Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
By Eric T. Chapman
I'm amazed how small this set shrinks the whole camp kitchen! All the parts, plus my MSR Pocket Rocket Stove and a can of JetBoil 4-season fuel all fit inside. Total size is ~ 6" in diameter by 8" in height. The handle of the main pot folds over the top and holds the lid on rather securely. I tipped the entire thing upside down and shook it: no rattling and nothing came tumbling out. So I can feel assured it will stay in my pack the way I left it.
I got it home and made some Mountain House Chili Mac w/ Beef - Serves 2 for my wife and I. The graduated markings on the inside of the bowls made it easy for me to heat up just the amount of water I needed. This helps conserve the resources of fuel and water as well as help the food remain edible! My wife ate from one of the bowls, I ate from the bag directly. We both agreed the spork utensil left a little to be desired. Specifically, a spoonful of broth spills out the tines of the fork as you tip it toward your mouth. I might be sawing off the handles of our normal camp spoons before long to allow them to stow in this unit. Also of note, the large pot that I boiled the water in seemed to cool down quickly. This is important to me as I don't like leaving gear laying around to get dirty or damaged. I felt OK replacing the pot in the black carry/wash bag within minutes.
What's in the box:
1 pot for boiling water, it has a handle that locks in place securely for the both the open and closed positions. Nice design there. The lid has a nice rubber seal, holes for straining and an orange tab that is I guess for lifting off the lid without burning yourself. I didn't use the tab and I didn't burn myself, there was plenty to grab on the edges of the lid to take it off safely.
2 bowls with graduated markings on the inside to help you measure volume.
2 bowls with neoprene "don't burn my hands" sleeves and sippy cup lids. Despite, their low broad profile these are intended to be mugs for drinking hot beverages. I prefer my regular tall GSI mugs but I am happy they are in this kit as they make the system complete. Whether you look at it like you have 4 bowls or 2 bowls and 2 mugs,this set provides plenty of containers.
2 sliding spoon/fork utensils. These are flimsy and I don't think they will last. The bowl end slides down the handle to reduce the overall length which is admittedly a cool idea. Too bad hungry backpackers need more than cool ideas. When washing them I separated them by mistake and it took a second to put them back together. As another reviewer noted there are too many crannies for adequate backcountry washing.
1 black carrying bag. This bag fits closely over the main pot and is water tight so it can act as a wash basin or even a water collector in an emergency.
1 black fabric bag with a Velcro closure to hold your stove. This was a thoughtful gesture and if the silly sporks brought this review down to 4 stars the black bag redeemed it to 5. The designers are assuming that you will be storing your stove and fuel in this unit and they included a bag so that the pointy metal parts of your stove down scratch and grate all over the nice interior finish of the bowls or pot. Those scratches and gouges aren't just aesthetic, they will be hard to clean and will harbor nasty bacteria. Additionally, if you are like me and you are out in the woods trying to photograph wildlife, you don't want to spook a doe because something in your pack just made a god-awful metallic scraping sound. If I've written more about this black bag than about the rest of the set it is because the other components feel solidly made and purpose built to function as a dependable, light weight, low maintenance field kitchen.
Random observations:
I don't see how I'd wash the main pot in the black wash/carry bag. I might wash it over the bag but not in it. The other components can wash in there easily and the restricted size means water will be conserved.
The MSR brand 4oz fuel containers (red) don't fit inside in a way that allows everything to nest. Their diameter is too great so they don't sit in the bottom of the bowl, thus the whole stack ends up being too tall. I settled on getting the 4 oz Jetboil 4 season fuel canister as it fit in easily. I'm not brand loyal in the fuel department but if you are this may be a game changer.
The larger bowls are of slightly thinner plastic than the mugs. As such I'm weary of putting boiling water directly in them. I don't want them to warp and ruin the whole nesting sequence. I'll update this review if I find this to occur. Till then I'm going to try to put food in them which is sub-boiling temp.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
By wmuzeke
Lightweight, compact, and well-made. I can't believe all of these things fit into such a small space. Everything fits inside the large pot. The bowls come apart to make 4 total and there are sipping lids for the smaller bowls. 2 of the bowls have "cozys" for holding hot liquids. Measuring is a breeze with the inside marks on the bowls. The sporks are easy to open and collapse and have their own case. I also keep a small sponge inside the other bowl for cleanup. The big pot works well and food doesn't stick to it all that much. It seems to heat up pretty quickly, too. The lid is very useful and has a built-in strainer, which is nice for cooking pasta. The handle on the big pot collapses up by squeezing it and holds everything inside for packing. The bag that holds the pot can be used for washing the dishes, among other things. This is a great product from GSI!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
By Ryan
Took this cooking set on an overnight hiking trip this weekend. The product worked well, and was worth the price. The only thing I noticed was that the sporks it comes with are difficult to clean in a trail environment. They have a lot of little nooks and crannys in the collapsing mechanism. Other than that, if you do overnight hikes, you need this.
