outdoor gear

Backpacking cookware – walking in the cold and rain – and lunch ‪@Alpkit‬

Time to try out some new backpacking cookware.

Having spent the morning working on Octagon time sheets, spread sheets and presentations, I headed off at lunch time for a walk across the Lincolnshire fields.

A couple of weeks back, I bought an Alpkit MytiPot 900 and thought I would give it a try out today. I packed a homemade ready meal (fresh pasta, homemade Italian tomato sauce with mushrooms), and my lightweight Alpkit cooking gear.

  • Kraku stove
  • MytiPot 900
  • MytiMug 400
  • SnapWire spoon

The walk was grey, wet, cold and muddy underfoot but it was away from my laptop. I took my mind off the weather with “The Girl who Played with Fire” audiobook on my iPod.

Alpkit lightweight backpacking cookware

In a small wood near the village I found a fallen tree that made a good seat for lunch. I boiled the water for my coffee in the titanium mug first, then heated the pasta in the Alpkit MytiPot, stirring it well.

Alpkit lightweight backpacking cookware
I carried the backpacking cookware in a Finnish gas mask bag

Titanium backpacking cookware is excellent if all you consider is the weight and strength. The problems come with the cost and cooking in a thin walled pot. Alpkit helps with the cost – their prices are lower than other suppliers and they have a comprehensive selection of backpacking cookware.

My top tip if you use your titanium backpacking cookware for more than just boiling water, is stir the food well… very well. The titanium conducts the heat efficiently, but hot spots easily form and then the food burns. I stirred my lunch constantly and moved the pot over the burner and still some food caught. You can see the results below, not a disaster, but if I had stopped stirring things could have gone very badly. If it burns too much is may also spoil the food.

backpacking cookware

Why did I buy more backpacking cookware?

  • Top of the list is that Diana and I are going camping together and I wanted a titanium “kettle” large enough to brew tea for two.
  • I want to do more cooking when lightweight camping – rather than just reheating food.
  • This size and shape of pot could be used as a bowl to eat out of or for washing up etc.

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Forest Walking Inverdruie

Looking at the weather forecast for the week today looks like to coldest day I will have – it was 1c when I went out at about 11am. It does not look like I will see any snow this trip – except this in Colchester last week.

I headed out to walk in the forest near Inverdruie and to get a geocache that the boys and I walked past last summer.

Geocache
Here it is

It was easy today to find somewhere quiet to set up for lunch.

Lightweight walking lunch

Lightweight walking lunch

Forest walking in Scotland

Forest Walking Inverdruie

I wrote this whilst watching the Falcons playing Green Bay in the NFC Championship game – the Falcons and Matt Ryan have controlled the first half. I have my iPod hooked into the TV with the Apple HDMI adaptor, I also packed a 1m HDMI cable. Glad I am not at last week’s Hapimag Bowness timeshare as the wifi there was nearly nonexistent. I could not use my NFL Game Pass live there, I had to avoid the scores and downloaded the games offsite on better wifi. The wifi here at Scandinavian Village is great.

Here comes the second half.

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Walking in the Rydal Valley

The weather improved today so I travelled a few miles up the road past Rydal, parked and went walking and geocaching. Geocache score for the day 2.

Helm Crag
I think the rainbow is on Helm Crag

I crossed the river between Grassmere and Rydal Water and climbed up from there towards Loughrigg Fell. It stayed dry and sometimes sunny where I was but I could see the rain in the distance.

Fell walking in the Lake District

Loughrigg Terrace
Loughrigg Terrace

Lake District Fell

At lunchtime I found a convenient bench, with a great view.

Grassmere
Grassmere

Alpkit cooking system
Alpkit cooking system with Sea to Summit pack and Platypus 1l roll up water bottle

Robin
I had a number of visitors when I stopped for lunch

Rydal Water
Rydal Water

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New gear – Rab silk sleeping bag liner

Rab silk sleeping bag liner

The seams on my old silk sleeping had started to fail after over 15 years of service. I had repaired it several times but the silk was still giving way.

Jeremy and Michael bought this replacement for me for Christmas. It weighs less than the old one at 128g against 153g but is longer at 185cm.

Download my current itemised and weighed backpacking kit list here.

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Camping at the hotel!

Camping at the hotel

I decided to stay at a hotel nearer to where Jeremy is now living in Edinburgh – the Budget Ibis. The rooms are basic, but fine for a night or two and reasonably cheap. They do not however supply a kettle – so I packed my own and included porridge, homemade raspberry jam and fresh coffee for breakfast.

My lightweight camping cook set.

The cable and adaptor is for my iphone so I could watch videos on the TV.

The day turned out to be damp, cold and overcast so we ended up watching The Grand Tour and the Saints verses the Cardinals at Jeremy’s flat – hence this is Today’s Photo!

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