Tent Sealant, Zen Stoves, and More

This week is my busy week, doing things that... well, things I haven't done yet. These things are all very important, however. For instance, how am I supposed to eat without a stove? I could eat cereal all the time... and I'm sure it's possible to survive only on dry food... but that's not really what I want to do. I like pasta, rice, beans, oatmeal, soup, and other things that require heat. So I spent a few hours this week making a zen stove out of a pop can.

The one pictured isn't mine, but it gets the idea across. These little gems are really neat. They work well, are cheap and fairly easy to build, and are practically indestructible. To use, all you have to do is pour alcohol into the middle, then light and wait. After a bit, the alcohol in the outer chamber gets hot enough to evaporate, escapes out the holes in the sides, and lights. Then you put your pot on and cook away!

I also practice-pitched my tent yesterday, and sealed the seams on the rain fly. I didn't feel like there was enough sealant, but managed to cover almost all of the seams. I had to leave a little bit of seam on the sides unsealed, but hopefully that won't be too much of a problem. If it is, I'm sure I can pick up some sealant during the trip, and use a non-rainy night to seal the fly.

I also ordered some stickers for my bicycle. His name is Jefferson, so one sticker says "Hello, my name is Jefferson." Then there are a few that say "This bike belongs to Kyle ###-####." I figure it's less likely to get stolen if it has my name and number all over it. I have a u-lock so I'm not too worried about someone walking away with it, but the more theft prevention measures, the better. Being heavy and covered in stuff could be a prevention measure or an incentive... we'll see. I read a cool article the other day about how to build an alarm for your bicycle. Essentially you tie one end of a string to your spoke and the other end to an alarm chassis on your frame. If someone tries to leave with your bike, the string will start the alarm and they'll be riding around on a very noisy bike. It's a cool idea, but I don't have the time to experiment with it right now.

Just a few other things to do and then on Monday I leave! I've been planning this for a while and it's finally coming to fruition... awesome.