The Limits of Ultralight – 2 Cooking Systems Compared
Recently, I decided to compare two cooking systems for an upcoming 2 day trip.
Both of these systems need to be able to boil 2-3 cups of water for food and coffee…that’s all I’m planning on needing for food (I’m using pre-packaged dehydrated meals).
System 1 – Ultralight:
- Choke Hazard alcohol stove (this thing is the size of 6 quarters stacked – TINY)
- Alcohol fuel
- Heineken can pot
- Firesteel striker
- Windscreen
- Pot stand supports
- Pot lifter
- Spork
Total Weight: 12.2 oz
System 2 – Lightweight:
- MSR Pocket Rocket Stove
- Snow Peak Mini Fuel Canister
- Snowpeak Trek 900 Titanium Pot/Pan Set
- Bic lighter
- Pot lifter
- Spork
Total Weight: Sub 20 oz.
Cook time: System 1 takes 16 minutes or more to boil 2 cups of water in windless conditions. System 2 can do it in under 4 in high wind.
Utility: System 1 is useful only for boiling water and you have zero control over heat output. System 2 gives me the ability to simmer and control the heat.
Practicality: System 1 has lots of little pieces and components. System 2 does not.
Packability: They take up exactly the same amount of room in the pack.
This one isn’t rocket science and will seem an easy choice to my non-ultralight backpacking readers. Just 8 oz, right?
You have to understand that for ultralighters, 8 oz…a half of a pound…is HUGE. In ultralight speak, that’s approximately equivalent to what “normal” people mean when they say “a ton of weight.” Ultralight can be a sickness…almost like an eating disorder. Many ultralighters will even trim padding out of their backpacks, and cut off excess webbing and straps to reduce weight. (Sadly, there’s an even more extreme mentality…hyperlight – these are people that strive for a sub 10lb total weight – that includes food and water. I carry more than that on a day-hike.)
Even though I recognize both the idiocy and the danger of ultralight-exia, I’m susceptible to it because I’m currently focused on putting together the lightest system I can and then improving on its durability. The fact that I even considered this issue is perhaps a warning to me that I’m becoming a “gram weenie.”
So…to my fellow ultralighters: let this post be a reminder to you, and to me, that lighter isn’t always better.
To everyone else: Don’t judge me too harshly. Nowhere on any part of this blog have I ever claimed to be normal.
Finally, to the nay-sayers who will point out that I could travel even lighter if I dumped the stove altogether and just used fire and a hanging pot, I agree in part, and that’s exactly what’s in my bug-out bag. But this is a “right-tool, right-job kinda thing.”
Plus: I don’t like making a fire for breakfast/lunch and then heading out on the trail. Second, if I went with a hanging pot, I’d want something that isn’t aluminum or titanium and that mean’s stainless steel. A stainless steel pot of the right capacity would be almost as heavy as the heavier system (I know, I own one). Third, a stove requires no dry tinder or firewood gathering, generates no smoke, and only requires me to stop moving for 5-10 mins to cook a meal.
