Tag: packable

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Leki Table XS Lite

When I first saw Leki’s Table XS Lite at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in January of 2017, I was suddenly very interested in the idea of a packable table.  Leki (pronounced Lake-ee) had solved the problem that I’ve always seen folks run into with packable tables:  Things set on soft top tables tip over and spill.  I’m sure that many readers can relate – when a soft top table is in play, it doesn’t take much to cause a spill.  The slightest bump, a breath of wind or other disturbance, or even a second item that causes the soft top table surface to sag can cause things tip over.  Even when you get a soft top table perfectly level, there are no guarantees that things placed on the table will stay upright, and it’s this very reason that’s kept me from owning a packable table.  Yet, the Table XS Lite is different, because it has a hard top. Upon seeing this, I knew I had to get my hands one and put it to the test.

The Table XS Lite falls into the “It’s about time someone made this a thing” category for outdoor gear.  It’s a packable table that you can actually use, because you can set things on it without worry (or a severely reduced degree of worry, you can’t cheat the laws of physics) that said things are going to fall over.

The outdoor industry has keyed in on the genius of a hard top packable table too, as other manufactures who only had soft top packable tables on display at winter market, were sporting new hard top tables at this year’s Summer Market.  Hard top packable tables make sense, and happen to be quite useful.

When set up, the Table XS Lite provides a 24 x 16” tabletop that can hold up to 110 pounds (Editor’s note – No that’s not a typo) of gear.  The surface is stable and instills trust that whatever things you’re about to set on the table aren’t going to fall over as soon as you look away.  Yet, the table weighs in at a mere 1.9 pounds and packs up to measure 16 x 4 x 6 inches, which means you can take it with you on just about any outing.  Toss it in your vehicle when you need a quickly deployable table to go with your chair(s) when making camp for the evening.  Strap it onto your pannier or soft bags on your moto to keep countless tasks off the ground when you’re living off your bike. I’ve even been known to strap it to my backpack, because it’s just that useful.

When the ground is a wet, muddy, or uneven proposition, the Table XS Lite becomes even more valuable.  Spend a minute setting up the Table XS Lite, and now you don’t have to hunt around for a level spot to set your stove.  This also lets you can hydrate meal pouches without worrying about them falling over and spilling your precious calories.  You can simply set your beverage down on the table, and not have to look around you for a flat spot to park your drink.  Cameras, and other electronic devices also really appreciate not being set down in the dust and dirt too.  The Table XS Lite brings real practicality into camp.

Setting up and packing up the Table XS Lite is something that make take a minute the first time around, as there are 14 individual pole sections that you have to fiddle with.  Yet once you’ve used the table a few times you’ll have no problem getting the table out or packed up.  Once you have the frame setup, you snap the tabletop sections into place and it’s here that I ran into my one complaint with the table.  On our example, all of the edges where the plastic table sections snap on to the frame were rather sharp, so careful handling was required when setting up or breaking down the table.  Yet, this wasn’t anything that a few minutes with a deburring tool couldn’t fix when I was home, and I suspect that this is simply a new production issue.

 

Leki’s Table XS Lite is a great piece of gear, because a hard top packable table is useful in so many different situations.  From keeping drinks and meal pouches upright to keeping cameras and food out of the dust and dirt, the table will quickly become part of your standard load out on so many adventures.  The table has been on countless outings over the last few months and is no worse for wear – the poles still fit snugly together and the table surface snaps into place confidently.

The fact that other brands are launching hard top tables underscores just how brilliant a piece of kit the Table XS Lite is.  Packable soft top tables certainly have their uses, and with drink pockets and careful placement they can do a number of things, but placed next to the Table XS Like, they’re not on the same level.  Bring the Table XS Lite with you on an outing, and you’ll find yourself reaching for it nearly every time you’re packing for an adventure.

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MSR Windburner

Sometimes, all you want in the world is for the water that you’ve been cooking on your backcountry stove for the last fortnight to actually boil. I’m pretty sure that whoever came up with the saying that “a watched pot never boils” was on the side of a mountain in less than ideal conditions [read: it was really cold and windy] and their stove never actually succeeded in boiling water, so they had to eat cold freeze dried food—or maybe that was me. Yet, now that I have a MSR Windburner stove system, I’ve made a hobby out of trying to find an environment where I can’t boil water. Spoiler alert: I haven’t found one yet.

The Windburner isn’t subtle about what it can do to some water that needs cooking. Just take a look at the actual burner, and you’ll understand what I’m on about. The radiant burner uses the same Reactor technology that is found in MSR’s flagship stove, the Reactor. What this means is that you’ve got a massive, yet highly efficient isobutene-powered burner that still packs everything you need into a 1-liter pot. The pot itself is very well thought out, and little features like a lid that has a very solid engagement ensure that the lid isn’t coming off unless you pull it off. On the other end of the pot is a graduated cup that you can use for measuring and for storing the screen for the French press.

Talking about even heat distribution and radiant burner heat output is one thing, but in an effort to really show you what we’re talking about, we utilized a FLIR® Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) to show you what your eyes can’t see. Here’s the Windburner Stove System, the Windburner Skillet, a popular stove from another manufacturer, and bacon cooking…because, bacon. When environmental conditions cause other stoves to just burn fuel and never boil water, the Windburner still produces boiling water without fail. Yet boiling water isn’t the only thing that the Windburner excels at.

There are a number of optional parts that really expand on the versatility of the Windburner stove system. First up is the Windburner Skillet, which does a great job of distributing heat evenly over the entire skillet. This even heat distribution allows you to actually cook or evenly heat food that isn’t liquid-based; which is a challenge on other stoves where it’s easy to just burn the food right over the burner, while the surrounding food stays cold. The Windburner’s throttle allows you to make very finite adjustments to heat output, which gives you great simmer control. If you want to make coffee (or loose-leaf tea) to go with your meal, the Windburner Coffee Press Kit turns the 1-Liter pot into a French press that works quite well with anything larger than espresso-fine coffee grounds. MSR also makes a 1.8-Liter pot for when you’re with a larger group, and a hanging kit that will allow you to securely hang the stove when a flat surface isn’t handy.

Lighting the Windburner is different from most other stoves, as the flame isn’t always visible. Thankfully, MSR installed a small indicator wire on the burner that starts glowing just a second after the burner is lit. In my experience, you can hear and feel the burner light, but the indicator wire is a nice visual indicator that will help you keep the hair on your hand. It’s also worth mentioning that the Windburner has no form of onboard ignition, so if you’re used to a stove that has a built-in igniter make sure you’ve got a way to light the Windburner in the field. Anything that makes a spark, arc, or flame will work. Note: you should always have a backup method of making fire with you anyhow, as built-in igniters can fail.

I’ve taken the Windburner Stove System from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to over 13,000 feet above sea level in the Colorado Rockies on my quest to get the stove to fail. Yet, I haven’t found any environmental conditions where the stove has let me down. Under ideal conditions, the Windburner is quicker to a boil with the same volume of water than other ‘everything packs into the pot’ stoves. When the wind kicks up, the temperature drops, and other stoves start struggling, the Windburner has water boiling in just a few minutes. The size and finite control of the burner’s heat output make using the Windburner Skillet a realistic option, and your days of ruining backcountry cookware by scorching are over. The skillet also opens the door to a whole host of other meal options in the backcountry, which is a huge value-add and morale booster. MSR’s Windburner Stove System is great choice for a versatile, reliable, water-will-get-boiled stove system. Find out more at msrgear.com »

Note from the editor: It is our goal to use science whenever we can while conducting gear reviews to show you quantitative information. In the case of this article, we utilized the FLIR® TIC to show you exactly how warm each stove is at a boil, and how the heat really dissipates through the Windburner Skillet. Please let us know in the comments if you found this information valuable, and if there’s anything else you’d like to see.