The Cooking System

We mostly rely on energy bars as a source of food. See Trail Nutrition for a good overview of our daily intake. However, we do have one hot meal each day, usually in the late afternoon before we've reached camp. Our meal of choice is usually Near East couscous, which only requires that water be boiled (or really just heated near boiling). To do this, we use a Pepsi Can Stove (pictured to left). Weighing in at around 0.1 ounce, this stove is durable and runs quite efficiently on denatured alcohol fuel.

We boil water in the REI Ti Ware 0.9L Pot with lid, which weighs a combined 4.75 ounces. This titanium pot is actually larger than required for two meals, but can be useful for other tasks that require a reservoir (cleaning, etc.). We use a few stakes from the tarp shelter (or some rocks) to prop the water pot. Simple aluminum foil is used as a wind shield.

This system usually allows us to stop, heat water, eat a warm meal, repack (the Pepsi Can Stove only takes a minute to cool), and get hiking again, all within 30 minutes or less, if desired.