dedicated database), which lets it function as a standalone internet email client. Outlook 2013 did not easily support, contrary to MS Outlook 2013 Support articles and publicity about Hotmail Connector and Exchange Active Sync, connecting to an Outlook.com account. This is ironic after MS “improved” Outlook, creating a lock-in effect for its Hotmail/Outlook.com services and more of a walled garden or closed platform approach to services.

Outlook 2013 does not easily support IMAP. The capability may be there. For instance, there are resources that explain making an IMAP connection in Outlook, which may work or may have been outdated by changes in Windows and the Office Suite. Searching for ways to adapt Outlook 2013 is frustrating and time consuming. This makes using Outlook with webmail platforms other than Hotmail/Outlook difficult.

Outlook 2013 has already started  its spiral into obsolesence.  Newer versions have been web/cloud based (software as a service), which leaves MS with a stream of income as long as consumers will stay with MS as rentier. Staying with Outlook as client means subscribing, which will not be cheap, and being locked in.

There are desktop email clients that support IMAP, and downloading and local storage of messages.  IMAP is a robust standard, even if Microsoft deprecates it. It works with webmail, although it is a conceptual leap from POP, and requires some management. Time to move on.

2017 Rides

This was 2017:

DateMe + WhoBikeKm.Trip
1864.22017 Year to Date
17-12-03FX21.8Beacon Hill, Richardson, Monterey, Upper Terrace, Cordova Bay, Foul Bay, Moss, Beacon Hill, Niagars. Cloudy 5 or 6 degrees, wind.
17-11-05FX32.6Beacon Hill, Richardson, Richmond, Oak Bay, Musgrave, Upper Terrace, UVic, Finnerty, San Juan, Lochside to downtown. Sunny, 5 C, cold wind.
17-10-30FX42.9Dallas, Moss, Richmond, Oak Bay, Musgrave, Uplands, UVic, San Juan, Lochside to Cordova Bay, and back to Blue Bridge. Sunny afternoon, shorts weather until the afternoon shadows grew.
17-10-220No ride. Weather varied
17-10-15FX52.3Goose, Interurban Road & Trail, Wallace, Mt. Newton X Road, Lochside; Sunshine, 12 C. Shorts, but a jacket. Michell's farm was busy - the u-pick pumpkin event.
17-10-09MikeFX40.2Dallas, Fairfield, Richmond, McNeill/Richardsons, Newport, Monterey/St. Ann, Musgrave, Upper Terrace, Cedar Hill X Rd, Gordon, Head, San Juan, Lochside. Cool day, clear fall day.
17-09-24FX49.5Goose, Interurban Road & Trail, Wallace, Stelly's X Road, E. Saanich Road, Island View, Lochside; mainly sunny in the AM. An event at the Leg.: traffic diverted and snarled.
17-09-10No ride; on holiday
17-09-03JoeBor.9.2Portage La Prairie MB Crescent Lake trail Meighen to Kelly K.
17-08-27FX67.0Goose, Lochside, Royal Oak, Elk Lake, trail, Oldfield, E. SaanichRoad, east part of Airport trail, Beacon, Lochside. Sunny, clear, hot (but UV only 5), moderate breezes. ,
17-08-20FX65.7Goose, Interurban, Wallace. E. Saanich Road, east part of Airport trail, Beacon, Lochside. Sunny, warm, moderate breezes. The Tour de Victoria was on. I saw traffic control and some riders on Interurban Road. The Dragon Boat fesitval was on in the inner Harbour. Belleville was closed and traffic on Gov't and Superior was congested
17-08-13FX58.3The first rain in 2 months fell overnight. Windy until noon, and after 2 pm. I went out by side streets in James Bay, Cook Street Village and Oak Bay to Foul Bay and up Cadboro Bay to Cedar Hill X, Gordon Head, San Juan, Lochside. Dooley/Welch, Martindale to Michell mini-Airport on Lochside. Back into Victoria by Lochside. Many bikes stopped to pick blackberries. The Blue Bridge was closed for paving on Store and Pandora. First deke to backtrack and cross the Gorge on the Bay Street Bridge and down Gov't to Chinatown, deking down alleys to get onto Store past the paving.
17-08-07FX59.7Blue Bridge, Goose, Interurban, Wallace, E. Saanich, McTavish, Lochside. Clear day. Smoke haze at high level made it dark, almost overcast
17-07-30FX59.2Goose to crossing/ intersection Happy Valley, East Sooke & Kangaroo. Sunny day. The trail is shaded from Jenkins out. Trail was dry but not too dusty. The blackberries are ripe. Some people stopped for that.
17-07-230No ride. In Duncan, camping at Islands Folk Festival
17-07-16FX52.3Dallas , Moss, Richardson, Foul Bay, Cadboro Bay, Cedar Hill X, Gordon Head, San Juan, Lochside to Island View; back by Goose, downtown. Overcast, steady breeze, cool in the AM.
17-07-09FX69.4Blue Bridge, Goose, Interurban, Wallace, E. Saanich (new segment) Leal-Emard-Moxon Amity, Lochside, San Juan, (new segment) San Pedro, Longview, Feltham (oops: to Shelburne and back up), Gordon Head, U Vic, Cedar Hill X, Cadboro Bay Rd., Fort, Richmond, Richardson, Moss, Dallas, Niagara
17-07-02MikeFX70.7Blue Bridge, E & N, Goose, Interurban, Wallace, Mt. Newton X, Lochside, San Juan Greenway, Gordon Head, U Vic, Foul Bay, Richmond, Moss, Dallas
17-06-30MikeFX34.4Dallas, Beach, Cadboro Bay, Arbutus, San Juan, Lochside
17-06-25MikeFX56.5Lochside from Mann's Excavating to Swing Bridge, Goose to Interurban, Interurban Route to Saanichton; E. Saanich to Willingdon, around airport, Sidney, Lochside
17-06-23MikeFX31.5Blue Bridge, Lockside to junction at Don Mann, parkway to Gordon Head; UVic, Cedar Hill, Cadboro Bay, Beach, McNeill, Moss, Dallas
17-06-17MikeFX53.1Blue Bridge, Goose, Interurban route to Saanichton, Mt. Newton x Road, Lochside
17-06-11FX58.1Blue Bridge, Goose, Interurban Road, Interurban Trail, Wallace, Lochside
17-06-04MikeFX41.7Blue Bridge, E&N, Goose to Sooke Road at Firehall.
17-05-28MikeFX40.0Lochside from Monkey's Paw, Royal Oak to Elk Lake, Oldfield & Seacrest, E. Saanich, Wallace, Amity to Lochside
17-05-21MikeFX53.3Lochside from Monkey's Paw to Sidney, Flight Path around YYJ, and back. Warm and sunny.
17-05-19MikeFX29.5Blue Bridge, E & N, Goose to Wales Road, return.
15-05-14MikeFX45.1Goose from Juan de Fuca rec complex to Roche Cove
17-05-07MikeFX39.8Lochside from Monkey's Paw (McKenzie & Borden) to Royal Oak, Elk Lake trail, Oldfield, Wallace-Panorama, Lochside. Sunday AM, sunny, light breezes
17-05-06MikeFX24.5Goose to Old Island, E&N to Blue Bridge
17-04-30MikeFX48.6Lochside from Monkey's Paw (Borden & McKenzie) to McTavish, Flight Path trail around airport, back from Sidney
17-04-28MikeFX42.0Goose to Sooke Road
17-04-21MikeFX38.4Goose to Veterans Memorial. Friday PM Sunny day before a cool wet weekend.
17-04-16MikeFX35Lochside from Monkey's Paw (McKenzie & Borden). Royal Oak, Elk Lake, Oldfield, E. Saanich, Mount Newton X Road, Lochside.
17-04-14MikeFX31.5Dallas,Beach, Arbutus, Finnerty, UVic. Sunny spring day - breezes, not too brisk. Shorts
17-04-09MikeFX32.9Goose to E & N to Langford police station; back by E & N thru Esquimault
17-04-02MikeFX47.0Lochside from Monkey's Paw (McKenzie & Borden) to Tsehum Harbour in Sidney. Sunday AM, sunny, windy
17-03-30MikeFX24.4Blue Bridge, Goose to Old Island; E & N
07-03-25MikeFX42.5Lochside to Saanich Museum
17-03-19MikeFX29.5Blue Bridge, E & N, Goose to Wales Road, return. Sunny, nice - much nicer than forecast
17-03-18MikeFX29.6Dallas, Fairfield, Richmond, Cadboro Bay, U Vic. Sunny, windy.
17-03-05MikeFX29.1Dallas, Fairfield, Richmond, Cadboro Bay, U Vic. Cool, unstable weather: cloudy, showers, even snow and slush
17-02-25MikeFX42.7Lochside, Hunt Valley, Island View (Michell' Farm). Cool day, Sunny with cloud in AM, windy.
17-02-12MikeFX29.3Dallas, Fairfield, McNeill, Beach, Cordova Bay to U Vic and return
17-01-28MikeFX41.3Lochside to Island View (Michell's Farm)
17-01-21MikeFX33.2Galloping Goose to Old Island Highway at Royal Roads
17-01-14MikeFX28.9Dallas/Beach, Richmond (group ride started at Richmond at Fairfield), McNeill, East Oak Bay ramble, Cedar Hill X, U Vic Ring, Henderson/Foul Bay, Fort, Quadra, Beacon Hill Loop, Niagara. Sunny +2 C at 11 am; got to 5 C later

American Nations

Tyler Cowen mentioned American nations : a history of the eleven rival regional cultures of North America in his Marginal Revolutions blog as a partial explanation for support for the candidacy of Donald Trump among American working class and middle class voters in the 2016 American elections. I found a copy in the Oak Bay Branch of Greater Victoria Public Library.  It was catalogued as children’s nonfiction.  If it is a children’s book, the children in Oak Bay must be precocious.    Garrison Keilor said in his NPR broadcasts and books. “Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average”.

Colin Woodard is a journalist and writer of explanatory nonfiction. American Nations presents a condensed introduction to a theory of American history: tracking regional culture back to the European settlement of different parts of North America by distinctive groups. Woodard accepts that the cultures of different parts of America evolved from the cultures of the first European settlers.  Consider this review and summary (Scott Alexander) of Albion’s Seed by David Fischer. Woodard summarized American Nations in a 2013 article in Tufts Magazine. (Map in the Tufts Magazine piece).

Continue reading ‘American Nations’ »

2016 Rides

This was 2016:

2016

DateWhoBikeKmTrip
1355.12016 Year to date
16-09-18FX58.3Downtown, Lochside to Royal Oak, Beaver & Elk Lake trail, Oldfield/Seabrook to East Saanich Road into Saanichton, Wallace and Amity and across the Pat Bay; Lochside Trail and back from there by the Trail. Mixed Cloud, mainly sunny but a few scattered showers; Windy
16-09-11FX56.9Downtown. Goose to Interurban, Interurban Route to Lochside, Lochside back to downtown. Sunny after 10 AM, moderate breeze, 18 degrees C.
16-09-05FX53.7Downtown, Lochside to Royal Oak, Beaver & Elk Lake trail, Oldfield/Seabrook to East Saanich Road, Mount Newton X-Road to Lochside Trail and back from there by the Trail. Cloudy, cool, a few spritzes of rain.
16-08-210Camping, Salmon Arm
16-08-07FX42.9Blue Bridge, E & N to Goose, Goose to Swing Bridge, Lochside to Cordova Bay (Matticks). Overcast, a couiple of short misty showers.
16-08-07KA0Check old Cat Eye Velo 2; replace battery and reset to zero
16-07-31FX57.6Blue Bridge, Goose to Atkins, E & N to Jacklin to Jenkins to Glen Lake Road to Happy Valley Road to Metchosin Road to Old Island Highway to Juan de Fuca Rec Center; E & N & through downtown. Cloudy at first, then sunny with brisk winds.
16-07-240Camping in Duncan
16-07-17FX60.4Blue Bridge, E & N to Jacklin, Jacklin to Goose, Goose to Lombard. Sunny. some cloud. Light Wind
16-07-160Replace battery in Cat Eye. Reset
16-07-10FX79.2Estimated distance. Reset odometer after glitch during first 10 K. Johnson Street Bridge, E & N to Goose, Goose to Interurban, Interurban to Lochside Through Sidney to Resthaven Park; back by Lochside. Cloudy at first. Mixed sun and cloud. Moderate breeze - headwind and quartering adverse on return. Ouchy in my own driveway on arriving home.
16-07-03FX54.9Sunny and windy. Lochside to Lochside Park, Dooley to Martindale, Lochside to Island View (Michell's Farm); Lochside to downtown, Fort to Vancouver, Richardson & McNeill to Windsor Park; McNeill, Richardson & Cook to Dallas.
16-06-26FX72.2Goose to Interurban; Interurban Route to Lochside; Through Sidney to Resthaven Park; back by Lochside. Sunny and hot.
16-06-19FX67.2Lochside to Royal Oak; Royal Oak to Park; BeaveLake to W. Saanich, back to Park; Lakeside trail to Oldfield; Oldfield-Seabrook-E. Saanich Rd-Wallace-Pat NBay Overpass. Back to Lochside; Tulista Park (Sidney). Then home. Mixed sun and cloud, windy.
16-06-16FX26.3Lochside, across Royal Oak, past McMinn Park.
16-06-12FX71.2Lochside to Royal Oak; Royal Oak to West Saanich Road. West Saanich to Wallace. Held up at two points for cycling leg of Victoria Triathalon (See Route). Wallace to Lochside (near Cy Hampson). Sidney, back by Lochside. Held up by street festival on Harbour Road. Mainly cloudy, around 16-18 C. Windy.
16-06-07FX31.2Lochside to Cordova Bay (Mattick's).
16-06-05FX65.8Lochside to Royal Oak; Royal Oak to Park; Lakeside trail to Oldfield; Oldfield-Seabrook-E. Saanich Rd-Mt. Newton X Rd. (First time on Oldfield for years). Back to Lochside; Tulista Park (Sidney) and return by trail. Hot. Traffic hold ups where the road was closed for Russ Hayes races around the legislative grounds (See: Race Web site).
16-05-31FX32.1E & N to Admirals Way, back to Tyee. Lochside trail to Royal Oak. Clear warm day. Windy. Short sleeves day
16-05-29FX65.4E & N, Atkins to Jacklin, E & N and Goose to Swing Bridge, Lochside to Royal Oak, Royal Oak to Elk Lake. Around Lake, return by Lochside.
16-05-24FX23.1New ride. E & N to Highway 1. Sunny evening after a cloudy day.
16-05-22FX60.7Goose to Rocky Point Rd. , Lombard; Metchosin. Sunny, with clouds. Windy
16-05-17FX24.3Lochside to Royal Oak. Windy, cool. The counter was at >2,400 at 7:20 pm.
16-05-15FX41.9Lochside to Island View (Michell's). Cloudy, cool. Counter at 885 at 2:45 PM.
16-05-10FX31.1Lochside to Cordova Bay (Mattick's). Counter was 2600 + at 7:20.
16-05-08FX53.9Lochside to Cy Hampson, North Saanich. It started cloudy and changed to sunny and windy. Wind from the south - i.e. headwind on the return leg. The counter was at 650 at 1:40.
16-05-05FX24.4Lochside to Royal Oak. The counter was at 2,220 at 6:30 pm.
16-04-30FX45.8Goose to Luxton Fairground
16-04-25FX24.6Lochside to Royal Oak, at cycle commuter rush hour. The counter at the end of Harbour Road was at 1400 for the day when I was outbound, over 2000 on the return.
16-04-23FX41.7Lochside to Island View (Michell's)
16-04-20FX24.2Lochside to Royal Oak. Starting at 6 is too late - sun at low angle. Insects at eye level. I need new sunglasses that can adjust to low light.
16-04-17FX31.4Lochside to Cordova Bay (Mattick's)
16-04-10FX32.7Lochside to Lochside Park (Mattick's +)
16-04-03FXRe-calibrate Cat Eye. No ride. I had to get to the airport to fly to Abbotsford (and drive to Chilliwack) (work).

Camping Gear 2016

Last year, I had noticed that the adhesive seam tape used by the manufacturerto seal the seams of my tent’s fly was degrading and flaking off. I resealed the seams with a product that smells like plastic model cement and sticks to skin like crazy glue.

I have used a Therm-a-Rest “Original” or Classic mattress since the 1980’s. For front country camping I have also used it with a second mattress a closed cell pad – an old blue Airolite by “World Famous” sold by United Army Surplus in Winnipeg.  Like a yoga mat but thicker. This kind of mattress is still on market.  I tried a Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest (the model that MEC was carrying last year), and found it to be thin and uncomfortable – an slippery to that I was sliding downhill when my tent was pitched on uneven ground.

The inflatable air mattress is back with products including Therm-a-Rest’s BaseCampAF and NeoAir Camper and others, Eureka, Big Agnes and house brands.  An electric pump that runs off automobile current is good for front country camping (a battery powered electric is an option for backcountry but that gadget may not be worth its weight requirements). Inflating a mattress to the point that it is bouncy is not necessary.  A mattress should be firm enough to keep objects under the tent from being noticeable, but soft enough to settle in. So, a new mattress was in order.

I have a Primus Omnifuel, a pressurize burner stove that burns white gas (“coleman” fuel) and special mixed gases  in pressure cans.  It is light, but needs to be managed carefully.  The Wikipedia on portable stoves goes into the history of the gadget.  The original Primus was a burner attached to fuel source.  In the US, Coleman made stove like that too. The military version was the G.I. Pocket Stove.  It was a standard design, before MSR and others introduced pressured burner stoves with the fuel bottle separate from the burner. There are modern pressurized cartridge stoves made up of a burner that screws directly on the pressurized cannister.

The standard camp stove for front country camping was the two burner Coleman that used white gas.  There are still several white gas lanterns and stoves on the market.  The 1 pound stubby Coleman propane cylinder has become common as a power source for lanterns and stoves by Coleman and others.  The cylinders are two heavy for back packing but can be used if there is space and a way of transporting them – such as a car for front country camping.  The small cylinders are not refillable and should not thrown into garbage or left laying around. I find that they are not stable.  I had a Coleman product made up of base ring to held a propane cylinder, and a burner that screwed directly on the propane cylinder.    The gas cylinders have a dimpled metal base and plastic rings glued to the dimples.  Shoving that into the stove base does not create a safe connection.  The cylinder would not line up, or the glue bond would fail. Putting a pot or kettle on a heavy metal burner on top of the cylinder puts the center of mass high.  And the burner had no wind screen. I decided to get a two burner – flat, stable, with a lid that tips up and create a wind screen.