Suggestions for improvement to our stove/cookware setup 3 season and winter?

Hi EJ

I'm biased, but we all know that.
GST-100 & Xtreme – perfect.

I prefer two GSI Cascadian cups and two nForm bowls and just one pot – no burnt fingers or lips. But that's me.

Cheers

Actually had them on my list but hadn't checked them out yet. Will do. Thanks again – you're our guardian stove angel.

What's the total weight of the two GSI Cascadian cups and the two nForm bowls?

No danger from chemicals from that plastic regularly exposed to boiling water?

Good time for me to organize gear recovering from foot injury (2nd Metatarsal Phalangeal Joint Stress Syndrome = torn/loose tendon around 2nd toe, Morton's neuroma + stiff big toe joint) + bad first podiatrist (more dangerous than the injury). Wearing old pair of NB 806 2EE trail shoes (excellent torsional stability) with new cushiony Spenco Rx Arthritis foot bed inside with small metatarsal pad and my 2nd toe taped to 3rd and 4th toe for now.

Going for a short hike later today for first time in weeks. Stopping all activity would be the worst course of action.

Roger do you ever use alcohol or esbit stove systems, and if so, which do you use?

*Cascadian II (as called by web retailer)

Description

Cascadian tableware by GSI is the perfect solution to your outdoor cooking quandaries. They're light weight, virtually unbreakable, and washing machine safe. Whether you're hiking the back country or just car camping, Cascadian plates, bowls, and cups are the way to go.
Features

* 3 inches in height.
* Affordable, light weight designs in rugged Polypropylene.
* Picnics, backpacking, camping or boating.

Specifications
Weight: 2.1 oz
Volume: 12 fl oz

*Cascadian Cup 12 fl oz (from GSI website):

Camping Style
Destination Camping , Ultralight Backpacking

Subcategory
Tableware

Colors
Green Blue Red

We know that you'd rather drive to the mountains than to the store, so we've lined up the following retailers who would be happy to send you your new item:
Peak62

(links will open in a new window)
Weight
1.7 oz.

Color
Orange

Material
Polypropylene

Material Tech

Cascadian™

The recyclable, inexpensive answer to all your outdoor dining needs. This lightweight, flexible material is easy to pack, stack and carry. And it's available in four bold colors, to identify individual settings and brighten up any meal.

Dimensions
4.5" x 3.7" x 3.0"

Nested View

Made In
China

*Cascadian Mug (from GSI website):

CASCADIAN MUG- RED
77231
14 FL. OZ.| major dim.

* Overview
* Overview
* Support
* Buy Now

Camping Style
Destination Camping

Subcategory
Tableware

Colors
Orange Green Blue

We know that you'd rather drive to the mountains than to the store, so we've lined up the following retailers who would be happy to send you your new item:
Peak62

(links will open in a new window)
Weight
2.5 oz

Color
Red

Material
Polypropylene

Material Tech

Cascadian™

The recyclable, inexpensive answer to all your outdoor dining needs. This lightweight, flexible material is easy to pack, stack and carry. And it's available in four bold colors, to identify individual settings and brighten up any meal.

Dimensions
4.7" x 3.6" x 3.6"

Nested View

And does it insulate enough to skip pot cozy?

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/list.aspx?s=2&c2=19

ULTRALIGHT NESTING BOWL + MUG- ORANGE
77197
20 FL. OZ.| major dim.
ULTRA-STABLE, PERSONAL FOOD + DRINK SOLUTION

* Overview
* Overview
* Support
* Buy Now

Camping Style
Ultralight Backpacking

Subcategory
nFORM Ultralight , Tableware

Features

Low profile/low center of gravity design and Sip-It top work to virtually eliminate spills.

EVA foam insulated sleeve and Sip-It top keep drinks hot.

Unique bowl + mug solution provides integrated nesting for fuel canisters and nests within the nFORM ultralight Dualist Cook System.

Story
The nFORM Ultralight line has taken the unique needs of fast and light backpacking and built a system of solutions that defy the notion that ultralight means making sacrifices. Time, comfort, efficiency, performance and ultra-light weight in a system built for one or two.

Colors
Blue

We know that you'd rather drive to the mountains than to the store, so we've lined up the following retailers who would be happy to send you your new item:
Peak62

(links will open in a new window)
Weight
4.3 oz.

Color
Orange

Material
Polypropylene

Material Tech

Cascadian™

The recyclable, inexpensive answer to all your outdoor dining needs. This lightweight, flexible material is easy to pack, stack and carry. And it's available in four bold colors, to identify individual settings and brighten up any meal.

Dimensions
5.1" x 5.1" x 2.7"

Includes

20 fl. oz. cup, 20 fl. oz. bowl, Insulated sleeve, Sip-it top

E.J.,

I've been very happy with the GG Caldera Keg GVP and Esbit Graham Cracker for 3 season use. The Caldera Cone in the GVP isn't as tall (a shorter version of the Caldera Cone) and nestles completely in the Keg. Therefore I only bring the Keg/Lid, Cone, Graham Cracker & One Silicone Beer Band in the small stuff sack (by the cone fitting completely within the keg there is no sharp edges).
The GVP has proven to be a light, compact, and reliable system for solo hiking. Additionally, with the graham cracker you can burn two Esbit tablets simultaneously which would boil enough water for two.

In the Olympics with water abundant, I use this system for both 3 & 4 season use.

http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/Caldera_Keg-GVP.html

Thanks Christopher. Are all your hot meals boil in bag, or do you bring a plastic bowl?

E.J.,

When I bring a stove it's always meal-in-a-bag (I do not bring an additional bowl). I have found that a long handled Ti Spoon works best with the method.

We have the long-handled BPL Ti spoon as well. Do you mix your own meals in an Aloksak boil-in-bag or bring various backpacker meals in their light packaging?

We use ziploc freezer bags.

I carry my meals in ziplocs (or the equivalent they sell on BPL), but rehydrate them in a 2-cup plastic ziploc with screw-on cap, and a cozy just for the cup. Because of this, I use the short handled Ti spoon from Sea to Summit.

I like the cup. It's easier (for me) to eat out of, doesn't add that much weight, still fits in my cooking kit, and I can set it down anywhere without having to prop it up.

-GSI Cup 1.7 oz each
-Nform Ultralight Bowl + Mug each 20oz – 4.3 oz total – or 2.15 oz bowl per person

Total bowl + cup per person: 3.85 oz
Total for two people: 7.7 oz

If the above plastic bowls and cups insulate well enough, one can compare them with the weight of carrying an extra pot like the Snow Peak 900 and Anti-gravity Gear Pot Cozy for each pot – weight range of cozies: Approx. 0.6oz/17g (BPL 500) to 1.7oz/49g (MSR 2.0L Alpine).

Roger I'm wondering – how do your GSI ultralight nForm bowls, GSI 12 oz cups, pot, stove, canister etc. nest? What do you keep where/in what?

Doug, did you mean "cups" when you wrote "rehydrate them in a 2-cup plastic ziploc with screw-on cap"? Never seen a ziploc bag with screw on cap.

Which make/model cup/bowl do you use? How much does it weigh? Is the capacity 2 cups?

Beautiful dogs, btw.

Tinny from minibulldesigns uses the larger one (quart) to hold his whole stove setups.

Hi E J, yeah, as in Nathaniel's post above, it's a plastic cup with screw on top but it's made by Ziploc. I should have been more clear, sorry! Bought it at the grocery store. Just a sec, I'll go weigh it……57 grams with the cozy (both enclosing the 'cup' and on the top of the lid).

And thanks, my babies. Both pound puppies.

Thanks Doug – is it made of one of the safe plastics? I'm assuming it stands up well to regular contact with boiling water.

How is it to clean?

PS A friend, my wife and I were discussing this lately and we do believe that cats and dogs that were adopted and brought into the safe and loving environment of your home seem to have some awareness of this. They seem to just know and are very grateful. My friend adopted 2 from the pound including an exotic Canaan dog that is native to Israel/Jordan and kept by many Bedouin to guard their flocks and tent compounds. Fiercely loyal. We just adopted a gorgeous Tonkinese cat now 10 months old (bred from Siamese and Burmese, two of the most intelligent and social cats, with the best qualities of both – often called the "dog cat" because they are so active and social and always want to be around people). Given to foster care by his original buyer because she wanted a docile cat (too active and smart a breed for that) and her older female cat attacked him all the time when he was 3-5 months old and he never backed down. After that experience the little guy dominated several dogs and cats in foster care, including a 70 lb German Shorthair hunting dog.

What mix are the dogs? They clearly love the snow.

To be honest, I don't know about the safe plastics part. It does stand up well to boiling water, and it cleans easily. I always boil more water than I need, I then put my MLD Ti pot in its own cozy, which keeps the water warm for the whole time my meal rehydrates and I eat it. I then use this leftover warm water to 'wash' the plastic bowl, and then to brush my teeth (I'm not a fan of brushing my teeth with cold water!). Has always worked well.

Okay, just did a quick side trip to the SC Johnson website (sellers of Ziploc). From the site: SC Johnson does not use BPA in its plastic products, Ziploc® Brand Bags and Containers.

Hi EJ

I have several options for nesting. One version of my kit is shown here. I should add that I can only get all that into the pot because the Titan lid has a seriously raised centre. That is not all that obvious in the photo.

To explain: I put a Lycra 'sock puppet' around the base of the 230 g gas canister and to put it into the nested nForm bowls. The sock prevents the metal base of the canister from scratching the inside of the bowls. Protecting the surface is definitely worth doing: it makes clean-up much easier.

Then the bowls go in a very light stuff (red) sack (to protect their outside) and that sits in my MSR Ti 1.5 L pot. There is quite enough room left in the pot to take my GST-100 stove, 1 or 2 Bic lighters, a plastic bag of tea bags (for Sue), a 24" square of light coated nylon (a clean cooking area which is spread out in the vestibule), an MSR pot lifter, plus a couple of other little bits and pieces (not seen).

My stainless steel mesh coffee filter (MYOG) is wrapped up in a bit of calico and a small plastic pot (think squat hand-cream jar) of coffee goes inside the filter. The filter was made to fit over the coffee jar. Since the outside of the coffee filter is wrapped in cloth, it then goes inside the two nested GSI Cascadian cups, and they get wrapped in another Lycra sock puppet. (That one was made because I happened to have some green Lycra sleeving left over and it fitted just right.)

In winter I usually take the nForm bowls out of the pot and put the Xtreme stove inside the pot, along with as much other stuff as will fit. This may include the low windshield coiled up in a silnylon sleeve. It just fits.

How safe is the plastic in the bowls and the cups? Very. Both are made from polypropylene (PP), and that stuff has no plasticisers and no residuals. And it takes boiling water just fine.

How fast do they lose heat? Actually, not fast enough! I wouldn't dream of using a cosy with the cups or the bowls. I usually add cold water to soup in the bowls to make it drinkable – who wants burnt lips? And I add some cold to Sue's tea for the same reason. Yes, dinner can cool by evaporation, but even that takes some time.

Cheers

I tried solid fuels a few times. Messy and smelly, and slow. I haven't the time. Remember – I am cooking for two, and Sue dislikes waiting for half an hour…

I have also used alky stoves and a Caldera a few times. They are OK, but slow and a bit risky at times. In the summer I don't like the open flame close to the ground here in Australia – one slip and bushfire. In winter – life is too short.

Cheers

Pups: The one in front, Chance (so called because his first owner, who had him for 9 months, was quite cruel, and my wife and I decided we were giving him a second chance at a decent life) is mostly Akita. Not sure what else he's mixed with, but he's very protective yet the sweetest boy you could ever imagine! He's a natural hunter as well — he brought down a deer in my back yard once (fortunately, I was able to get him off the deer and the deer out of the yard before any serious damage was one), and has caught and killed rabbits and such in the yard (I hate that it happens, but can't get mad at him for doing what comes naturally). The one in back (who was in back then because the snow was too deep, her feet couldn't reach the ground underneath, so she had to follow Chance's lead!) is Casey. I'm told mostly Norwegian Elkhound. She's a bit of a jealous thing, and will eat anything (including a bar of soap, a whole bag of Halls Mentholyptus cough drops, and more). She's also very sweet though. I got her when she was around 14 months. Got both of them when I lived in Oregon. They're both around 11 now (Chance is really showing his age, Casey is still full of P and V, as the saying goes).

Thanks Roger. Hard to see what's going on in that picture but one gets the idea.

You use the nForm bowls with the foam band around one of them, right? I'm assuming it can't be removed.

Seeing as how you want to avoid scratching the surface of the bowls, what do you use to clean them?

Do you have to avoid using a metal spoon or spork/foon with them?

Why protect the outside of the bowls from minor scratches?

So in winter you still take the nForm bowls but don't nest them in the 1.5L pot?

My Xtreme stoves came with nylon stuff sacks – why not store the stove inside a stuff sack and then in the bowls, or are you worried about the sharp stove rim still scratching the plastic through the stuff sack?

With the insulative properties of the plastic and foam around one of the bowls, it makes sense you wouldn't use a cozy with your 1.5L pot.

Roger sounds like you like to always cook in the pot and not in bags or commercial backpacking meals with boiled water. Up to now we've also cooked in the pot most of the time.

I just wanted to post right below you because our pictures are amazingly similar!