Lookin at teletim's, Ian's and Ross's posts in the action gallery about the recent Malham outing reminded me of the "stove-positioning problem", ie, the difficulty of cooking on the ground, especially with an aged spine. Most of the Brit pix I've seen here over the years have the stove on the ground. Quite a few Yank pix show the same thing. And I have done this myself: I find this quite uncomfortable, though, sitting on the ground, bending over a little stove, getting up to fetch and carry, etc. More so now the back seizes now and again. So I have come to believe it wiser to use a log or other platform. A fallen log is useful, but still can be rather low and require bending over, or straddling the log, as this kitchen did:
Continuing the thought..... The fallen log is better than the ground. But much better than either is the waist-high stump. We've used variations of these many times: Once, the only available stump was rotted out, but we found a board-like bit of log and made this satisfactory arrangement, also waist-high:
....that last one nicely eliminated the bending and stooping problem also: But when all is said and done, it is best to choose a square-topped, large flat rock, exactly six inches above the waist. That was this one, although the photo is shot high to show the model: I commend these various solutions to my CCS brethren; much more convenient and comfortable than the ground! 8)
i do a lot of cooking sitting down with my Crazy Creek chair.after sitting in a canoe all day with no back rest it's a great way to relax and watch the pot boil.
If backpacking, I like to use the rocks, last resort which is most of the time, the ground. When car camping, I use the tailgate or a picnic table if available. Squatting on the ground to tend the stove messes with my hips. Duane
A low log can still work well if you can set up a back rest. The big problem for me is that just sitting on the ground over the stove is most uncomfortable, not to say uncivilized! Our usual dinner backpacking is steaks and one side dish or another involving rice and veggies. So the cooking needs to be attended to; it's not a matter of putting a pot on to boil and then just steeping something in it. Likewise, breakfast is frying Italian sausage and eggs in olive oil and this, too, requires active cooking attention. All of that on the ground is tough on the back, for starters. Our last trip we used a low log, but it was near a big tree; setting up our backpacks as backrests in was very comfortable and very easy to reach the stoves and cook: All of my earlier photos in this thread are backpacking situations. There are a good many alternatives car camping, such as Ian's Landy, which looks made for a stove table! It does help to have old forests, which provide a lot of kitchen options.....
Sometimes a low rock will do; the main thing is to get the stove at least even a foot or two off the ground to help cooking:
A different example of the waist-high stump kitchen solution: Our backpacking campsite choice nowadays is heavily driven by good kitchen possibilities, inasmuch as cooking on the classics is one of the main motivators....
I know I can't teach you anything about canoeing but I find these good on a long paddle. Both in the boat and in camp. Seat
Flat rocks have their uses, especially if they are sitting on 2 or 3 inches of nice dry sphagnum moss.
How odd that i've never seen nor carried a large wooden box into the woods, when backpacking, to use as a seat when camping out. Must be my woods were rougher areas then the settled places this greenhorn camps. lance
When all else fails and you can't find a rock or a stump or a box, you can always use the ground... sam
Some camps are more comfortable than others! I brought a folding camp chair on last fall's canoe trip in the Adirondacks.
