My Gear: Cooking Pots

Next to knives, cooking gear is my largest bushcraft vice.  What else could explain a mental condition where a grown man will watch YouTube videos about billy cans?  Some say psychosis,  I say passion.

My first cook kit ever was one of those aluminum Scout kits,  you know the one with a wing nut holding the fry pan handle on and a tipsy pot.   Every one I've seen had melted pot lit handles and many dents.   These things had to be invented by scout moms intent on discouraging Cub Scouts from wanting to cook over a fire.

Fast forward to the 21st century and the really cool stuff, like stainless steel, titanium and Teflon coated aluminum.  Without even touching on the surplus market,  there are hundreds of great cooking pots.  However,  you can't carry all of it with out a pack mule and sounding like a Civil War Regiment on a road march.

Nessmuk  wrote about a lite weight five piece tin set and a camp kettle in his Woodcraft book.  Even then he stated he would not carry all five pieces on short trips.

  E.H. Kreps carried a No. 0 fry pan and a 1 quart small tinned pail with hay wire bail.  Aloung with a knife,  he felt these were sufficient for up to two people.

Horace Kephart,  when he did go lite,  listed a fry pan or army mess kit, large tin cup, quart pail, and a knife.

All three listed a pail or kettle among the cooking necessities.  The preferred size was 2 quarts or less. The other common item was a knife.   With this they could prepare food for the pan and pot and create other cooking tools as needed.   Unless they drank directly from the pot,  Nessmuk and Kreps must have had a cup of some sort when camping.

Thus we come to my typical bushcraft cook gear.   I like to carry a billy pot of some sort and a cup.  At least one knife is along in my gear,   more often more than one.   Additionally,  I carry a wood spoon I made,  not having time to make a new one every time I'm in the woods.

Steel Cup with Folding Handles

I have tried a few pots,  including home made billy cans,  and all have been adequate for boiling water or cooking.   My all time favorite is a IMUSA grease pot that I fitted with a bail.  It is a good size,  inexpensive, and lite weight.

Old faithful IMUSA Grease Pot

Next in line would be my GSI stainless Steel kettle.  I use this alot at my bushcraft shelter to making tea and coffee.   One could cook in it,  but it is not the best design for it.

GSI Kettle

I also have a large 1.6 Liter MSR Stowaway Pot.  This pot has a locking lid and is great for storing gear in a pack.  I use it when it is more than just me wanting something to eat.

MSR STOWAWAY on right

I recently purchased a Zebra 12cm pot that I have not tested out yet,  but have great hopes for this piece of cook ware.

New 12cm Zebra Pot

IMUSA (left) Zebra (right)

Frying pans and plates have not really been a priority for my packing list.  If I need a plate,  the pot lid usually suffices.  I really don't fry food much and any bread I usually make in the pot or on the coals.

That is what I currently use for my bushcraft cooking,  but camp cookware is right up there with knives.   I would love to see what everyone is using in their kit.

Keep Safe and Enjoy the Fall Season!

The Pocket Cooker

The Pocket Cooker Folding Steel Stove

Review:

Pocket Cooker folded on the included pouch

SPECIFICATIONS:

• 6 1/2" x 3 3/4" x 1 1/8" folded
• 8" x 6" open
• Weighs 2 lbs.
• Fuel: wood, paper, pine cones, bark, or whatever is at hand.
• Cost under $20 delivered

     Compact and folding stove's come highly recommend for Bushcraft packs, Bug Out Bags, and alternate grid down cooking solutions.  These stoves do not use any bottled fuels, though diy alcohol stove's, trangia, and Sterno would work in them.  Mainly, these stoves would burn naturally occurring fuels such as wood, pine cones, bar or dried leaves.

There are several models, brands, and materials available commercially; just do a search on back packing stove's and you will see what I mean.  The D.I.Y. community has a load of ideas on making one from scratch.  Given the prices of Emberlit for example, I needed something more affordable.  Then I came across an advertisement for the Pocket Cooker.

   This stove is not made of some flimsy tin.  We are talking steel, thus the weight of 2 lbs.  It comes coated with a black paint from the factory, I think to protect from rusting during shipping. This paint disappears after the first use.  I thought maybe a coat of grill paint might be needed, but it hasn't rusted yet.  The heated metal evaporates any moisture from the surface and after cooling sufficiently is put back in the pouch.

     How does it work? Like dream!  Open it up and stuff a bunch of twigs and tinder into the top and fire it up.  Additional fuel can be added through a hinged door at one end.  It's that easy.

Stoked and fired up

     Timing a liter of water to boil was right around ten minutes, with plenty of heat and coals to warm hands and maybe even cook a hotdog over it.

Boils 1 Liter in about 10 minutes

The pocket cooker is very efficient burning twigs and small sticks.   The bottom of the stove consists of two perforated hinged plates that allow draft from under the stove.  In essence it becomes a modified rocket stove.

Floor Plates

Once you finish cooking or boiling, the fire quickly reduces itself to ashes.   This is easily knocked out the stove and scattered, leaving practically little evidence of the fire.   This is a big plus for no trace campers or OPSEC conscience folks.

Burning down to ash

The included pouch is made from machine sewn nylon with a sewn on belt loop.  A Velcro strip keeps the flap closed.  While, I haven’t bothered using the belt loop, the pouch is well made and keeps soot from getting over the rest of your gear.  Stored in the pouch, the stove would fit easily in a coat or cargo pocket, glove box or under a car seat.   Given the design, it will easily burn almost any dry combustible fuel scrounged locally from the environment.   An alcohol penny stove will fit inside, if one was so inclined. 

Front of Pouch

Belt Loop

What is the best part of this tough little stove?   The price!   I purchased this stove for less than $20 delivered to my house.  You might want to check out one for yourself, for the price you really can’t be disappointed.  Just remember  not to boil or cook when you first light up,  so the paint has a chance to burn off the metal.

Fire Kits: A philosophy of flame.

Fire is the most basic resource humans have on this planet.  Its been around for ever,  it can be life saving or destructive if not controlled or used properly.  Most of us navigate our day not even thinking about it in the least.  Cook our meals,  heat our homes, start our cars....all involve combustion.  It really is intertwined into every human life on the planet.  No matter how advanced humanity becomes,  we still need it.  Take it away and things start to come unglued fast!

Bushcrafters, campers, and other outdoor enthusiasts keep it in the back of their minds ( or least they should).   I keep a simple yet thorough kit in my pack when out in the woods,  and I always carry at least a couple methods of starting a fire where ever I go ( Bic lighter and ferro rod).   My kit includes a couple of dependable fire tinders that will light with a naked flame,  a large Army size Light My Fire Steel,  several lighters, matches, and a flint & steel kit.  I keep all of it in a homemade haversack that goes with me on my outings,  be it hiking, hunting, camping, or fishing.  It is more than a wilderness survival thing   I enjoy a small fire often to make coffee or tea at times and sometimes cook something, even when just out a day hike.  I find that building a cook fire adds meaning to some of these adventures.

The important thing  with a kit is knowing each item and how to use it.  Understanding your ability under different conditions, such as snow, wind, rain, or extreme dryness, is  obtained through practice.

The kit you put together has but one goal each and every time!

Deluxe Flint and Steel Kit from PrimitiveFire.com

I had previously put together a home made kit from an Altoids tin, a broken file, and chert from a Rail Road Track.  It is very functional and I have built a number of fires with it.  Last week I came across the above kit and thought I would give it a try.  Primitivefire.com had it to me in less than a week,  and I am thrilled with this kit.   The tins include an "Altoid" size one that held a bunch of cotton cloth for char material.  The smaller round tin is suppose to be used for making char cloth,  but I used the larger one.  The small on is very air tight and I felt it would probably blow apart in the fire.

The included flint is very large and sharp!  I think I could field dress a deer with this rock.  A nice length of Jute rope is included with the kit for making bird nests,  but I have been using my own stuff for that.

The steel striker is very nice,  throws a shower of sparks and fits comfortably over 3 fingers for striking.

I wish I could take pictures and make fires at the same time...but here are a few shots of a quick fire with this kit.

All laid out:

Spark Caught( in like 2 stikes)

In the Bird Nest

A few Breaths and POOF!

All in all it is a very sweet kit and I am going to have a lot of fun using it!

D.I.Y. HAVERSACK

Last week I put together a new Haversack to hold my fire kit.  It cost me time and materials I already had laying around the house.   The main component of the bag was obtained from one leg of a old pair of duck work pants.  Then with some salvaged webbing from old packs, a few grommets, Shoe Goo glue, dental floss, wax and a dose of time. it came together nicely.  Just by folding up the bottom half of the pant leg,  it created a 2 pocket bag with no extra cutting.

The inner pouch holds my Fire Steel,  tins of tinder,  Flint and Steel Kit, Mora Knife, Bic Lighter, and matches.   The outer pouch will be for tinder and fire supplies I pick up along the trail.

After I had it all put together I gave it 2 good coats of wax followed by a hair dryer to water proof the material.   I think I have about 2 maybe 3 hours of time in making it.

POCKET COOKER FOLDING STOVE

Nice folding steel stove for about $20

SPECS:

• 6 1/2" x 3 3/4" x 1 1/8" folded
• 8" x 6" open
• Weighs 2 lbs.
• Fuel: wood, paper, pine cones, bark, or whatever is at hand.

FOLDED

LOADED

BOILING A LITER OF WATER IN ~10 MINUTES

REDUCES FUEL TO ASH VERY EFFICIENTLY

IMUSA / MAINSTAY...Grease Dispenser to Billy Pot Project.

So Ok...I have really nice stainless steel kettles and pots, but I really love making homemade stuff too. So at Walmart I finally found the Grease Dispenser that I have read about others using to make a cook kit. This thing is only $7 and aluminum, so you don't mind altering it. There are a "gazillion" videos and blogs about Modifying it. I drilled a couple holes, made a bail from a hot dog fork and presto instant cool light weight billy pot with lid. Oh yeah, I ditched the plastic knob handle and put a hooked wire through the lid hole.