Cook Kit for 2 Recommendations

Hi Eric

There are at least a dozen or so good answers to your question, depending greatly on your priorities and situation. So my answer is merely one of many, and may be quite different from what works best for yourself or for others.

With that disclaimer, I can say that a setup for two is not, in my experience, a bigger version of a one-person cook kit. When alone, I use a Snowpeak Mini Solo ti pot with Ti Fission Caldera Cone. That setup is for my personal priorities of lightweight, smallish, tidy and versatile.

When it’s Hazel and I on the trail, the above priorities have some merit, but what is really important is boiling water, on demand and fast, followed by more boiled water (also fast) and after that more boiling. Thus our setup for two is completely different – we carry a Jetboil Sol Ti and crank out around 7 to 10 boils a day.

Taking a solo system when there is two of you will have frustrations, and carrying a dual setup when you’re hiking alone will too. The best setup (or setups) for you will depend on your priorities.

PS – we highly recommend freezer bag cooking instead of pot cooking, a folding cozy such as is available from Packit Gourmet easily holds two bags. Plus the cleanup after dinner is just lick your spoon and you’re done.

I really like the GSI Microdualist kit. It includes a 1.4L aluminium pot (with no non-stick coating), strainer lid, 2 bowls, 2 mugs w/sip-it lids and cozys, 2 sporks and a storage bag that also serves as a water bowl.

I can fit a small fuel canister with my remote canister stove and everything nests together beautifully.  I toss the sporks that come with the set and use a long handle TI spoon (the only thing that doesn’t fit in the pot).

The 1.4L pot with lid = 7.1oz.  You can leave a set of cups home and save 3.2 oz.

Hi Eric,

I just spent some time going through my cook kits to organize them.  I have too many, but maybe my experience will help you out.  I think it’s the combination of pot and stove and windscreen that make a kit good or not.  You didn’t mention if you already have the stove and windscreen.  If not, that a whole ‘nother discussion.

I spent a long time trying build a complete set, including a hot drink cup for me and for my son.  I couldn’t find anything I was happy with, and now he carries his own mess kit.  Besides, since he joined the boy scouts, that’s the way they do it anyway.  If he and I are out on our own he uses the same kit, which happens to be those GSI collapsible bowl and mug with a spork.  If he wants a hot cocoa he doesn’t care if it cools off fast.  I will say for mugs, we had older GSI infinity mugs which were lighter than snow peak double walled mugs and pretty close to the olicamp space saver in price and weight.  They won’t nest around a nalgene, but they keep hot drinks hot a lot longer than a simple aluminum mug.  It will fit a SmartWater bottle with room to spare, or you can strap them to the outside of your pack.

As for pots, I have the Olicamp XTS, but replaced the lid with a Four Dog Stoves Ti lid after the plastic lid started to melt on my test run.  It’s a good pot and not too heavy or expensive – I hear they work great with a Biolite stove.  After checking out Four Dog, I ended up getting the 1.8L MORS and later the 1.1L Bushpot.  If you haven’t seen the Four Dog videos on Potology it’s worth a look.  The 1.1L Bushpot is lighter than the XTS with a better lid, and you can get it with a bail if you don’t want to nest it in the 1.8L pot.

Some will go smaller for two people, but you said you wanted hot beverages with your rehydrated meals so these pots are both worth looking at.  Other aluminum options I like are the popular Imusa 12cm mug and the Batchstovez 12cm pot (I don’t have this one).

If you can live with less volume or want a dedicated solo kit, I like Ti pots like the Toaks Light 650.  With a DIY cozy, carbon lid, mesh stuff sac and flat cat snow leopard windscreen/alcohol stove it’s only 5.0 oz.  That’s a complete and very capable kit for less weight than most pots.  Others drop down to 450 ml to save more grams, but like you I’m looking for water for cooking and a drink when I fire up the stove.  This will cost you more than the aluminum pots above.

Over a $100 there are even more awesome options.  The MSR Windburner is an exceptional canister stove (though not light), and Trail Designs has the best alcohol/esbit/wood combination with their Tri-Ti Caldera Cones.

+1 on the Rod and David’s suggestions too.  The predecessor GSI Dualist was as close as I got to a good two person kit – why did I sell that one?  For the record, I have the SP mini-solo with Caldera Cone too (I said I had too many right?)

I have an older version of the GSI Soloist that has a 4 cup pot, carry bag that doubles as a sink, and a plastic bowl that doubles as a mug. I ditched the plastic spork and use a Ti spork instead. My son carries his own Sierra cup (with wrapped handle) and spork. I really like this setup. I also have the Olicamp XTS pot but like the handle of the GSI better. The olicamp may be my dedicated pot for the alcohol stove I recently bought, haven’t decided yet.

• Wow all very good information! I’m gonna stay away from alcohol stoves right now, but for longer solo hikes I will be getting one of the caldera come setups. For now I have a soto amicus stove. I really like the fourdog 1.1 L pot! And the infinity cups from Gsi also looks great! But as far as an all in one nesting kit, without being able to fiddle with the stuff before I buy it I suppose the best option is the micro dualist. You guys mentioned the older dualist from Gsi, if I look for this one, what makes it different from the new ones?

Or or does anyone know what dishes/bowls would nest into the 1.1L pot from fourdog while still allowing room for a large canister and my stove?

I’d bet the Ziploc Twist-n-Loc containers you find at the grocery or wallyworld would fit.  You might even stack a couple, but not sure about the lids or a canister on top.  Check out this video by PaCampingDad: here.  He also has the GSI Infinity mug I mentioned – with the smart water bottle nested inside – I didn’t remember that part when I saw this some time ago.  He made another video about making the cozy for the ziploc.

I think the Imusa 12cm is the same diameter as the 1.1L bush pot but at least an inch shorter.  You might get the stove, but not the canister, or maybe the canister if you don’t close and/or don’t take the top to the ziploc.  The ziplocs have changed a little, but I think they will still work.  As he says in the video there are dollar store options, but the ziplocs are sturdy, and I contend don’t leak if you decide you want to hike while re-hydrating in your pack (YMMV).

The other way to go is fit your canister, stove, windscreen and maybe cooking accessories, but leave your eating gear in a separate mess kit.  My son has his in a mesh stuff sac that he can tie to the back of his pack if he’s too lazy to clean or dry it to put back inside.  And my son is usually too lazy.