Gear Notes: Mess Kit

In order to assure a pleasant breakfast routine, I have opted to bring a little more gear.  This should allow me to have a cup of coffee and a warm/hot breakfast throughout the event.  Below is my mess kit.

Included is a MSR Titan Titanium cup (about 400ml capacity, 1.9 oz), a Titanium “wing” stove from ESBIT (0.4 oz), a DIY aluminum windscreen for the stove (0.1 oz), stove fuel (about 0.5 oz each) , and a Sea to Summit Spork (0.3 oz).   The cup is well made but somewhat on the expensive side.  It is also almost too small to fit on the stove.  The bigger Snow Peak models may be better suited or if you want to go the inexpensive route just use an empty soup can.  The stove is a neat piece of engineering.  It folds up and can be carried in the small sack provided. 

My windscreen is made out of a disposable aluminum roasting pan and rolls around the stove as can be seen above.  I will also be bringing a small piece of aluminum foil to cover the cup, etc.  Here is the set up in action.

Note the overlapping seam on the windscreen.  I tried to minimize the diameter to maximize chimney heating effects.  I have not really tested this in a strong wind yet but it works fine in a gentle breeze. 

This set up can boil a mug full of water in about seven minutes.  One fuel tablet can boil two mugs of water and get a third one fairly warm before it burns out.  Therefore one tablet per day should be sufficient for cooking breakfast and enjoying a cup of Joe!