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April Fools Spoofs

Anker Hermes Rechargeable Backpacking Stove System

Designed to eliminate used isobutane and propane gas canister trash

Anker Hermes Wilderness Power

Anker Electronics, the worldwide leader of reusable and portable power packs, announced today a fully electronic induction-based camping stove system that eliminates the need for backpackers to carry isobutane gas canisters to boil water or cook food on the trail. Powered by USB-C-compatible rechargeable batteries, this new, ultralight “Hermes” stove system uses an electrified induction burner that boils water faster and more cleanly than existing stoves while reducing waste and pollution on the trail. Completely flameless, the Hermes wilderness induction cooking stove will also reduce the threat of backcountry forest fires.

Today, backpackers and campers carry stoves powered by isobutane or propane canister gas, which are only sold in highly pressurized metal containers that are often discarded in wilderness areas or end up in landfills. In contrast, the Hermes induction cook system is fully electric, powered by a rechargeable battery and requiring no flame. It creates a magnetic field that generates electric currents inside the metal of your cooking pot, so much less energy is lost to the surrounding air, and it uses energy much more efficiently than gas. If this sounds like rocket science, it is. But it completely eliminates the need for cooking gas, fossil fuels, or open flames for wilderness cooking.

Powering cooking stoves with electricity isn’t new. Our homes are full of them. “The real technological breakthroughs,” says Zhou Jianbincha, a next-generation battery expert and head of Anker’s Advanced Technology Lab,” were inventing a miniaturized induction coil that runs on a rechargeable battery and making the battery significantly lighter than the gas canisters backpackers currently use, for the same cook-time capacity. That weight reduction will drive rapid consumer adoption.”

The first Hermes wilderness cook system includes a fully integrated 1L cookpot, induction stove, and rechargeable battery pack in one 6″ x 8″ cylinder, weighing 15.8 oz and similar in size to a Jetboil 1L Flash.  It has an on-off switch, a dial to adjust the induction stove’s output, an ultralight cook pot, and a high-capacity lithium-ion battery with USB-C input and output ports, so you can even use it to recharge other electronic devices if you choose. It will initially be available at REI and Anker’s massive Amazon store.

“Besides its obvious environmental benefits, what makes this new stove system so exciting is its level of disruptive innovation”, says Nobel Laureate Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. “The Hermes Wilderness Power System Architecture is poised to displace all fossil-fueled wilderness power systems, starting with backpacker stoves, but rapidly expanding into other areas. It’s the equivalent of powering submarines with a nuclear reactor instead of diesel.”

April Fools!

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About the Author

Philip Werner has hiked and backpacked over 10,000 miles in the United States and the UK and written over 3000 articles as the founder of sectionhiker.com, noted for its backpacking gear reviews and hiking FAQs. He is the author of Hiking Over 60: A Modern Guide to Hiking Gear and Techniques for Active Adults and Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers. Philip is currently on the board of directors for the Green Mountain Club. Click here to subscribe to the SectionHiker newsletter.

19 Comments

  1. Oh man! You got me on this one, Phil. The weight of the system had me scratching my head, but having seen industrial sized induction furnaces for melting metal, I know induction heating works; I just couldn’t figure out how it could be powered by a single battery since induction, so far as I’m aware, uses a lot of electricity. Great joke on your part. I’m still laughing at myself. Cheers.

  2. I’m another victim! I guess I’ll just stick with using one of the eleventy-seven stoves I already have.

    I was trying to figure out how they could manage a battery and ferromagnetic pot and keep it all under a pound. I guess nobody else has figured that put either, but it would be an interesting engineering challenge.

  3. NGL, this is the first website I checked today on April Fools’ because your posts are always hilarious. This one seems like it could become a reality, though. If only…. (To be fair, I am not a rocket scientist, so I could be mistaken about that.) Cheers!

  4. You had me until my churning gray matter alerted me that pure titanium pots do not work with induction stoves as they are non-ferrous (bueller). You even got me on the power density problem. I was considering the purchase of one until … I laughed out loud.

    Luv reading you, Phil.

    1. So nice to hear from you. When writing this, I did consider mentioning that the titanium was encased in steel but decided it made the article too wordy.

  5. Damn, a great joke but with the lingering thought of I Wonder if … Like when the original trekkies wanted a communicator and finally got a star tac phone lol…

    1. ThinkGeek made a fake advertisement for a tauntaun sleeping bag, and was so overwhelmed by people wanting to order one that they ended up creating them for sale. (The ones they sold didn’t come with the authentic tauntaun smell, though…)

  6. The idea of an induction camping stove is sound. A system with the weight and price for backpacking is still a dream. Great post!

    1. I was disappointed at both REI and Amazon before I came back here to find the Aptil Fool’s note!

  7. I am late to the party. My natural skepticism was overpowered by the plausible writing. In my defense, I tend to believe everything Phil writes. I am not as smart as I think. A good lesson. Thx.

    You got me.

    Cheers!

  8. Thank you, Phil!! You are a bad man- Vermont must be agreeing with you to lead us down this primrose path.

  9. Well, you really got me on that one! I thought, of course that makes so much sense. I was ready to buy….until I saw the April Fools. Same old story, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And I enjoy your site, Phil. Very helpful. Outside of 4/1 celebration.

  10. Oh my..clicked the REI link…desperately looking…clicked the Amazon link…still looking…then light dawned!! What a great one Phil ? Maybe someday a reality….Happy April!

  11. Well done. I just kept thinking through the whole article that it didn’t make sense, that it was too large and heavy, and had to be very inefficient, but I still kept believing you to the end. Good one. Well done.

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