Retrobike Touring.

[widowmaker]

One final piece of kit needed before my first mini Tour early next month and I need some opinions/thoughts - again

I need a small cook set as I will be travelling light, just an overnighter so just food for the evening then breakfast the following morning.

I am not looking to cook anything adventurous just some dried pasta mix, beans and typhoo etc.

Mug/pot needs to be large enough to fit a small gas canister in, a fold up gas burner, lighter/matches/sponge etc.

What do you all use ?

 

[hamster]

Jetboil is most economical on gas and perfect for a little overnighter, with two packets of noodles, a couple of kitkats and an apple for dinner. Breakfast is a boiled egg in a roll. And lots of tea!
Lightest is probably a Trangia triangle and a mug pot. I get impatient with the slowness.
The stock Camping Gaz twister or any number of similar gas stoves are OK, but they need to be well-shielded or they waste loads of fuel.
If it's anything a bit bigger/better on food then I would go for my MSR Whisperlight burning Aspen 4T...or my trusty 25 year old Coleman 550B Peak1 - with Trangia pots and kettle.

I think that proves that there is no single right answer - I've collected this miscellany over the years. They all do the job and none is perfect. If starting from scratch today I'd go for a cheap Jetboil copy from PlanetX or Alpkit.

 

[widowmaker]

Thanks Hamster (again)!

 

[The History Man]

Split the trangia and use the pot with everything inside it.

 

[Trebz]

If you are using a gas can and mini cooker unit do what I do, buy a Zebra Billy Can and put all your cooking kit inside it.

One of the best things I ever bought: Link to Zebra Billy Can

The camping gas cans fit perfectly inside and there's room for the screw on cooker unit and some additional odd's and sods. I've been camping, hiking, cycle touring and rough camping since 1987 and this is probably the best cooking system I have ever had. Second place would be military mess tins with a hexamine burner. the Billy Can is tops for me as you can hang it over an open fire on a stick or just place it in the fire itself, it's stainless steel so it can take a beating. I do just tend to make a fire out of wood etc and put the billy can on it nowadays. Really depends on where I camp, if it's a clean site I'll use the gas can, if I'm out in the sticks I just knock up a fire with wood and hang it over the fire or place it on top. One other thing I would advise, buy a titanium spork.

 

[hamster]

Army mess tins...eurgh. Horrible to clean the corners, shallow so stuff always runs down the sides, too big to get an even heat.
The Zebra looks nice, I have an aluminium set that's similar. The only problem is pouring, I much prefer a Trangia-style gripping handle.

 

[vcballbat]

I've been using a Vango Compact Stove for my wild camping trips back in the summer. Using a cheap mess tin and mini expesso maker I found at a car booty...Lavazza Rossa kicks me into action. My Swiss Army knife has the four essentials.. corkscrew, sharp blade, tin and a bottle opener, plastic spoon does the rest...all packed into a plastic tub that fits into the mess tin. ☺

 

[hamster]

+1 on the Espresso maker!
If using a stove like that, a circle of heavy foil (like a single-use roasting tray) is worth packing as a windshield - it saves loads of gas. Then you can get away with the small Jetboil-style gas cartridges.

 

[hamster]

Found this, which looks rather good. Never seen one for real though.

Halulite Minimalist VII

GSI Outdoors Halulite Minimalist II is a light, packable cooking and eating kit for solo campers and backpackers, with a 500 ml pot/bowl/mug and accessories. Ships from the UK with WildBounds.

wildbounds.com

 

[vcballbat]

I've been using 240g Coleman gas only £4 from Halfords, lasts for a few trips as the stove will do a shot of espresso in about a minute. Sweat off the onions with the Chorizo before adding the tin of Ravioli is my quick and easy breakfast and dinner.. maybe three minutes. . been using panniers as windbreakers, will have to check out the baking sheet.