Awesome Camp Cookset, December 22, 2011

By 

kylemag –

  

This stanley cookset is absolutely awesome, especially for the price. I would have paid double the actual price and still been happy with my purchase. Once you get this item in your hands, you will notice how high quality and rugged the construction is.

The set includes:
1 stainless steel cooking mug
1 stainless steel mug top
2 plastic 10 oz cups

COOKING MUG
This consists of a rugged stainless steel construction and feels like it will take an absolute beating. it also has measurements on the side that range from 8oz to 20 oz that are spaced out by 4 oz increments. This is handy for knowing how much to heat up to fill the two 10 oz cups. Also, the mug has a folding handle that is long enough to be away from the fire so it doesn not get too hot. This folding handle also locks the top in place while you are storing it at your house or in your pack. It may be a little narrow for some stoves as reported, but it works great with the MSR Pocket Rocket which is, in my opinion, the best camp stove out there. The cup is also wide enough to fit the smaller fuel cans inside. But if you do this, the two cups will not fit.

MUG TOP
This is also stainless steel and is made to the same quality as the mug. It has a few tiny holes at the top for steam to escape and a ruberized pull tab at the top for removal when hot. This tab also locks the top in place when the swing arm is over the top for stowing. By having a top, you can boil water faster and, consequently, save the fuel you bring along with you. It is a very convinient and user friendly design.

CUPS
Both cups are 10 oz and are insulted and built very well. They are BPA free and fit right into the mug for compactable storage. They do not get too hot when boiling liquids are added because of the thickness and insulative properties.

This system will give you boiling water in under 5 minutes with a stove, which is not bad at all. It is very economical in every sense of the word: it saves gas, boils quickly, and costs very little for what you get. The snow peak titanium cookset costs $40 and does not come with small cups and the cup itself is considerably smaller. Thats just an idea of how good this value is. Great product for campers and I highly recommend this cookset.

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Astonishingly clever set, for an unbelievable price!, August 10, 2012

I sold camping gear at a major outfitter for a number of years, and I’ve been a gear-junkie for over half my life. I can’t believe I’ve never come across this set before now, but I haven’t. And I also can’t believe how absolutely perfect this set is for a minimalist expeditioner, at such an unbelievably low cost. The price is fair as-is, but I would expect it to cost three times as much since inferior designed sets by well-known ultralight brands usually cost a lot more, and since the price of stainless steel has gone up so much in recent years.

Here’s what is amazing about this cookset…

PERFECT SIZE FOR ONE OR TWO MINIMALISTS. Usually, a cookset that is designed for two will be appreciably larger, but if you’re a minimalist and like to keep things simple, there is plenty of space here without overdoing it. The pot holds 24 fl. oz. which means you can toss in a typical can of food, such as chili or spaghettios, and heat it right up without having to fill it dangerously to the brim. It also happens to be exactly the right size for two or three cups of instant hot chocolate, and enough for the water requirements of many prepackaged dehydrated meals. In my experience a lot of cooksets are either a little too small or (far more commonly) larger or more awkwardly sized than they need to be. I much prefer a narrow, taller pot to a really wide, shallow one, but they can be hard to find. This one is perfect.

ACCEPTABLE WEIGHT. Backpackers who count every gram may grumble to see that it’s made of stainless instead of titanium, but the weight will be quite acceptable to all but the most obsessive ultralight folks. The stainless steel is thin enough to minimize weight without being so thin as to deform easily under pressure or heat. I’ve seen other stainless sets made from such thin gauge metal that they actually “oil can” (warp or deform) when they get too hot. Not with this set. I’ve also seen stainless sets so thick they felt like a brick to carry. Again, not with this set.

VERSATILE DESIGN. Nested inside the set are two 10 oz. plastic cups, sized perfectly for a cup of hot chocolate or a small bowl of hot food. They also are quite thick, so they don’t transfer heat to your hands. I poured in some steaming hot chocolate and could barely feel the warmth as I gripped the cup. That means you don’t have to wait for the pot to cool a bit before pouring the contents into the cups. The lid of the set is stainless steel and contains a series of small 1/8″ diameter vent holes (a row of six holes on one side, and a single hole on the opposite side). At first glance, their purpose is to release steam to show you when your food is hot, which is already a nice feature. However, I also realized that they are designed so they can be used as a strainer to strain water away after cooking pasta or another hydrate-able food.

A small plastic tab on the lid offers a cool place to grab the lid even after several minutes of cooking. Other reviewers have noted that the tab can melt over time, but I suspect that would only be after extended cooking. I saw no problems with melting after six minutes of boiling water. The tab is tensioned so that it lays flat when packed away, but can stand erect while cooking (for easy grabbing without burning your fingers).

A folding wire handle on one side of the pot snaps down into place for cooking, and has a small “spreader” bar that slides into place so you don’t accidentally pinch the wires together to release the locked position inadvertently. When you want to fold it up, you slide the spreader bar back, squeeze the wires together, and lift. The handle rotates up and snaps down over the top to hold the lid on (and the contents in) during transit. Since it is wire, it diffuses heat quickly. After several minutes of cooking, the handle was barely warm and easy to hold. It is slightly longer than the handles on other cookware I’ve used. That, combined with the taller height of the pot, seems to keep it cooler than the (similar) wire handles on other compact cookware I’ve used.

On the pot, there are also measuring marks imprinted in the stainless for 6, 12, 16, and 20 oz. (or 237, 355, 473, and 591 mL, respectively). These marks are visible on both the inside and outside of the pot, so they allow quick, easy measurements when you need a precise amount of liquid to rehydrate a meal or cook to a recipe.

OUTSTANDING PRICE: After having owned several nice cooksets from SnowPeak, MSR, and Brunton, each of which cost in the $40 to $80 range, I was not expecting this cheap set to be so nice. It looked good in pictures, but I wholly expected to receive something flimsy or shoddily made. Fortunately, I trusted some of the positive reviews. As it turns out, the set is very well made and should stand up to a lifetime of camping if properly used and maintained.

NOTES: The Stanley Adventure Camp Cookset fits…

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