Definition of madness: Hiking gear forums

With two months to prepare for a very long walk, I rely on the expertise of others as much as my own research. But one thing I have come to learn about hiking gear is everyone has their own opinion about what is best, they are not afraid to share it and refuse to discuss any other option to their method of doing things.   To be fair there are people out there that will review a piece of gear on it's own merit but not many.

I will be posting out each piece of gear and why I originally chose it here on TDC and we will see how it performs on my hike and what kinds of opinions I have formed when I get back.  Hopefully I don't become jaded and closed minded out there.

These posts will probably offend people with delicate gear sensibillities. The Oft repeated mantra of "Hike your own hike" is a bit intimidating when posting any question to hiker message boards because the opinions are so different and no way seems to be the right way.  So that said this is my way.. First up...  Stoves!