Business Spotlight: Littlbug

Littlbug is a Voyaguer sponsor of Pedal to DC.

Warm, hearty meals are a quintessential part of backcountry exploration for most people. Out of the simple pleasure derived from a steaming cup of coffee or golden brown walleye-fillet fresh off the skillet deep in the Boundary Waters, Littlbug created a simple, durable, compact stove that’s fueled by twiggs and small sticks that are abundant and easy to gather through out canoe country. Like a warm meal, clean water is one of those basic things that we all need and we are so thankful that Littlbug understands the importance of protecting the Boundary Waters and the more than 800 lakes, rivers, and streams which flow through our nation’s most popular Wilderness.

A sulfide-ore copper mine called Twin Metals is being proposed just outside of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and any water pollution from the mine could flow directly into the Wilderness. To raise awareness about this eminent threat my wife, Amy Freeman, and I decided to tow a canoe covered in signatures from the edge of the Boundary Waters to Washington DC. Our 2 month, 2,000 mile journey took us through 9 states and we did over 40 presentations and events in communities all along the way. Littlbug donated $1,000 to help make Pedal to DC possible and we are so thankful that they are supporting the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters and our efforts to protect this national treasure. Littlbug understands that wild places like the Boundary Waters are critically important and need to be protected for future generations.

While I often take a Littlbug stove on Boundary Waters canoe trips, I have also used it farther afield. In 2014 my colleague, Paul Schurke, and I joined 6 Brazilians to retrace President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1914 first descent of the River of Doubt. This remote, and rapid studded river in the heart of the Amazon remains extremely wild. We planned to spend 5 weeks on the river without resupply so we would need to carry all of our food and fuel with us. We decided to take two Senior Littlbug stoves so that we could cook our meals using small sticks that we gathered on the sand bars and rock shelves where we would camp. This saved us a considerable amount of weight and expense because our party of eight would have used about 4 gallons of fuel during the expedition. Littlbug stoves allowed us to boil water and cook our food quickly and we rarely had to wander more than 100 feet to gather all the wood we needed. When folks think about that Amazon they often envision hordes of mosquitoes. Luckily for us, the mosquitoes were not bad because we were there during the dry season, but we enjoyed keeping a small smudge fire burning in one of the stoves in the evening to help keep our campsite bug free.

Thank you Littlbug for making such a great little stove, and for helping to protect our public lands. The Boundary Waters belongs to all of us, and its important that we all speak loudly for this quiet place.