Cookware

U

unky_gumbi

Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
7,951
I am fairly new to WS&S, I use to get my outdoor fix with cycling and the odd car camping trip. Well due to some recent injuries I have had to park the bikes and switch over to hoofing it in the bush. My current set up was fine for day hikes, but I am moving into multi day trips of 3-5 days. I went with a Hennessy hammock instead of a tent, I like the idea of being up off the ground and not having to worry about tent poles, purchased a North Face Crestone pack this week, but the one thing that is eluding me is a reasonable sized cook set for 1-2 people that can be hung over a fire. Everything seems to have a side handle now. This is fine if you use a stove of some sort or a grill. As I mentioned I went with a hammock to avoid tent poles, I don't want to fill that spot with a grill:(

The reason I want a cook set that I can hang is that I like to cook over a fire when ever possible. I will be taking a MRS dragon fly stove with me, but the plan is to only use it when I have to.

Anyone here that has some suggestions of hang-able cook sets could you please pipe in. Price is not a big factor, but I would like to find something in the $70-$80 range, cheaper is good but if I have to pay more to get what I want so be it.

Thanks
George
 
That's exactly what I am looking for:thumbup:, now if they only made a set:( I am going to keep looking for a set, but I book marked the page so I can come back to it if I can't find anything. One of the things I have been thinking about is the GSI Glacier cook sets and improvising a chain loop handle, but I really like the handle on the Zebra stuff.

Thanks
 
I have some Zebra pots. Well made and sturdy, but very heavy. Open Country makes some pots with a bail to hang over a fire. Made of aluminum so they are light. I have a two quart which I find a nice size. They also make kits with plates, bowls, etc.

http://www.rei.com/product/401067
 
I would totally say get some iron stuff but I dont know a soul who wants to backpack with that.
 
I've seen a thread somewhere that suggests using one of those aluminium cannisters you use in the kitchen for storing tea, coffee, sugar, etc and fixing a wire bail to it! Light and cheap :)
 
Walmart! They have just about anything you need. I prefer a cheap aluminum coffee pot (without the insides) for over the fire, and those cheap blue made-in-mexico cups.
Insulated cups with lids keep liquids warm longer. Outside in the cold and wind cools your coffee rapidly.
 
keithcarter said:
Walmart! They have just about anything you need. I prefer a cheap aluminum coffee pot (without the insides) for over the fire, and those cheap blue made-in-mexico cups.
Insulated cups with lids keep liquids warm longer. Outside in the cold and wind cools your coffee rapidly.
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Good, I can't drink coffee piping hot without blistering my mouth anyway. I hate waiting for my food/water to cool off after I've boiled it over a campfire, it always seems to take forever.
 
What kind of cooking do you anticipate? Will you be making complicated meals needing multiple pots and a skillet or will boiling water suffice?

Is light weight important? As with most things, there is a range of suitable gear, ranging from the "hobo chic" coffee can approach to ultralight titanium gear that can make your wallet cry. Personally, I like gear and tend to obsess on the weight. (Hey! The lighter my gear is the more guns and knives I can carry, right? :D) As another member said here a while back, "I am not a hobo."

If most of your cooking is just boiling water for rehydrating meals, making oatmeal and coffee, then you may want to look at thhe GSI Halulite Tea Kettle. It is crazy light and can be hung over a fire with no problem. I love mine and it was 15 bucks very well spent.

gsi_kettle.jpg


Another way to go would be a nesting cup and stainless bottle, such as the Guyot Standard or Kleen Kanteen. This way you are killing two birds (water bottle and boiling vessel) with one stone.
283618275_9r5Jw-L.jpg


The Guyot is easy to add a cable bail to and you can add either rigid or cable bail to the Kleen Kanteen.
KK3bail-1.jpg


KK15newbail3.jpg


You could add a rigid bail to the GSI cup (pictured above with the Guyot) in the same way I added one to the Kleen Kanteen. Just drill holes thru the sides of the rolled lip and bend a bail out of stiff wire. It would still nest with the bottle and now you could choose which one to hang. This would

For frying a neat UL option is the One Egg Wonder, made by T-Fal and available at Target, Walmart and the like for around 7 bucks. Here I've trimmed down the handle on mine. Some people take the handle completely off to make it easier to pack. If cooking for two, a larger skillet would mean less waiting. :) These work way better that the supposedly nonstick pans made for backpacking. I dunno if I'd want to use it over a fire, though. I'm sure it would be fine on a hot rock in the coals.
OneEgg1-1.jpg


I vary the kit I'll carry based on the type of cooking I'm planning and how heavy/light I'm travelling.
 
You're talking about two holes and a piece of wire right?

You can do this.

Try.

bestwishes
 
Kismet said:
You're talking about two holes and a piece of wire right?

You can do this.

Try.

bestwishes
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if that was in response to my post or not, but yes, the rigid bail involves drilling two holes in the rolled lip, but not allthe way through the sides of the pot. The cable type bail can either be attached by drilling holes or by looping it around a neck or rim on the bottle/pot (if there is one.)
 
Pritch said:
What kind of cooking do you anticipate? Will you be making complicated meals needing multiple pots and a skillet or will boiling water suffice?
Click to expand...

Pritch brings up some good points. I know what you're talking about though, I much prefer to cook over a fire, but at times I've been forced to use a backpacking stove due to burn-bans or trying to stay out of the weather and cooking under a siltarp...something I don't want to try with an open fire:eek: You can cook over a fire and stove with all un-coated cookware but with some backpacking pots/pans, you can really only cook over a stove (coated, anodized, plastic covered handles, etc.).

As Pritch mentioned...what do you want to cook and how many do you plan on cooking for? If you're just boiling water, there are some decent choices. Open Country use to make an awesome uncoated-aluminum, 2-quart billy can (unfortunately no longer:grumpy:). They do have a 3-quart coffee perk that has a bail and pouring handles...not sure about the glass perk-top, but I may try it out:

Coffee Perk

We use an Open Coutry 4 quart Kettle depending on what we plan on cooking (for four). My wife will use a frying pan, but if I can avoid it, I try not to take it as I don't plan a menu around it like she does.

I really like the Zebra billies. The 10cm and 12cm billies are really good for a single person but will work for two, you just won't get a lot of water left over after a dehydrated meal for tea or other hot drink.

A bail is a requirement for me and I just added a length of small diameter cable for my 10cm Zebra pot (sorry no pictures). Those folding handles get in the way when packing...I wish they folded under the pot which would also give them more distance when hanging like my 2-quart Open Country Billy:

PotHanger.jpg


If you can get enough large coals, you can boil water with them; just make sure you have some aluminum foil or lid so you don't get too many ashes in your water.

ROCK6
 
I think I will mainly be cooking the dehydrated meals, but I want to have the option to cook some real food as well like maybe a fist night steak or some fish if I am in an area that fishing is permitted and offers good fish. I am a coffee drinker (snob) and I will most likely go with one of the over cup filters. I am thinking that I will need to cook for no more then 3, but usually just 1.
I know that for the fish and steak I can just cook on a stick or bring some tin foil along. I would really rather leave the tinfoil in the cupboard though. What I think would be perfect would be a nested bailed cook set for 4 with lids that double as frying pans. That way I could adjust it to what I needed for each trip, that is if there is such a thing
 
Check out the Coleman Exponent Outfitter stainless kit. 3 pots with locking bails, 3 frying pans that double as lids. It all nests together like what you are looking for.
 
GhostWolf said:
Check out the Coleman Exponent Outfitter stainless kit. 3 pots with locking bails, 3 frying pans that double as lids. It all nests together like what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I am looking for, thank you sir. Everyone else thanks for the great advice but I think I can end my hunt for cookware now, or atleast till I feel the need to upgrade and go lighter and smaller:p
 
unky_gumbi said:
That's exactly what I am looking for, thank you sir. Everyone else thanks for the great advice but I think I can end my hunt for cookware now, or atleast till I feel the need to upgrade and go lighter and smaller:p
Click to expand...

Glad I could help. :thumbup:
 
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