Prudent Prepping: Gear Check part 2

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate  on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

Gear Check pt. 2:

Fixing what was wrong

As was mentioned in this post, my stored Whisperlite stove didn't work when I took it out of mothballs. Lucky for me, my local Gear Nut buddy had parts on hand to get it up and running quickly and cheaply.

Very cheaply, as in "free", since I am unemployed at the moment.

To keep from showing some very poorly done pictures, here is a video of the process.


Most of the items shown in the video needed cleaning or repair . I am going to attempt to soak the old jet and needle in carburetor cleaner and then vinegar (or CLR if the vinegar is not acidic enough) to see if I can clean it up to the point of being a 'last resort' spare.

What I did have to purchase was a new fuel bottle. You might ask, "Why is this necessary?" Well, the bottle is made from aluminum, and due to how long it has been stored, there is oxidation inside the bottle. What seems to have happened is condensation settled in the bottom and side of the bottle and left a deposit of aluminum 'rust'. This doesn't appear to affect the structure of the bottle but might continue to oxidize and put particles into the fuel, leading to the clogging mentioned in last wek's post.

Due to the small difference in cost between the medium and large bottles, I did buy the biggest of the three, a 30 oz one. Sorry, no Amazon purchase link, since REI * has them beat by half!

I will be ordering spare parts to have on-hand, and to replace my friend's parts used in fixing my stove... just not this month.

* REI is having a 30% off sale until the 25th! Check out their site for more information.

Recap

• Whisperlite stove rebuild to fix clogged jet, fuel line and bad needle: $0 (Favors owed: plenty).

Purchases

• 30 oz. MSR fuel bottle, $21.95 from REI.

As always, if you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.