Say hello to my cooking kit

Eating is a necessity, but cooking is an art. Especially when you have to do it away from your kitchen. This is what I think it will work.

Real fast, before I get into my favorite cook kit, let’s consider whether you even need a cook kit in the first place.

Do You Even Need A Cook Kit?

If you’re like me and love gear, bushcraft, camping, and hiking, you probably need a decent cook kit. But, do you really need one in a survival pack?

You might, but probably not, to be honest. I mean, you should have something to start a fire and boil water, possibly even cook food, but that doesn’t necessarily require a cook kit.

Okay, I just don’t want to lead you down an unnecessary path. Afterall, that’s why this website even exists – because I took the wrong steps that cost a lot of time and money.

Cook Kits – I Have Many

Like I already mentioned, I love bushcraft, camping, hiking, and even training. So I have many cook kits, some that I love and others I don’t even use. Yes, I had a gear buying problem not long ago.

When I say I love hiking, I don’t mean I’m a professional ultralight through hiker trying to experience every trail I can find, I’m more the hiker that enjoys hiking to camp so I can enjoy a nice training session, recording some video, or just kick back and enjoy nature for a while.

So I’m not interested in spending big bucks on the greatest and lightest cook kits to hit the market. I have tried many different brands and configurations but nothing super exotic or expensive. That’s just not who I am, whether I can afford it or not.

I like nesting cups and pots, light gear that can hold up to a little abuse and gets the job done.

Stainless steel is nice but too heavy for cookware in most backpacks, aluminum is good and titanium is better in some ways but more expensive. So my stove is 304 stainless steel and my pots and cups are usually

Both weight and size absolutely matter when packing for any mobile situation, especially when the gear has to ride on your back. You want to keep the weight as low as possible and you don’t want your cook kit taking up 20% of your pack space either.

My Favorite Cook Kit – At The Moment

Here’s what I prefer, based on dozens of hikes and many overnight and multi-day adventures.

My best choice is an inexpensive Petforuc cook kit nesting a Solo Stove and Solo Stove alcohol burner and snuffer, aluminum foil, fatwood sticks, Bic lighter, scrub pad, cheap utensils, and even some wax coated twine and Burch bark. Everything nests nicely in the Solo Stove’s cover and the cook kit mesh cover. The total kit, including the full alcohol burner, weighs in at 1.75 lb. (78 kg).

Yes, this is the same cook kit you see in my last post, ‘Survival Pack Gear Loadout.’

Note: I added the full alcohol burner in case it was pouring down rain or I found myself indoors where I couldn’t use wood. This could also work for anyone in an urban or desert area that lacks sticks and twigs for fuel.

Hint: You can replace the Solo Stove with the Piezo Ignition Canister Stove (It is included with the Petforu camp stove on Amazon) and large 230-gram gas canister to save $60 or $70 AND maintain the same weight and it still nests together just as nicely. I have both cook kit set-ups in different packs. Just keep in mind, depending on your environment, wood will generally be much more abundant and obtainable in a survival situation.

Finishing Up

I hope this little article helped a little. This cook kit is based on my personal experience and preferences and you might hate this setup.

The best advice I can give is to get out there and use your stuff. Use it a lot.

It doesn’t take long to see what you like and don’t like about the gear you have.

As a bonus, you’ll become proficient using your gear with some level of skill and, maybe, just maybe, you might survive a massive crisis that sent you packing. Either way, this stuff is just fun to play with.