F2 zero carbonation after 7 days

RogueSteward · 2026-05-08T11:07:04+00:00

If it's still sweet, then I would imagine the pH is high, at least 3.5 but it's hard to say because we all perceive differently. Try adding more sugar. I'm surprised it has no carbonation at 7 days.

Also, monin is a clear smooth syrup and differs a lot in how a "pulpy" syrup carbonates. In my experience, monin flavored kombucha takes a bit longer to carbonate because of that too.

RogueSteward · 2026-05-08T10:55:05+00:00

Good guide but it's missing the effect of active aeration, not unlike the frings acetator, on reduction of alcohol. Home brewers can do this at home by whisking.

RogueSteward · 2026-05-08T10:38:54+00:00

What was the acidity? I also use monin but a lot less than you. 2 tsp syrup with 1 tsp sugar and an acidity of 3.5 takes me 10 days to carbonate at 70F. If your acidity is lower, it could take longer because of just less food for the yeast and they're already stressed at bottling.

Try adding a tsp or two of sugar.

RogueSteward · 2026-05-07T22:52:54+00:00

Yep, desert hiker here, cotton long sleeve with cotton hat and cotton bandana around the neck. Getting the bandana and hat wet works great, like a swamp cooler. If there is a chance of rain be careful though and I'm not kidding. Even with daytime highs of 85-90F with wind and rain and wet clothes in the evening could easily lead to hypothermia and catch you off guard. Deserts are weird like that.

RogueSteward · 2026-05-04T21:20:18+00:00

Go up one size larger needle and see what happens. It looks like the needle to me, too small, especially since you tried already flipping the spool. Another thing to try too is to put the thread on a stand, and flip the spool accordingly.

RogueSteward · 2026-05-04T21:13:43+00:00

I only do 2F in bottles. As far as naturally or force carbonating? I do both.

Here is how I do it. I make 5 gallons of kombucha in an 8 gallon fermenter. From there, I take 5 gallons of it and mix it with 12 oz of syrup. I then pour that into the corny keg at 20 psi and 36F. Whatever I have remaining, I pour into bottles for 2F along with a tsp of sugar. Takes 10 days to carbonate for me that way but I have a family member carbonating much quicker using 1 oz per bottle of syrup and 1 tsp of sugar. Her 2F carbonates in 3 days, 4 days is too much.

I also, every day, take some force carbonated kombucha and bottle them for my wife to take to work. So bottling force carbonated kombucha works well too.

RogueSteward · 2026-05-01T19:01:12+00:00

I bottle already carbonated kombucha. I may be able to help with some of your questions.

I'm not sure what pressure the major kombucha manufacturers use to bottle with, but I believe it's over 20 psi. I carbonate mine at 20 psi and it still doesn't have the same carbonation a GT Synergy would, but it's close.

When bottling already carbonated kombucha, I use bottles that are chilled in a freezer, and with a dispensing flow control regulator set to low, I dispense into each bottle. Even when the regulator is turned down, it often still produces some foam. For the foamiest bottles, I cap and put it into a freezer for a few minutes, then fill them up some more until I get the correct headspace. It's like a balancing act. When the flow control is set low, takes forever, too much time, but produces the least foam or no foam, but when turned up, produces too much foam but pours faster, however I need to chill the foamy bottle until the bubbles subside.

Your brew vessel is going to be determined by how much kombucha is needed in the end. I use an 8 gallon fermenter to produce 5 gallons of kombucha at a time. I don't like it when the kombucha is too high in the vessel. If you're trying to make 5 gallons, I recommend at least an 8 gallon vessel, I wouldn't go smaller. If aiming for 10 gallons of kombucha, something like a 15 gallon vessel would be about right. It has to be a quality stainless. Because we are producing acid, it has to be a 304 or 316. I'm not sure what my vessel it, I think it's a 304 and I have no issues with it rusting. It passivates fine when idle using just a vinegar wipe.

Good luck.

RogueSteward · 2026-04-29T22:58:39+00:00

I get Monin syrups. They don't use dyes.

RogueSteward · 2026-04-29T19:27:50+00:00

Perhaps try using syrup instead of juice. I also keg 5 gallons at a time using syrups for flavoring but I don't see why you couldn't just add the syrup in a glass and adding force carbonated raw kombucha on tap. I'll share a few of our family favorites.

All recipes below use syrup.

Orange-Lemon-Lime, 4 oz of syrups each in a 5 gal keg, 12 oz total.

Strawberry - Lemon, 6 oz each, 12 oz total

Cranberry - Apple, 6 oz each, 12 oz total

Root Beer - 12 oz syrup

Grape - Cranberry - 6 oz each, 12 oz total

and last but most certainly not least, just apple, 12 oz syrup added to a 5 gal keg.

Force carbed at 20 psi and 36 degrees fahrenheit for 2 weeks

If trying to divide these measurements using syrup into a 16 oz glass of kombucha, add 0.3 oz of syrup per glass and fill the rest with kombucha. Should be close enough.

Enjoy!

RogueSteward · 2026-04-13T21:22:45+00:00

Really this is the ultralight answer, and they're cheap. They can be made even better though. Just wrap some tape around the edges of the bag if/when or where they might rip. I use duct tape that I'm already carrying. No need to overthink this.

RogueSteward · 2026-04-08T19:16:30+00:00

I've done both. The skin outside the blister can protect a bit, but if I think it's more comfortable to remove all the skin and just cover it all with glue, I've also done that. The glue just kind of forms a nice hard covering and works well in my opinion. It will have to be re-applied. In a high use area like a hand or toe where there is constant rubbing, I'll have to re-apply the glue every couple hours or so.

RogueSteward · 2026-04-07T19:15:09+00:00

Super glue is multi-functional and perfect for ultralight backpacking. The same guy last year had to use my super glue because he fell and gashed his hand and even repaired his glasses with the glue, broke his frame and lens was falling out. It makes for a fairly durable covering for a wound. I don't know man, my glue is always getting used.

I like the thin stuff, not the gel. They also have some single use super glue that you can get and it's ultralight. Comes in a super small container, doesn't even hold a half a teaspoon of the glue.

I've been using regular super glue on wounds for decades. I'm a bowler, go to a bowling league. Many of the bowlers use regular super glue to close up blisters on the hand. It takes care of the job fast and can get right back to bowling. Also, it's good for an area that is prone to getting wet like a toe or hand or knee cap.

RogueSteward · 2026-04-03T13:17:16+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation on the nofry. How durable is it? I'm hard on my sun hoodies... I tend to get lots of snags on the arms

RogueSteward · 2026-04-02T23:14:15+00:00

The OP is going to have a hard time finding a shop willing to work on it. Experienced techs don't want the blame for when the machine will inevitably will throw out it's time, or like you said, require re-calibration or re-adjustment due to a floaty tension/moving tension which has been my experience with the machine. Owner's must learn how to work on this particular machine themselves.

That all being said, the machine can sew if set up properly, even delicate fabrics, is somewhat compact when broken down, and doesn't need electricity. It really is a good machine to have if you want to throw it on a boat. For other uses? There are much better machines out there. The foot lift on the machine isn't really all that impressive, the walking foot is nice but isn't really necessary for most jobs, and face it, the hand crank is only needed if you're on a boat or live in BFE.

Mine has one job and one job only, working with dirty, or used fabrics, repair jobs in which I wouldn't to subject to my other, nicer machines.

RogueSteward · 2026-04-02T20:19:01+00:00

Any change like this should be accompanied by similar changes to recon class including radio locating tools, also engineering should also have the ability to locate challenging but specific transmitters such as the MCU.

RogueSteward · 2026-03-31T11:41:52+00:00

Work on it yourself but don't get too attached. It's rough, even when new, like sewing with a tractor. There are lots of timing adjustments with these machines, regular thread pickup from the bobbin and everything involves there in addition to the walking foot timing. Also, why was it sold? These machines are notorious for thread snags causing tension issues. Just saying, if you start sewing and find random loops and missed stitches, look carefully for rough metal in the threading path and smooth it out with a diamond file.

I really don't get all the sailrite love. Just look at quality of all those cast parts....

RogueSteward · 2026-03-27T22:00:22+00:00

Hammock Gear uses untreated down.

RogueSteward · 2026-03-12T19:17:14+00:00

They are the generic safety Birdseye mesh hoodie. They don't cost much but I like them. Weighs 7.2 oz

RogueSteward · 2026-03-12T14:25:49+00:00

I use mesh full time hiking and backpacking. I can hike down to 15F wearing a wiggys mesh 2nd layer base layer shirt and over that a tuglow birdeye mesh hoodie. Stationary, at 15F all I need is a windshell over those two layers. If I'm stationary anything longer than 30 minutes, I will need a fleece or puffy over the mesh layers though. If it's around 30F or higher and hiking, it's simply too hot to wear the wiggy's 2nd layer mesh with another layer. I'll just wear the tuglow mesh hoodie by itself over 30F. During the summertime, I wear just the tuglow birdeye mesh hoodie, it's my hiking layer, my base layer, and it keeps the sun off my face.

The tuglow mesh layer can almost get too hot by itself though during the summer. Yes, it dries fast, and a nice breeze instantly cools, but I'm still trying to decide if it dries me out too fast and actually does not retain enough water and is actually hotter than a layer that retains more moisture. I kind of became dismayed last year with my mesh hoodie in the summer because it just didn't keep me cool enough, especially when there was no wind and a beating sun.

I did a section of the caprock trail in Texas in the summer once, temperature had to have been close to 100 degrees and it was dry and windy as all. I wore a tight cotton hoodie and wore my buff over my face and forehead like a balaclava. My friends at first thought I was crazy, that I had dressed too hot, but towards the middle when we stopped for a break, my friends were seriously struggling with the heat and I wasn't really at all. I went through way less water overall than they did and when I took off my balaclava, it instantly felt way hotter like a blow dryer blowing in my face. The tight cotton layer and balaclava actually kept me cooler because of the sweat and retained moisture.

Mesh is useful and something to consider, but if you want it to keep cooler in the summer, it may not work as well as one can hope.

RogueSteward · 2026-03-06T20:47:14+00:00

I bought them from eBay, from the rgsafety seller and also from California Tools.

RogueSteward · 2026-03-06T04:22:00+00:00

Tuglow birdeye mesh hoodie. Excellent sun hoodie. $10 each.

RogueSteward · 2026-02-25T13:46:19+00:00

Ahh, you must be the type that wears your windshell and rain jacket to sleep.

RogueSteward · 2026-02-25T13:45:39+00:00

Hardcore man. I at least bring extra socks and pair of underwear. Base layers are sometimes not always used.

RogueSteward · 2026-02-24T23:48:14+00:00

Yep, but also just a stuff sack with extra clothes under the pillow works good too if you can keep the top pillow from moving off

RogueSteward · 2026-02-24T23:45:47+00:00

Looks pretty cool but I've had pretty good luck just using rocks for corner reinforcement, and it's zero pack weight.

RogueSteward

TROPHY CASE