Beginner Backpacker Cooking and Food

For every backpacker, this is a very personal question, with a wide range of answers. In my lifetime as a backpacker, I’ve evolved quite a bit with what I eat and how I cook it. I started out with really heavy cook sets, elaborate meals and lots of extra food. I carried half of what I brought on the trip home, because quite frankly, I was afraid to be hungry.

As time goes on, every backpacker starts to whittle down their gear, their clothes and their food into a minimal viable set that will keep you comfortable, but ultimately shed weight. Food is a great way to shed pounds if you know what you like, and how to manage your calorie intake. LET ME BE VERY CLEAR…I’m not telling anyone, not to bring enough food. What I am saying is, get to know yourself over a bunch of trips, keep stock of what you use/eat and what you consistently take home/regret bringing.

Sara and I went on a 4 day trip through Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and brought 6” sub sandwiches for our first lunch. Feeling full from a hot breakfast, neither of us wanted to finish our lunch, so we carried those damn sandwiches for the rest of the trip, big mistake!

I started out with the MSR Pocketrocket, evolved to a DIY alcohol stove, then went to the jetboil flash cannister stove, and now I’m largely using ezbit stoves to cut weight and footprint in my bag.

To say that one of these option is better than the other would be a mistake. Each one has it’s own advantages like weight or sheer output, but each one also has it’s own character. If you are new to backpacking, I’d suggest a cannister stove like the jetboil flash. They may be a little heavier than other options but they work well, quickly, and they are simple to understand.

As you get into the hobby, try a few more stoves, play with them at home and make backpacker meals for dinner. You’ll get to know your stoves, your pots, what you need and what you don’t. That way, when you get out on the trail, you’ll feel more confident when things aren’t going perfectly. You’ll know where to keep the loose baggy when your stove is in use. You’ll know how many towels it takes to clean the mashed potatoes from your ramen bomb out of your pot before hanging it from a tree and heading off to sleep for the night.

In the video, I go over the above mentioned stoves, along with some of their pros/cons. If you are interested in seeing the Alcohol stove in action, check out my video from a trip I took to Hawn State Park, where I cook an entire meal with this system.

I’ll be doing follow up videos on each of these cooking systems but here is the basics of each set:

• Alcohol Stove

  • Snowpeak titanium pot, Snowpeak titanium coffee cup, DIY alcohol stove, wind screen, vapor barrier, small towel, stuff sack. 9oz + 10oz fuel

  • Approx Weight: 20oz

  • Boil Time: 6-10 Minutes

• Cannister Stove (Jetboil Flash)

  • Pot stand, 100g fuel cannister, pot, stove element, removable cup, bandana, stuff sack

  • Approx Weight: 20oz

  • Boil Time: 1.5 - 2 Minutes

• Pump Stove (MSR Whisperlite International)

  • Stove, fuel bottle, pump, wind screen, vapor barrier, 12cm Imusa Pot + lid, Toaks 450 coffee cup, reflectix cozies for pot and cup, small towel, stuff sack

  • Approx Weight: 30+oz

  • Boil Time: 2-4 Minutes

• Fuel Tab Stove (Ezbit Titanium)

  • Stove, MSR Titan titanium kettle, Toaks 550 coffee cup, titanium windscreen, small towel, stuff sack, fuel tabs.

  • Approx Weight: 11.5oz

  • Boil Time: 6-8 minutes