Pack your camp kitchen according to the type of camping you will be doing and the number of people you intend to feed. Ultralight hiking and biking camping trips leave little space for anything but the lightest, most versatile items. Primitive campsites present challenges in storage and food safety that are not an issue at Class A sites.
Cookware
If you are biking or hiking, space and weight are at a premium. A 20-ounce steel or enamelware mug and an empty, family-size soup can per person are all the cookware you need. Disdained by some campers because of its Depression-era roots, a twig stove is easy to make. Just punch a row of holes around the sides of the can, 1 inch from the top and bottom, to allow air flow. Cut a 1- to 2-inch-wide wedge from the open end of the can on one side so you can poke twigs into the can when it is upside-down. Twig-stove maker Russ Mohney advises in "Mother Earth News" that you cut a rectangle instead of a wedge, fold the edge over, add a handle to the side of the can, and hang the fold-edged rectangle from it as an improvised damper. For something a little less spartan but still lightweight, buy the Esbit, a hexamine stove like the ones carried by British soldiers during World War II. Editor-in-chief Stephen Regenold of "Gear Junkie" says these 20-ounce stove and cup combinations are OK for heating a can of soup or water for tea but are not effective at boiling water for purification. RV campers can bring nearly anything they might use in their home kitchens, since weight and size are not as important as convenience. Multi-purpose pans, such as woks and Dutch ovens, are better choices than an entire set of home cookware.
Utensils
A 2-ounce or lighter pair of metal tongs is a must, especially when backpacking, if you can spare the weight allowance. Since you will cook in more remote areas, the tongs could spare you a severe burn. You also should pack a reliable folding knife with a liner lock. The knife should feel solid and fit your hand well. It also should have a lanyard hole and a belt hook to prevent loss. Clean and sharpen your knife before and after each use, and before and after each trip, to prevent pitting from acidic foods and other debris. Spoons and chopsticks also are necessities. Pack a set for each camper. Chopsticks can be used as emergency fire-starters in a pinch. Bring the lightest can opener you can find, or make do with your knife. A church-key style can opener is the lightest but requires more time and fuss to use than a crank-style opener.
Dishes
If you are hiking or biking, plates just add weight. If you are camping at a tent site with kids, however, plates are essential. Pack woven plate holders and cheap paper, not foam, plates. Use the plates to make crafts on foul-weather days or whenever you want the kids to stay busy. Remember that every dish you use will have to be washed, unless you use disposables. Using disposables means more trash to carry out at the end of your adventure, however. Storage containers add bulk and take up too much pack space. Use plastic zipper bags instead. Dried and powdered foods can save as much as 75 percent of the weight of whole foods, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture standards for dried fruits). The trade-off is the need for water to reconstitute everything. Calculate the water-weight savings of the food compared with the weight of any additional water you might have to carry. As long as the weight savings is greater, carry dried foods.
Clean-Up and Diposal
Simplify clean-up by carrying waterless hand wash. It rinses away with less water than soap and is less of a problem if the container leaks or spills in your pack. It also can be used as emergency fire-starter, even if your pack falls into a body of water and everything else is soaked. Carry heavyweight wastebasket bags or zipper-style storage bags to carry out all waste. No-trace, minimal-impact camping allows the next hikers to enjoy the unspoiled beauty as much as you did.
Extras
Tea balls have minimal weight and can be hooked to a belt or your pack. They can be used as a coffee filter by tying 1 or 2 teaspoons of coffee in a filter or a square of cloth inside the tea ball, if you are using the one-mug kitchen philosophy and aren't a fan of Turkish brewing. Coffee filters are another light item to include. Use them to filter water before boiling it.
Member Comments