My Cook Kit
Here is a blow-by-blow description of my cook kit. I’ve developed this over many years and it is definitely geared towards melting lots of snow and cooking simple meals which don’t require simmering.
- 9″ x 9″ cotton cloth for general clean up
- 6″ x 6″ faux chamois for wiping down tent condensation
- Scrunge – cut in half
- MSR XGK stove – the heart of the system
- Backpackers Pantry Pot Cozy
- Seasoned Salt
- Tea/pube strainer
- MSR windscreen
- MSR XGK pump
- MSR Spondonical (pot grabber)
- Snow Peak titanium Spork
- Bamboo pot scraper
- REI 3 liter aluminum pot – black
- Stove board (wood with aluminum foil)
- MSR heat exchanger (for anything over 3 days)
- Pot liner (home made – pack cloth)
- 33oz/1 liter fuel bottle with cap and stickers covering the word “fuel”
- Bic lighters (not shown – don’t fly with them in your kit!)
Everything except the fuel bottle and stove board fits inside the pot, which in turn has a little stuff sack to keep it all together.
Notes:
- The heat exchanger needs a wire “extender” to fit around the 3 liter pot
- I’ve heard the Pot Cozies are next to impossible to find nowadays
- I use the pot liner to hold all of the cook kit while the pot is in use – this keeps stuff from getting lost
- The little tea strainer works well as a crude filter when you are melting dirty snow
- My water melting set-up is shown in this previous posting
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Help support StraightChuter.com and flame-on with a MSR XGK EX Multi-Fuel Stove from Backcountry.com. Click on the photo below…
Category: 02 Gear
Any idea where to buy the Bamboo pot scraper?
Hi Steven – I think I got mine at REI and they were something like $.99, which makes it very worthwhile.
I think you can still find those pot cozies, at least as part of the Outback Oven kit. I found just a cozy back in January.
I keep waiting for a friend to buy one of those new Primus (?) pots w/ the integrated heat exchangers on the base, so I can check their worthiness.
“7. Tea/pube strainer”
I laughed.
hey andrew – i’m curious about the pump . . . it looks like it’s different than the pump that comes standard with the xgk. reading the description on bc.com, it looks like it might have a valve that helps with simmering? is that right?
Hi Tucker – I use the pump that came with the XGK, which is about 2-3 years old, so as far as I know, it is just the standard pump. I have had some luck getting the XGK to simmer by adjusting the tank pressure. To do this, you start with a cold stove (you have to know you are going to simmer, like cooking a pancake), then unscrew the pump assembly to let all of the tank pressure off. Next, instead of giving it 10-20 pumps, just start with 2-3 and get the stove lit up. When there is less tank pressure, the dial valve isn’t as sensitive so you have more latitude in adjusting the flame. If the flame starts to fade, give the pump another stroke or two, then wait a minute or so – usually the flame will come back up to simmering levels.
Hi David – exactly, those pot cozies were part of the Outback Oven kit and you use to be able to order them directly from the company as a spare part, or buy them at a few random stores. My original one worked great for about five years, then one day something happened and it started smoldering and gassed out the tent, so it got pitched. I guess they have a life span to them, so I hope they are still around as I only have two of them left.
You mention not putting the lighter in your kit for flying. How do you get your stove and fuel on the plane? I’ve had problems before with them finding my stove even without fuel (just fuel residue, I guess).
Hi John – I thoroughly wash my fuel bottles out and deodorize them with something like vinegar or detergent. When I pack them, I use a screw-on cap and keep it tight. I also separate the stove from the fuel bottles in my bags so they are not an apparent item. If I’m going somewhere where I know I won’t be able to get another fuel bottle, I’ll rinse it out REALLY well, place some stickers over choice words and carry it on with me as a water bottle. At least that way you have some chance of debating and/or proving that it really is a water bottle instead of just getting to some obscure location and finding one of those TSA notices saying they took some items. If it is somewhere like Anchorage, you can always stop by and get another bottle at the REI or where ever, but if you are counting it to a trip to somewhere like the Artic circle, you really need to know whether or not it is going to be there.