SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Lake Tahoe has always drawn people who’d rather be in the mountains than anywhere else. John Peretti was one of those kids. Growing up in North Carolina, John loved the outdoors, but didn’t get to experience the mountains as much as he wanted. That love for the outdoors carried him into the gear world as an engineer and director of R&D at Jetboil, where he designed and built several award-winning camping stoves.
But Peretti kept sketching an idea he could never quite green-light inside a big company: a simpler, lighter system that packs smaller and boils just as fast. A few years ago, he left his corporate job in San Francisco, set up a home workshop, and turned those sketches into reality. The final result is the Coastal Range Backpacker: a high-performance camping stove that is 30 percent lighter than its closest competitor, boils water lightning-fast, and packs down to nothing when you’re finished.
To celebrate the Kickstarter launch on Tuesday, July 22, Peretti and his family will be at the Pacific Crest Trail trailhead on Echo Summit starting at 7 a.m., handing out free coffee and breakfast/snacks to thru-hikers, day hikers, and anyone who wants a first look at the new stove. He’s also running a “Launch-Day Special” where customers can buy the Backpacker for just $99 ($50 off the retail price of $150).
“Echo Summit is such a natural place to launch our camping stove – where thru-hikers stop to resupply and recharge, Rim Trail Hikers first set out, and day hikers go for a break from the daily grind,” Peretti says. “It fits so perfectly with our stove that delivers the hot food and drinks that nourish every adventure, both big and small.”
Locals and visitors are invited to swing by, grab a snack, and take part in launching the next chapter of a gear story that started with a kid who always dreamed of going to the mountains.
Event details: Monday, July 22, 7 a.m.–11 a.m., PCT trailhead parking lot, Echo Summit, CA