[at-l] Field maintainable :->

[Christopher Vreeland <72102.3347@CompuServe.COM>]

Howdy Folks,

I just had to laugh at the memories Paddler's post provoked about MSR
stoves.  Within the group of folks with whom I hiked, we had a running
"joke" about our stoves.  Half of us used Peak Ones and half of us, me
included, used Whisperlites.  

The source of the amusement was one party member's observation - that would
be me, see, old alligator mouth (with apologies to Utah Phillips) -  that
the MSR was superior to the Peak One because it was "field maintainable"
and the Peak was not.  The humor came from another party member's
observation that it was a damned good thing the MSR was field maintainable
because we who used them spent a fair amount of time doing just that. 
Meanwhile, the Peak owners spent little, if any, time maintaining their
stoves and they never malfunctioned.  Of course, the Peaks do roll down
hills better than MSRs, so they're not perfect, just fairly low
maintenance.

I should perhaps add that the MSR was my backup stove which I had mailed
from home after my Svea made a fairly entertaining fireworks display at
Moreland Gap shelter.  I should also mention that, once home, I purchased a
Peak One and have used it ever since.  The next stove I buy will probably
be a Trangia but that may be a while as school and family are highly likely
to curtail any serious long distance hiking for the next ten years or so.

TTFN,

Chris
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