Hiking makes prefab meals taste like royal banquets. A warm freeze-dried pasta bolognese (which is already one of my favorite meals on the trail) that you struggled to prepare while shielding for the wind and rain will the best thing ever. For my last hikes (Laugavegur, GR20 and Jordan Trail), I have been using a very simple set-up; this is the best cooking gear while hiking – according to me.
The best cooking gear while hiking – according to me
As I’m usually carrying more than enough gear, so I decided to go lightweight:
- MSR Titan Titanium Cooking Pot with .85-liter capacity lets me boil the water I need to prepare my food. In the mornings, I usually save the leftover water in a thermos bottle so I can quickly prepare a warm lunch in the afternoon without having to waste extra gas and/or water.
- MSR Pocket Rocket to be screwed on top of a gas canister. Super simple and light weight.
- The MSR fire spark starter is a super simple lightweight spark starter.
- Titanium spork is a spoon meets fork. Usually, that is enough. Only on the GR20 I planned to carry a foldable titanium knife as some of the refugios specifically requested guests that would come for dinner to bring their own knives.
- Gas cannister that is bought locally obviously as airlines won’t allow you to bring them on an airplane.
- Ah, and a hair clip. I usually use a hair clip to keep my food pouch closed when waiting for it to be ready.
And that’s it. Simple as that.
Plans to optimize my cooking gear.
Although I’m actually quite happy with my cooking gear, I am always looking for ways to improve.
As explained in my other posts on food on the trail (how to prepare and my favorite food), I still want to get into cold soaking more (but probably not during my cold Arctic Circle Trail hike) – that would mean I would ideally have a pot with a screw-on lid with some sort of leakage prevention.
On top of that, I am looking to test a more versatile as I am currently reliant on gas canisters. It has proven to be a challenge sometimes (for example in Amman for my Jordan Trail hike or in Greenland for my Arctic Circle Trail hike) to find the right canisters.
So, what are your cooking gear favorites?
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