This is my 8.5 oz COMPLETE camp kitchen. Many super light camp cook sets you see posted leave quite a bit out to achieve their advertised weights. I mean, I could pare this down to just the stove burner, a hardware cloth pot stand and a oven liner tray windscreen, but that's by itself isn't' very useful. I mean, you need a spoon to eat with- something cook in (pot cozy or something) and something to clean up with after dinner, right? I don't think I've made too many sacrifices here while still achieving a satisfactory weight and compactness. This setup fits perfectly in my frame bag. The whole kit is as diy as I could make it, from re-purposing things around the house.
So here is the complete kit along with the meal I'm about to cook-
The fuel bottle and measuring cup are your standard Robitussin variety. 4oz bottle, with a safety conscious child proof lid. I also have an 8oz bottle (Vicks something or other, but NyQuil would do).
In the stuff sack is my pot-
The blaze orange stuff sack is left over from my frame bag project, uses a zpacks 1.25mm zline draw string with a zpacks tiny cord lock. The pot is your standard issue Heineken cam, wrapped in fiberglass cord to insulate it so I don't burn my fingers. It also serves a double purpose as 10' of spare cord should the need arise. Now that Heineken quit making keg cans, I guess the Fosters is the last option for super light cans. the lid is a top of a bumblebee tuna can, cut around the sides. It's a perfect fit. The lid handle is made form 1/16" titanium wire, from McMaster Carr.
Inside the pot is my insulated hot drink cup (Campbell's cup of soup), windscreen, pot stand rods (3/32 ss welding filler rod), pot bale handle thing, piece of foil to insulate the stove from the ground, and a spare 1qt ziploc baggie, just in case.
Here's the windscreen and it's closure setup. The two halve interlock with those tabs take from Captain Paranoia's Caldera Clone templates. (
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/forum/forummessages/mps/UTN/22357/URN/5/dt/4/srchdte/0/cp/1/v/1/sp/)
This is the slot and tab detail-
and on the inside-
The pot and assembled windscreen / pot stand-
The hot drink cup holds my alky burner-
A light load towel and my lighter
The setup ready to go-
I usually use 4tsp of fuel per boil (2/3oz or 20ml)
boiling away-
By far the best tasting almost instant oatmeal ever-
I say almost instant because the instructions require you to add the water before microwaving, and then you cook it by nuking it for a couple of minutes. But if you reduce your water by a tiny bit (about by as much as would boil off in the cookign process) it turns out great in a freezer bag cozy. It kicks butt all over your standard Quaker packets in both flavor and texture. I haven't compared, but it's probably more nutritious as well.
The only thing missing would be some lipton tea bags or some starbucks via. 2c of hot water can rehydrate two packs of oatmeal and have just enough for a cup of tea or coffee left over.
What's not shown is my spoon. The one that I was using broke, but any plastic spoon will do the job. In honesty, I would probably opt to take my Sea to Summit aluminum spoon. It's got a nice long handle a large "bowl", if you will, for fast efficient eating.
What I'm goign to upgrade in the near future is the stainless rods for the pot stand are going to go bye bye in favor of an 1/8" ti version, also from McMaster. I think I'm going to by at least 6' of material and chop it up into tent stakes, or you could use any shepherds hook stake, I guess.... I'm just not a big fan of the available Ti hook stakes.
BM
