I use a Trangia stove, which is clean, windproof, light and safe. It burns on alcohol, which contains less energy for its weight than petrol or pressurized gas. I have never tried the pressurized gas system that is available for the Trangia. For one week, bring one liter of alcohol for each person. If you need to melt snow or ice, or carry food that needs a long time to be cooked (raw potato’s, rice), bring two or even three liters fuel.
What I bring is a burner, grabber, pans, windshield, handkerchiefs, plates, fuel bottles, waterbottles, cup, cutlery, spatula, lighter, waterfilter, toothbrush, and toothpaste. Additional cooking items are shown at the ‘small camping utensils’ page.
See the video How to pack your cooking gear
Packing
Cutlery, grab and toothbrush are stored in a cutlery box (home made).
The cutlery box, together with stove, pans and plates, are packed in a stove sack (home made).
The stove sack is packed into a cooking bag (home made) together with four 1/2 liter bottles for water or fuel. Store the cooking stuff in the upper section of the backpack, because it will be used several times a day for making tea or coffee.
Tips
– A very bitter taste is added to the burning alcohol, so do not mix a single drop with water or food!
– Use simple water bottles from the supermarket, to be used for water and fuel. They are cheap, light, and flexible which is an advantage in packing.
– I bring at least one pan with Teflon to make pancakes’s without oil.
– Take three very lightweight plates: one to use as a plate, one for cutting and one to support the stove in the ocasional snow.
– After using the stove, pour the left over spirit back into the bottle, and shake the burner untill the fuel stops dripping. Wrap the burner in a handkerchief to be stored in the pans.
– In subzero temperatures it is hard to enlight the stove. You can use a little wooden branch to drown in the fuel, light it and ignite the stove. Another method is to keep a small bottle with fuel at a warm place in your jacket.
– In low temperatures or during kayak trips, bring a thermo bottle for hot water. It will save you lots of precious time.
Cutlery box
– shampoo bottle cut to 15 cm
– smaller shampoo bottle cut to 5 cm to serve as a lid
Stove sack
– nylon fabric 20 cm high, 20 cm wide (2 x)
– nylon cord 50 cm
– stopper
Cooking bag
– nylon fabric 45 cm high, 40 cm wide (2 x)
– nylon cord 90 cm
– stopper
Water carrier
– nylon fabric, a circle with a diameter of 65 cm
– nylon fabric 10 cm high, 35 cm wide
Tea maker
– plastic vitamin bottle
– two lids (in other words: you will have to buy two vitamin bottles)
– 15 cm nylon cord
– medicin bottle for carrying the teamaker and prevent leaking