Davids Jewish Traveler and Hacker
Coleman Lanterns
I once worked a summer at an US army surplus store, there I learned to understand the art and science of the pressurized lamp and stove by repairing dozens of duds.
My trusty old Coleman 229 arrived today in the snail mail from the US. This is a 1/2 size single mantle Coleman lantern meant to burn unleaded or coleman fuel(white gas). In Israel neft or kerosene is easier and cheaper so before I left I tested the lantern with this new fuel. Once the lantern is burning it makes a good 30 watt bulb worth of yellowish light but when compared to the 50-60 watt worth of whiter light you can expect using unleaded. The only real mod I did was to put a wire loop inside to stabilize the mantle and prevent it's breakage. I have been running with the origonal generator but replaced the rubber pump cup with a Coleman leather cup. A knot of fiberglass around the base of the generator tube might be nice for preheating when using kerosene, I expect diesel would burn in this lantern as well although the kerosene is what I have on hand now.
Four Days in Desert Heat
I paid a visit to Kfar Maimon along with 40,000 other demonstrators trying to reinforce Gush Katif, A totaly non violent protest although the cops planned to be brutal if we marched on toward Gaza.
Back on topic what did I learn from this expedition.
Mobile phone networks were overloaded this town has a population of 800 and over 40,000 plus 15,000 soldiers and police were using the network, I had to keep trying to redial untill I got through.
Mobile phone charging:
I carried 3 spare batteries and a crank generator to power the phone, untill the last day when I got lazy the freeplay freecharge for motorola phones worked well. The internal battery storage function appears to be broken but the crank for charging worked fine. A half hour cranking moved the phone from 1/3 to 2/3. I have large strong hands so i was able to continue cranking, but ergonomics could be better.
Washcloth and baby wipes were invaluable you wouldn't belive how sticky and stinky you get after 4 days in humid 40deg C heat (100ish F). We had access to a plumbed toilet with a sink so we could wash t-shirts underwear and ourselves.
I packed 20L of water (about 5 gal) since we were not sure if we would have resupply and counting on 3 full days me wife and baby. Humus is no good it goes bad too fast. Pita is good for 2-3 days before mold sets in. Tuna is excelent, but how much can you eat? We took boiled potatoes and steamed carrots, next time we will roast them for longer life. Dry fruit granola rasins are all good, mostly look for light, dry, and ready to eat.
Folding Bike
I have had a dahon boardwalk with fenders and rack purchased or me in the US. Also in the package will be a bag to carry the bike a pump, and tools as well as spare tubes and patches.
A folding bike allows me to get onto bot city and intercity busses without doubling the price or having no place to have a bike. Walking is just too slow as I have to run all over the city with short brakes between places.
Off Power Grid Mobile Phone
My wife and I may be taking an extended camping trip in the next few days. This will give me the cahnce to test the Baygen mobile phone charger. Inside is a rechargable battery which can be charged either by cranking the generator or plugging in the 100-230v charger for the phone, it is apparently good for 3-5 full charges without cranking the generator.
GSM Phones
I picked up a second SIM card for my wife to have a phone as she will be working soon. We plan to use SMS for most communications as if kept to one message is around 40 agarot or 10 cents.
She will be using my P280 motorola timeport phone. I really like this phone but use WAP internet and havent been able to config the WAP gateway for use with our GSM provider here, I have set up for GPRS with a cable to my laptop.
I have been hassled by the bus drivers more frequently for having a bicycle on the bus. It is fully allowed to take a bike but the driver can charge you a double ticket. I have been looking at the dahon series of folding bikes. These bicycles will fold to the size of a large briefcase have 8 speeds and 20" wheels. I like to think that if I needed to I could cycle home form yeshiva, tramping(hitchiking) when I was able to, this may be part of the solution, once I have the $$.
