New Stove from Jetboil

The folks at Jetboil have stepped up their game once again with the Jetboil Helios Cooking System. It will boil a liter of water in 3 minutes, enough to help feed the whole crew on a backpacking trip. Helios is an all-in-one cooking system that covers the gamut, from melting snow to prepping robust meals for you and your crew. Helios lights quickly and reliably with the click of a button. The system burns liquid fuel, so you can use every last drop in your canister and every boil is consistent. Clip on the windscreen for a steady burn in 10 + mph winds. This backpacking stove packs down nicely into it's bowl, which saves space and protects the stove from being dinged up on the trail.

Think Outdide the Bottle

Here's an initiative that makes sense! Bottled water corporations are changing the very way people think about water. Corporations like Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi are manufacturing demand for an essential resource that flows directly from our taps. What's more many bottled water brands actually come from the same source as public tap water though these brands are sold back to the public at thousands of times the cost. Plastic bottles also require massive amounts of fossil fuels to manufacture and transport. Billions of these bottles wind up in landfills every year. And when bottled water marketing convinces one in five people that the only place to get drinking water is from a bottle, it threatens the political will to adequately fund our public water systems. You can help reverse this trend - take action today to support efforts to reduce the social and environmental impacts of bottled water and to prioritize public water systems! From...thinkoutsidethebottle.org For a water bottle that will last a lifetime...SIGG Water Bottles

Old Man Winter Won't Give Up

We've had a few chances to fly-fish around here in Southwest Montana, but while most of the country is welcoming buds and birds, we're getting dumped on...again. I'm not complaining, I've resolved myself to be appreciative of every drop of moisture this planet gets at this stage of the game. However, it doesn't mean I'm not ready for some warm weather. It will be nice to toss a line without dealing with ice shelfs and insulated jackets. The lower Madison has been fishing pretty well. Here are a couple fish from a float we did last week....and a shot of what it looks like outside this morning.

Boulder River

It's March in Montana...that means cabin fever, a few nice days to tease us into getting outside, and more winter weather to bring us back to reality. But a few nice days are better than none, so we took off last weekend for the Boulder River near Livingston, Montana. Last year around this time it was a little warmer, and the rainbows were hungry and fiesty when hooked. There was more ice on the river this time around, which I suppose is a good thing considering the drought we're in and the planet heating up in general. In any event, the fish were eating, although not with the voracity of last year. It still made for some great winter fly-fishing in Montana, and helped soothe the cabin fever if only for a few hours. Here are a few shots of the action on the Boulder.

Powderfin in South Africa

Thanks for the photo, Ashley!

Kitchen Sink in February...

Food for Thought

Eating plant-based meals conserves natural resources and slows global warming Looking for small ways to make a big difference for the environment? Why not start by making yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? As members of the PB&J Campaign (no, I’m not kidding) like to say, “You don’t have to change your whole diet to change the world. Just start with lunch.” Eating a plant-based lunch (such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a bean burrito, vegetarian chili, or a hearty salad) instead of an animal-based lunch (such as a hamburger, a tuna or grilled cheese sandwich, fish and chips, or chicken nuggets) will save water, preserve land and slow global warming. How Eating a PB&J Sandwich Slows Global WarmingEvery time you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or other plant-based meal instead of an animal-based lunch, such as a hamburger, you save the equivalent of almost 3.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, including 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide. That’s about 40 percent of the carbon you would save by driving a hybrid vehicle for the day instead of a standard sedan. How Eating a PB&J Sandwich Saves WaterGrowing plants for food takes a lot less water than raising animals. As a result, every time you substitute a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or some other plant-based meal for an animal-based meal such as a hamburger, you save about 280 gallons of water. Eat three PB&J sandwiches a month instead of animal-based meals and you can save as much water as you would by switching to a low-flow showerhead. How Eating a PB&J Sandwich Saves LandRaising animals for food takes a lot of space. For example, animal products require 6 to 17 times as much land as soy to produce the same amount of protein. Eating a plant-based lunch like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of a hamburger, ham sandwich, or another animal-based meal saves anywhere from 12 to 50 square feet of land from deforestation, overgrazing, and pesticide and fertilizer pollution. How Eating One PB&J Sandwich Helps the EnvironmentBy eating lower on the food chain—plants instead of animals—you also consume fewer resources. Why? Because, basically, everything you eat comes from plants. You either eat plants directly—in the form of fruits, vegetables and plant products such as peanut butter—or indirectly after animals have converted plants into meat, milk, eggs, butter and cheese. The problem is that animals are not very efficient as living food factories that convert plants into food for humans. Animals use most of the plants they eat to produce the energy they need to walk around and keep breathing. To stay alive long enough to become part of your lunch or dinner menu, every cow, pig and chicken has to eat much more protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients than it will yield once the ax finally falls. As a result, it takes several pounds of plants to produce one pound of beef, pork, chicken, eggs or milk. Inevitably, that means it also takes a lot more land, water and fuel to produce one pound of meat, milk or eggs than it does to produce one pound of edible plants. Not only do the animals need food, water and room to roam, but growing the plants to feed the animals that will, in turn, become food for you requires even more land and water as well as fuel for farm machinery and irrigation pumps. To help provide some context, the PB&J Campaign says the water required to produce the beef in one hamburger could grow enough peanuts for 17 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And the land required to put that same beef patty on your bun could produce enough peanuts for 19 PB&J lunches. How You and Your Diet Can Make a Difference Basically, this all comes down to your power as a consumer. Every time you choose a hamburger, omelet or grilled cheese sandwich over a plant-based meal, you’re telling your local restaurants and supermarkets to buy more meat, eggs and dairy products. By choosing more plant-based meals, you’re asking for less meat and a more efficient use of resources. Either way, your unspoken but unmistakable messages are received by your local merchants and conveyed to wholesalers and farmers. Want to do more? Share this information with your friends, coworkers and family members and urge them to take action. Urge your school or office cafeteria, or the local restaurants you frequent, to offer more plant-based dishes. Organize a weekly PB&J lunch (or other plant-based meals) at work, home or school and calculate the positive environmental contribution you’ve made. From About.com: Can PB&J Save the World? http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivinginthekitchen/a/peanut_butter.htm

Aquapac on Track

Aquapac has always been committed to making as little negative impact on the environment as possible. This year they have taken this commitment further, starting March 1, 2008 all Aquapac waterproof cases will be made from Polyurethane (PU), a material which is 100% PVC Free, better for the environment and also a better fit for the purpose of Aquapac waterproof cases. Below are just a few benefits of the new material: 100% Recyclable - it can be broken down and made into something else at the end of a product’s life. 100% PVC Free - less damaging to the environment. Less sensitive to extreme climates than PVC - can withstand temperatures of 122°F (+50°C) to -40 °F (-40°C) Suitable for use in all weather conditions, particularly useful for winter activities and snow sports Thinner than PVC which makes it easier to operate controls through the case – still as durable as PVC. Our work won’t stop here, we will continue to look for ways to further reduce our impact on the world’s natural resources while not compromising on the quality and functionality of Aquapac products.