My Cookset – A gear post.

Unfortunately due to my diminished bank account, I cannot afford to get out of London for an adventure any time soon. The train to Shoreham and back was only £17 but I want to save my pennies for Februarys microadventure. Instead, on skint weeks like this, I’ll be doing posts on some of the gear I use regularly. This week, what I use for cooking.

This is everything I need to make many cups of tea (when I remember my teabags), freeze-dried meals, and even cheep ramen. Just a small mug-style pot, a homemade alcohol stove and a bottle of methylated spirit.

And doesn’t it pack up small! Because I usually go on solo trips I don’t need the extra volume, keeping my pack light and inconspicuous so people don’t ask questions.

The Pot

I use an Alpkit MytiMug 650; a lightweight, titanium, cooking mug with folding handles and a lid. The 650ml volume is perfect to boil water for rehydrating meals and the handles keep my hands away from the hot metal (although when I used to use a wind shield, they heated up and burnt me a few times). You wouldn’t think that having a lid would make much of a difference in performance but it speeds up boiling times quite a lot.

The Stove

I am a huge fan of the DIY drinks can stoves that you see everywhere online, and with a bit of research I found Tetkoba’s youtube channel. It seems to be dedicated only to alcohol stoves of various designs. I wanted one that would not only burn efficiently but also double as a pot stand. Their “Capillary hoop stove sideburner” seemed perfect so I made one out of two old gin and tonic cans.

It’s not clean and tidy but it has been well used and never failed on me. I love this little stove.

Any changes?

Maybe. I used to also carry an aluminium foil wind shield which made the stove even more efficient, but I used it so much that the foil flaked away and fell apart. Again, it weighed nothing and packed down inside the pot so I didn’t have to worry about extra weight. The only downside was that it focused more heat on the mug handles, which hurt if I forgot to cover my hands.