When camping out for a night, there’s nothing like a hot cup of coffee in the morning or a warm meal in the evening. Even on a single day trip, you may want to have a warm lunch or an afternoon tea. Unfortunately, a cooking kit takes up quite a lot of weight and space speaking in ultralight terms. Carrying an extra 700g or more for just a cup of tea or a single meal seems unreasonable. Luckily there is a solution for those of us who can’t live without anything warm in their bellies. Here’s what I use.
Pot: Alpkit MytiMug 650 (100g)
Stove: Alpkit Kraku (45g)
Gas: Primus or MSR 100g cartridge (198g)
Matches (10g)
Total weight: 353g (155g without gas)
* If you know a lighter one, let me know!
The stove I use is the Alpkit Kraku. It has everything a stove needs, and only that. It screws on top of a gas cartridge that in turn doubles as the stand for the cooker. The pot supports are just long enough so your food won’t topple over. This setup is a bit wonky, but I’ve found that even on a rocky mountain slope I could find a spot where it will stand upright. In the worst case collect a couple of stones and place them around the base as support. It does not feature an integrated piezo lighter, so you will have to bring matches or a lighter yourself.
The MSR Pocket Rocket is a similar lightweight stove, which is a bit heavier at 73g and more expensive. Judging by the description on their website, it is more potent than the Kraku, though.
I pair the Kraku with a MytiMug 650. This pot fits 650ml of water, which is enough for even an XL freeze-dried meal, and just enough for my coffee needs at 5 am on a mountain. I guess you could save a couple of extra grams by using a pot without handles, but since the MytiMug doesn’t have any rubber coating, I appreciate those to take it off the stove without burning my fingers.
The best feature about the MytiMug by far is that the gas cartridge, the Kraku, and a couple of matches will fit neatly inside the pot to stow away. You could, of course, replace the MytiMug with any other lightweight pot that fits a gas cartridge, but I would not recommend using a much bigger one or the setup may become too wonky.
The combination of the Kraku and the MytiMug ticks all the boxes my gearhead self is looking for. It is lightweight, has a tiny pack size, and I love the pure design without useless features.
Keen hiker and ÖAV trekking and hiking guide, in love with Nansen. Owner of the most walk-averse rescue dog ever. Ice cream lover, kit junkie, runner and mad software genius.