For the Fish River Canyon and Drakensberg trip I have my cooking setup settled and there are some luxury items.

- I am taking a Fozzils Snapbowl for when I need a bowl. Doubles as a cutting board. (https://www.fozzils.com/product-page/snapfold-bowlz). It fits nicely into the back stretch pocket of the backpack.

- A long handle spork.

- A Victorinox Soldier's knife. It has all the necessary utilities for emergencies. The made blade is serrated and sharp. I have used it in the past to even cut open tins. (https://www.amazon.es/-/en/Victorinox-Schweizer-Soldatenmesser-Functions-Including/dp/B002RWXZ7E)

- A spreading knife, because it works better than the pocket knife's big blade. It is my one luxury item.

- All the cutlery items go into a small Hilltop tent stake bag. I purposely bought the one with the meat print. (https://hilltoppacks.com/products/tent-stake-stuff-sacks-funny-prints?variant=38878721867961)

- MSR Pocket Rocket DLX. Slightly heavier than some other compact stoves, but it burns more efficiently, has a regulator and a piezo igniter. (https://cascadedesigns.com/en-eu/products/pocketrocket-deluxe-stove).

- Lightload Towel as a dish cloth. It is super lightweight, recycable and lasts for many days. (https://www.litesmith.com/lightload-towels/).

- MSR Titan 900ml kettle. (https://cascadedesigns.com/en-eu/products/titan-kettle-900ml)

- MSR Titan Double Wall mug 375 ml. It fits inside the kettle. (https://cascadedesigns.com/en-eu/products/titan-double-wall-mug).

- All the cookware goes inside a Hilltop stuff sack, including one gas canister. (https://hilltoppacks.com/products/stuff-sacks-w-custom-printing-challenge-d50t-fabric?variant=45960307114241)

- I have one large food bag from Hilltop (https://hilltoppacks.com/collections/food-bags-bear-bags/products/food-bags-w-custom-printing-challenge-d50t-fabric-bear-bag-5) as well as 2nd snack bag. At this point I might take another Hilltop bag instead of the Sea to Summit drybag for the latter purpose.

- As these hikes are in Southern Africa, a common practice is to eat rusks with morning coffee / tea. I keep these in a plastic container to prevent them from becoming crumbs.

- My second luxury item is a Platypus 800ml wine bag, because we like to sip some red wine in the evening. When it is empty it rolls up really small (https://cascadedesigns.com/en-eu/products/platy-preserve).

This whole setup is < 900g.

I did not include a emergency matches or a lighter in this list as that will go into the emergency and first aid bag.

#whatsinyourpack #hiking #cooking #traillfood #fishrivercanyon #drakensberg #namibia #southafrica #msrgear #hilltoppacks #platypus #victorinox #fozzils

Two generations of MSR Titan kettles side by side. Definitely some improvements in the 2nd generation like the insulated handles and a no fuss handle on the lid.

On the older generation, the handle fell over at inopportune times, getting very hot and then difficult to lift up when hot and on top of a small gas cooker.

The newer generation is slightly taller and with an increase in volume. It does take a MSR Titan mug, but not together with a MSR Pocket Rocket DLX. Well at least not if one keeps the lid of the mug on.

A gas canister still fits on top of the lid in the new generation, but not as snug as with the older generation. Of course the small and medium canisters will fit inside the pot, but then not much else will fit (at least for the 900ml version).

Not sure if it is really worth the upgrade, but it depends on the context in how it will be used.

The new generation kettle will be my goto pot for this year's hiking. It can easily boil water for two people for a hot drink and still have some left over to rinse the mugs afterwards.

#whatsinyourpack #msrgear #cooking #hiking

Whilst I am on the topic of MSR Titanium kettles, this is a very good review from a bikepacking perspective. It is a practical review from actual usage. I found some info in here, that I could not find anywhere else.

https://bikepacking.com/gear/msr-titan-kettle-review-2024-titan-cookware/

#whatsinyourpack #msrgear #backpacking #hiking #bikepacking

A question to anyone that own the 900ml (30.x fl.oz) MSR Titanium Kettle:

Does a fuel canister fit into the groove on the lid?

BTW It fits perfectly on previous generation kettle,

#whatsinyourpack #msrgear #cooking #trailfood #hiking #bikepacking #backpacking

P.S. No local shops have the new model, so I have to mail order, and I want to be sure what I buy.

My old MSR insulated mug has seen better days. It is also no longer possible to buy if separate - only as part of the MSR 2-person Mess Kit.

So I have opted to replace it with the Titan Double Wall Mug: https://cascadedesigns.com/en-eu/products/titan-double-wall-mug

It adds 16g to the weight, but the round shape makes it fit inside the MSR Titan Kettle which I use for most multi-day trips.

A second consideration is that I no longer need to carry the mug on the outside of the pack. In the past I used it as quick way of mixing a drink on the trail, but nowadays I just mix into a 500ml recyclable bottle (replaced annually) and carry it on a backpack shoulder strap. Now I can put the mug inside the pack and only bring it out when boiling water.

#whatsinyourpack #hiking #msrgear

I fixed two pieces of MSR cookware today.

The first was the little rubber grab on the the lid of a MSR 2lt Trail Lite pot. It broke off one day, making it difficult to lift the lid up. After roughing up the rubber I managed to glue it back. I think it will hold.

The second is on the older model of the Titan 900ml kettle. It is not insulated and one needs to wear a glove when lifting if off the stove. I added make-shift rubber handles. I boiled a pot of water and then seem not to be affected when using a Pocket Rocket stove.

#msrgear #hiking #myog #whatsinyourpack.

FRC gear review 1: MSR Gravity XL 10lt filter.

This really worked well for the group. A couple of people had Sawyer if similar kind of small squeeze filters, but having this MSR filter meant we could filter into two 4lt MSR Dromedary bags in little time and people could then fill up their hydration bladders or water bottles easily.

It took a bit of time to get used, and there was not always place to hang it up, but we made do with the terrain we got.

I did find that due to the pools, we had to backwash the filter every 7-8lt. We also had to take care of getting air out of the system.

Luckily I won't need this for a while, but it will be there again when we need it.

#whatsinyourpack #hiking #namibia #frc2024 #msrgear

We are probably taking two pots, but on the FRC one specific pot is for certain. It is an MSR 1.1lt Stowaway. It is completed with a pot cozy I made. This allows us to cook meals which normally requires time and simmering to rather cook in own heat. Rice, dehydrated cooked beans all benefit from this. It also allows for one to start meal preration when arriving at camp and then go for a walkabout.

- https://www.msrgear.com/ie/cookware/stainless-steel/alpine-stowaway-pot---1.1l/321109.html

#msrgear #myog #frc2024 #hiking #trailcooking #whatsinyourpack

When it comes to cooking, I am not going so lightweight, I am going MSR Whisperlite International. We are cooking in a group on both trips. This thing boils water in any condition, the only thing it is bad at, is simmering. We don't have to do much of that though.

We are probably going for canister gas on the FRC and white gas for the Drakensberg. By just swapping out the jet, it can use a different kind of fuel!

- https://www.msrgear.com/ie/products/stoves/whisperlite-universal/06632.html

#frc2024 #Drakensberg #whatsinyourpack #hiking #msrgear