Camping gear & gas cooker for bikepacking: Pot and lid - 90 grams of titanium?!
Marc Strucken
· 09.09.2024
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There are huge differences when it comes to camping: What do I take with me, what is too much? The answers range from "The flatscreen MUST go!" to "ONE pair of socks must be enough!". Especially if you're going on a bikepacking tour, every gram or cubic centimetre of storage space may count.
In this article, we have gathered together some camping utensils, from burners to microfibre cloths - from ultra-light to very practical. They are not intended to give you a comprehensive overview of the market, but these items have at least made my summer more enjoyable so far.
On the one hand, we have the Japanese brand Soto, which produces ultra-light titanium camping utensils. The entire cooking set weighs just 250 grams. What was missing was cutlery or a so-called spork, i.e. a combination of spoon and fork (spoon + fork = spork). This was available from Primus, among others, weighing 22 grams. The mini kitchen for the bikepacking tour weighed 272 grams. Plus food, of course, which was much heavier.
Primus also provides the somewhat heavy camping kitchen in this test - even with a few luxury items that I perhaps didn't necessarily have to take with me, but could easily take with me on a tour with a bike trailer. Or maybe a French press coffee is vital in the morning after all? The minimal set consisting of pot, lid, burner and cutlery weighs 485 grams.
Soto camping equipment with minimal weight
Unusually light with a very intense flame, the Windmaster burner from Soto. It even has a built-in piezo ignition and weighs just 87 grams (even when weighed) with the four-arm stand. With a separately available holder with three arms, the weight can even be reduced to 67 grams according to the manufacturer. The burner measures 4.7 x 7.7 x 4.4 cm.
The amazing flame is created by the Windmaster's windscreen. The edge of the burner is pulled upwards over the nozzles, the nozzles are protected from the wind in a hollow, so to speak. The burner head is also aerodynamically shaped so that crosswinds are deflected downwards. According to Soto, the so-called micro-regulator system is designed to maintain firing performance even when the cartridge is almost empty and it is cold. It also reduces consumption, so that a small 230-gramme gas cartridge should last 2 people up to 10 days for breakfast and hot meals. I wasn't able to verify this, as the trips with the Soto equipment were too short for that. But 0.5 litres of water were boiling in a very short time. Price of the Windmaster burner: 84.95 euros (RRP).
Fun Fact: The Japanese company Soto designed the Olympic torch for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and now in Paris 2024. This torch was probably the first in the history of the Games not to go out once during the entire period.
Soto camping pot and mug
It all started when I opened the packaging with the Soto camping pot in my hand: "It's empty!" Using a special manufacturing process, Soto can produce titanium pots with a wall thickness of just 0.3 millimetres: super light, but still very stable. The smaller pot (in the test) with a volume of 750 millilitres weighs just 62 grams - a large one with 1.1 litres weighs just 2 grams more, according to the manufacturer.
Together with the titanium lid with spout - also made of titanium, of course - and a weight of 28 grams, the set comes to 90 grams. There is also an aluminium pot holder, which weighs just 19 grams. The price for the ultra-light camping pot and holder: 54.90 euros (RRP) >> available here.
And then there is the minimalist Titanium cup54 grams, corrosion and acid resistant, like all titanium parts, 450 ml capacity. The very minimalist handles take a little getting used to and are certainly not for very cold and wet fingers, but they hardly get hot when the coffee is still glowing.
Above all, the durability of the metal, especially in pots, is a big difference to aluminium tableware, which can change with acid (e.g. juice, vinegar, fruit) and develop a patina over the years. All Soto products are "made in Japan".
Primus camping cooking equipment
The Lite Plus Feed Zone from Primus in a small package consisting of burner, pot and lid is what the blazing camp fire used to be - and perhaps still is from time to time today. The camping equipment shown here from the Swedish manufacturer may not be ultra-light, but it always makes a very durable impression and is well thought out.
In this case, the burner can be screwed under the pot, the lid can be attached to the pot with a strap and the whole thing can be hung on a tree while cooking, for example, if the ground is wet, uneven or otherwise unsuitable for camping cooking.
The hard anodised 0.5 litre aluminium pot has an integrated heat exchanger at the base, a spout and a lid made of bio-based plastic, which can also be used as a cup. Another practical feature is the sheathing with cork insulation and a protective cover made of robust G-1000 ECO Lite material, which keeps the cooking pot warm and protects your fingers at the same time. The described set weighs 260 grams.
There is also a microfibre cloth included in the scope of delivery, which can be used to dry the equipment and prevent it from rattling during transport. And a bioplastic stand that can be clamped under a gas cartridge for additional stability.
Primus' laminar flow burner with piezo igniter provides a secure connection to the pot during operation. It is screwed on with a quarter turn. The burner is very short and can therefore be practically stowed away with the gas cartridge. However, at 145 grams, the appliance alone is quite heavy. It also brings half a litre to 100 °C in a very short time. The entire camping cookware set costs 149.95 euros (RRP) >> available here.
Extras and/or essentials? Coffee and cutlery from Primus
Now the porridge or gumbo is already smiling in the cooking pot, all that's missing is the right cutlery. Primus also supplies this in its Feed Zone series. There is a utensil that goes by the name of spork or spork. I'm going to go for the masculine: the Primus Trailspork TI. With the 22 gram lightweight piece you can spoon soup moderately well, not very well skewer steaks, but since most people on bikepacking tours probably have neither one nor the other on their DIY menu, the spork is a good thing and costs 16.95 euros (RRP). Here too, titanium is much more comfortable than aluminium cutlery, although at 9.95 euros it is considerably cheaper at Primus >> e.g. available here.
You can already see it in the picture above: The Longspoon from Primus. It's actually perfect for the manufacturer's tall pot; even the last bit of porridge can be taken straight out of the pot without sticky or burnt fingers! My favourite piece from this test. Only weighs 15 grams and costs 11.95 euros (RRP).
As a caffeine addict and lover of the black gold on bike tours, the French press set in the Primus Feed Zone series was just the thing. Together with the 500 ml pot, it makes perfect coffee.
The BPA-free plastic lid is simply screwed onto the small rod, with the sieve on the other side. And that's it. 61 grams of extra weight is definitely worth it. You don't need any more space. The press can be stored assembled in the pot or taken apart and stored together with the other cooker accessories to save space. And 17.95 Euro (RRP) is almost as much as the half-kilo of coffee I take with me.
The complete Primus Feed Zone package weighs 537 grams, including the aforementioned microfibre cloth. And costs a total of 196.80 euros based on the manufacturer's price.
Marc Strucken
Editor
