Ride the Talk: Backcountry Boiler
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2.5 Weeks + 1000 Miles + 4 States + Countless Encounters. Follow Cindy Gilbert, program director for the Sustainable Design program at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, as she bikes from Montana to Minneapolis to raise awareness about sustainability challenges and opportunities in the region while raising need-based scholarship money for students.
When beginning to build my Ride the Talk campaign for need-based scholarships for the students of MCAD’s Sustainable Design program, I stumbled upon a cool Kickstarter campaign for the Backcountry Boiler. Devin Montgomery, a young designer turned entrepreneur, raised three times his Kickstarter fundraising goal with the help of over 500 backers to turn his sustainable design concept into reality. I was immediately enamored by Devin’s product that is, “a light and simple way to carry and efficiently heat water in the outdoors using just about any fuel that you can find.”
When I decided to “ride the talk” I contacted Devin about making a boiler donation to my trip and he was immediately receptive. Nary 24 hours before I left for Miles City, I received my Backcountry Boiler (#199!). Without the time to put the boiler to the test before I left home, I was a bit nervous about how it would work on the road. Before I ran out the door I quickly read the directions that explicitly said not to discard the recycled cardboard packaging and box, but to instead to use it as fuel for the boiler once in the backcountry. I took his word and grabbed the recycled paper cubes and stuffed them along with a lighter and the boiler into my panniers (bicycle saddle bags).
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