This
is a Coleman dual-mantle gas stove. The camping fuel is kept
under pressure in the base, and forced up this shaft, and is
atomized at the top into vapor. The mantles are these funky synthetic
mesh bags which you have to burn before you use -- the ash holds
it's mesh shape and provides a chamber in which the fuel
vapor can burn. It's really efficient and is bright as hell.
One cup of fuel will last for over 5 hours on a medium setting.
That's
my bathing gear. Since I don't intend on ever staying in a hotel,
and in official campgrounds only rarely, I need a self-cleaning
solution... that's a washbasin, a soap case, a washcloth, towel,
comb, doderant, and shampoo. Washing my hair is the biggest pain
in the ass, but so far I haven't had to shave my head yet. 
This
is the mighty MSR Whisperlight Dragonfly, so named for it's 'tail',
a unique fine-tuning handle which makes this high-powered white-gas
burning stove distinct from all the other run-of-the-mill "afterburner"
type stoves. Just like the vanilla afterburners, this stove will
boil a gallon of water in less than 8 minutes, but because of
it's dragonfly tail fine-tune adjuster, it can also simmer, which
most other stoves cannot. Its 3 components are:
- Stove Body -- that's the thing all the way over on the right. The gold hose connects to the pump/valve assembly. The "dragonfly" fine-tuner is pointing almost straight towards the camera, at right angles to the gold hose.
- Pump/Valve assembly -- the blue cylinder. The red top is the pump handle. The little brass wheel on it's left is the main valve.
- Fuel canister -- the red bottle. The pump/valve assembly screws into the neck, where a stopper curently seals the bottle in the photo.
To give you a real idea about how this works, here are some pictures:
The first is the MSR all setup and ready to cook. The second is the MSR cooking my Bratwurst. The third is the MRS all packed up and stowed in its bag, next to my open knife to give you an idea of how small this thing packs up. The foil things you see in the first two photos that I didn't mention in the above list are reflectors, and windshields, whic are optional but recommended.
This
is my mess kit, by Coleman. It's called the Peak kit. To the
right you can see it all unpacked. There's a pot with a hanger
handle, a bowl/pot with a cover, a frypan which also serves as
the cover to the big pot, and a cup. I've also got a fork/knife/spoon
set, the spoon and the fork slide into the knife to save space.
To the right you can see how it all packs down. I also have a
can opener. My shades (which you can find in the personal
effects section, are included for scale.
These
two things are what I carry water around in. The smaller one
is a Nalgene plastic water bottle, which is much more durable
than I originally thought it would be. I got it for my trip to
the boundary waters years ago, and to my surprise, Adam showed
me how you could fill it with water, and hurl it at a rock, and
it just bounces off. The huge green thing contains 6 gallons
of water, and has a self-contained pouring spout hidden under
the cap. It's key for carrying extra water, but why 6 gallons?
Well, I need it for cooking, washing up, and most of all, it's
an essential complement to the bathing equipment.Here's a real important one: my tent! A coriolis 3-season, 2-man tent. This one's a real honey, and it's its maiden voyage. notice how much of the tent roof and walls are mesh -- a lot. It sets up real easily, with 3 poles, and it takes me about 7 minutes including breaking it out and setting up the groundcloth. The first two images are of the tent without its rain fly, and the third is with the fly. Notice also how it has a door on both sides.
That's
my frame pack there, by High Adventure. It's not the greatest
pack ever made, in fact it's quite entry-level. But, I got it
on sale for $90 a few years ago, and I haven't yet deemed it
neccessary to trade up yet. It does hold a ton of stuff, had
a zipper access porthole on the bottom, a serious bonus, and
being an external frame style, can have tons of stuff lashed
to it, and was cheap.