Lake Ice Trip with new generation of gear

[voivalin]

I will have a small trip after couple of weeks during which I will test some stuff I have been writing about during last couple of months.

New gear: The Alpine Hammock, Wiggy's Ground pads, the PowerPot and the PowerBoxStove.

It has been very warm winter here at Finland. Normally we have 50-100 cm (1,6 - 3,3 feet) snow during february-march period in here Kuopio region. Now there is only 10 cm (0,32 feet). Usually february means temperatures between -15 C to -35 C (5 F to -31 F) but now it is hardly below freezing (0 C aka 32 F). We had very good period of cold weather before snow came at the beginning of the january and Ice at the lake is good and thick (and safe).

I will go either here Petronselkä to Pielavesi or here Puutosalmi to Keilanlahdet

At the Pielavesi I have a friend with a cottage and sauna at the island near Pielavesi - first sauna and then ice swimming. And the other route includes open houses and lean to's so many I will have no time to visit them all.

I will start my packing tomorrow - very early I must say - but part of the enjoyment is thinking and making gear selections. And I will list my gear here with some pictures (hope I have the time).

During the trip I will post some images with the iPhone - if the PowerPot works good enough. After the trip I will post some real images and thoughts about the gear and Finnish lake nature.

Trip is very basic - only three days - but I hope it will be for some entertainment for You folks out there!

[Refreshing]

Take lots of pics of the alpine hammock. I am intrigued.

[voivalin]

Take lots of pics of the alpine hammock. I am intrigued.

Fresh images here... http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...90#post1202190

[Refreshing]

Thanks for the link.

[voivalin]

It was very busy few weeks, but last friday I came running from work and collected all the gear I needed and headed to the Lake Kallavesi.



I was already getting dark when I got to the ice. I just walked 4 km and made my camp in darkness (of course with help of my head lamp).



Hammock is hanging at the front area. Firebox stove is going strong.



I had dry fire wood with me. First I tried to use only the carbon felt under stove, but it did sink so it needed wood support after I almost knocked it over when trying to straighten it up. Stability of the Fireboxstove is not as good as Biolitestove which is tripod. I actually almost knocked the firebox over three times during this trip: usually some of the four legs was not supported and either heavy pot with hot water or trying to add too big wood chunk with force made the stove almost topple. So be careful out there!



View at the morning. As usual I did sleep all my clothes on. Rubber boots where only things I did took off. Very easy and casual system.



As You see, not very nice spot. But it was the only one with room for hammock I did find in the darkness.



Secret number two - insulated overalls. After getting up I did put these on, so there was no fear of cold during morning routines. But also because temperatures were around freezing point during whole trip - so no true cold during this outing.



Insides of my pulk. "Wood Shed" is at the back compartment with stove and Power pot inside plastic bag. All the important gear is inside Ortlieb duffel bag which is submersion water proof if the zipper is closed.



Pull saw and axe - both are necessity. Axe is made by Finnish blacksmith Roselli and is designed especially for making fire wood when outdoors. Center of mass is near at the blade edge, axe does not turn on it's side when impact is not clean when for example chopping from dead tree stump. And wedge angle is high for better splitting power. Axe is very easy and powerful to use. But saw is also important for making the wood short enough to fit in stove. Right size for Fireboxstove is about 10 cm and when it is thick enough it makes very nice cole bed after the bigger burn is over.



My first try with wood from the ground. It did start, but then it went out and I had to start the fire over again.



I added four chips of my dry good wood and after that it did work excellently.



Actually it burned so good I did test the Power pots charging ability. I charged my head lamp to keep it going after first night use.



After the breakfast meal I did take a small nap. This is the reason I like the Alpine Hammock. Nothing is obscuring my view to the nature when hanging.



Sleeping bag and two Wiggys Ground pads packed up. Ground pads very saggy - I just tested how badly can it be made.



Pulk is great! Everything goes easily in. Only thing to worry is to put heavy items at the bottom so the pulk stays upwards if there is rough terrain.



Mine is bit longer than normally used.





There were others also. If You look very closely...



Someone was ice fishing. The small black spot at the right there...



A small fireplace hut for weather cover if needed. Made by some people, but free for use when needed.





Nice warm spot to make a break. The Fjällräven stubben back pack was excellent to have with me. It is nice to have warm seat whenever you want. It is bit heavy but certainly worth it. I used it to carry water and some snacks so I had no need to open the pulk during my wandering around.



Ice fishing with fishing net under the ice. There was three of these holes to get the net under the ice and also check it for the fish. A very efficient way to fish during winter.



Kuopio town is somewhere there - about 15 km (9 miles) away. It is a 100.000 peoples home town.



A time for a meal and melting water from snow. This time I did charge my iPhone. During break I did get the charge from 80% to 95% without any hassle - it was easy and I did not need to do any extra work. I just melted snow.



And after that I used the after heat to make me warm sandwiches with pre fried herring. This is the one advantage the Fireboxstove has got, big enough wood chamber to make different kind of things in different phases of the burn.





Someone was driving around with his dog!



Water has fallen since ice came, this is what happens at the shore area.





There were many animal tracks at snow.



It was getting time to find a place to hang my hammock.







Ventile jacket and trousers, they are 100% cotton and do not fear the fire. Very nice material. Not totally water proof but almost and breath better than any of those Gore etc. fabrics.

As You see there was fire pit and wood to make big fire, but I chose to use my personal camp fire. And my own wood. Now I can enjoy fire anywhere I want and without leaving a trace to the nature.



As usual, it did start raining during night. I just closed the weather cover and slept some more.



As You see there is condensation over the sleeping bag. There was no wind during night, only sleet raining dow. I would not use down bag with the Alpine hammock. But for my use with synthetic Wiggy's bag it is excellent product. I just lifted the ground pads with bag out and rolled the Alpine hammock right from the tree. It does not look nice, but it was my first roll directly from air.



A bit tighter roll this time.















Home for a Telkkä (Goldeneye bird). It is near the water so the small ones can jump down and head for the water. There were dozens of these I saw during my wandering.

Thanks for watching! Hope You did enjoy - I certainly did!

[OutandBack]

Very nice trip report and super nice picts.
You have really assembled a nice winter pulk kit.

When I saw the first Alpine hammocks I knew they would be a condensation making machine.
Looks like using synthetic bags is a work around. It's a shame they don't make a breathable one.

I loved seeing you pulk dry wood.
I do that all the time and always get crap from a few local hangers.
Once I've pulked in I'm pretty darn tired so hunting/preping wood is a real pain for me.

thanks again.

[voivalin]

When I saw the first Alpine hammocks I knew they would be a condensation making machine.
Looks like using synthetic bags is a work around. It's a shame they don't make a breathable one.

It actually is breathing one. The upper fabric is eVent. And there is very good ventilation system. But nothing I can think of doesn not ventilate or breathe when there is zero wind and sleet coming down from the sky.

[stevebo]

I really enjoyed your pictures---------Thanks! Sounds like a great trip-------Beautiful country!

[Ryn8tor]

Thanks for the report from this beautiful area. That's an awesome pulk sled as well.

[voivalin]

Thanks For Your kind words about Images!