[philmont] stoves

If you decide to go with anything but white gas stoves, consider carrying
all of your canisters - even with Coleman PowerMax. They may not have the
canisters in the backcountry, and based on our experience it is not always
available in base camp.
 
Last year our crew went with the PowerMax stoves. The scouts tried two
types of stoves on the early shakedown trips and preferred the ease of use
of the PowerMax over the troop's white gas stoves. They worked great, but
our crew and another crew from our council contingent came close to having
to buy new stoves at the Philmont Trading Post!!
 
I had called Philmont early in the season to inquire about PowerMax
availability. They assured me they placed orders every week based on usage,
so they would have plenty of fuel for us. I did not know it at the time,
but another council crew had Philmont "put aside" enough fuel for them so it
would be waiting upon arrival. Well, just to make sure, I call Tooth of
Time Traders several days before our departure and they told me they were
out of PowerMax and they could not get any more deliveries for the rest of
the season because of a problem with the distributor. There
 
I called Coleman and got a list of retailers (primarily Sports Authority)
that were somewhere near our route between the Denver airport and Philmont.
I had several stores put aside canisters for us. When we got on the bus, I
persuaded the bus driver to make "fuel" stops. When the advisor from the
other crew found out what was going on, he chuckled and said we should have
reserved the canisters with Tooth of Time Traders, like they did. I
strongly suggested they confirm with Philmont. They called and found out
their "put aside" canisters were no longer there. In the end we made stops
at three different Sports Authority's and picked up enough fuel for the both
crews.
 
We were on an August trek. If we went earlier in the season, there
probably would have been plenty of PowerMax fuel in base camp and in the
backcountry.
 
I would not avoid PowerMax stoves based on our experience, but if you choose
them you have one more contingency to plan for.
 
Jim Sergison
Randolph NJ
 
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For Philmont, you are better off with a white gas stove, or one that uses
PowerMax cylinders, as those are the only types of fuel available for
resupply in the backcountry. You would have to carry all your Jet Boil
canisters for the entire trip...and be sure not to underestimate your needs.
 
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Received on Wed Feb 20 09:27:28 2008